The Ministry of Presence

by Elisa Pulliam | | 9 comments

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I could feel myself leaning forward in my seat as I watched the mock counseling session unfold before me. How long would my classmate, who was acting as the counselor, hold the space and remain silent while my other classmate, who was the client, vulnerably processed her struggle?

She waited and waited, not saying a word but leaning into the confession.

This was no longer a demonstration in a class full of observing students but rather a real moment of vulnerability from a young woman who felt stuck and overwhelmed. She was ready for help. Her willingness invited the authentic connection with her “pretend” counselor, who held the space with tenderness and empathy. A breakthrough was happening . . .

Take a Breath of Stillness

by Elisa Pulliam | | 9 comments

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The setting sun danced upon the hilltops across the valley as a warm summer night breeze tickled the back of my neck. I inhaled the familiar smell of the pasture while noticing the crunching sound of the grazing horses.

Gazing into the distance, God reminded me of His invitation to be still, and ongoing promise to be healed, though this was not what I imagined when that was prayed over me two years earlier at a retreat. I wasn’t in a therapy office processing the trials and challenges life brings all of us. Instead, I was in a wide-open pasture with a horse named Teddy, putting into practice the principles and techniques learned through becoming a certified trauma-informed equine-assisted

In Step with Our Savior

by Elisa Pulliam | | 1 comment

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As we headed back to the barn after an equine-assisted coaching session, I turned toward my young client and her family and invited them to do a simple exercise with me to become aware of how the body and brain respond to feeling connected. Lining up shoulder to shoulder, I instructed them to all step forward with their right foot on a count of three and to pay attention to each other’s movement so that we could walk in step together.

Maybe you can imagine what this feels like as you experience the rhythm and cadence of striding together on a walk with a friend. The energy rises, like the thrill of a marching band coming down Main Street

When You Need An Attitude Adjustment

by Elisa Pulliam | | 10 comments

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There we sat in my mother-in-law’s living room, still coming to terms with her terminal cancer diagnosis. To make matters worse, she had an unfortunate fall that resulted in a broken shoulder and need for 24-7 care. The timing of this crisis was overwhelming.  We were right in the middle of wedding planning for our oldest daughter and a heavy travel schedule for my husband. We had plenty of dashed hopes for some summer downtime for the whole family. Yet our plans paled in comparison with the reality that this was the season in which we found ourselves and the last opportunity to serve my mother-in-law well.

That reality felt harder than hard.

Maybe you’ve been there too. Or maybe

The In-between Place of Blessings and Sorrows

by Elisa Pulliam | | 3 comments

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I watched her paintbrush slowly fill in the outline of her sketch on the wall at the end of the dormitory hallway, curious about how this verse she chose would be relevant to the twenty teenage girls about to move in. Between room checks and monitoring study hours, I would re-read the promise from Psalm 84:10 declaring that “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere” and wonder what it truly meant.

I was too young in my faith, and maybe even years, for it to make much sense. Instead of yearning for heaven, I dreamt of a week away at that hut on the beach my mother always talks about. As a thirty-something with two

The Freedom of a Confession

by Elisa Pulliam | | 7 comments

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I stood on the kitchen chair to reach the top of the hutch only to find more than dust. The hidden section was littered with crumpled-up gum wrappers, and I knew exactly how they got there. No doubt my daughter thought she found a way to get past the gum-chewing police. She had braces and knew she wasn’t supposed to chew gum, but thought she could be a sneaky Pete.

I wanted to march up to her bedroom and demand a confession, but instead, I opted for a more subtle approach of stashing all the wrappers in the middle of her planner. I could hardly wait for the next morning to see her reaction. Would she confess? Would she

For the Weak and the Strong

by Elisa Pulliam | | 6 comments

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I will never make it as a gardener. I simply don’t have the motivation to endure the back-breaking, never-ending work of weeding nor the mindset to trust the process. From the very beginning, I can’t help but sow too many seeds into pods too small for roots to grow deep and strong. As those seedlings burst forth, I stand in awe like a proud momma but dread the inevitable next step . . . thinning out the weak ones.

I can’t stand being the one who chooses which ones have to go.

It’s not surprising, as I’ve been a softy for the underdog forever. Whether it is a seedling, a teen girl struggling to find her way, or a character

Evidence of God’s Faithfulness in Our Hardships

by Elisa Pulliam | | no comments

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I cringed while listening to my professor describe the Remember When assignment, which involved interviewing a parent so that we could write a paper describing our developmental process. Certainly, this assignment wasn’t designed with a middle-aged graduate school student in mind! How could my parents remember back that many decades? Even if they could, I wasn’t keen on a trip down memory lane, especially after all the time spent processing and healing from the abuse that marred my childhood. Maybe you can relate?

I was relieved as my heart softened while listening to my mom recount all the good, like the love my grandparents poured out on me, alongside the hardships, like my numerous knee injuries in high school

Fixing Your Gaze on What Matters Most

by Elisa Pulliam | | 26 comments

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As I gazed out the window of my living room on a quiet Saturday morning, only interrupted by the snoring of the dog and the humming of the appliances, I took in a deep breath to savor the moment as my eyes settled on a sight I’d never seen before.

At least a hundred times I’ve looked out this window, but I had never noticed the landscape quite this way. It was like the trees were climbing up the hillside to touch the sunrise. What changed, you may ask? The answer is simple. My focus.

Between my window and those climbing trees are a myriad of power lines traversing back and forth along with the blaring red of a stop

From Brokenhearted to Holy Breakthrough

by Elisa Pulliam | | 41 comments

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Turning to check my rearview mirror, I felt an ever-so-familiar twinge in my back and feared a spasm that would take me down for a day or two. Instead, life came to a screeching halt with doctor’s orders for complete rest. I was in too much pain to resist and I sensed a divine appointment as I remembered a verse I had recently read in Isaiah:

“Only in returning to me  and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.  But you would have none of it.” (Isaiah 30:15, CSB)

I did not want to be like the Israelites to whom Isaiah spoke and “have none of it.” While God offered His children all

Thinking on the Good or the Bad, I Get to Choose

by Elisa Pulliam | | 75 comments

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There I stood in the middle of my living room, stomping my foot on the ground like a four-year-old who was told she wouldn’t get the gift she wanted on Christmas morning. But I wasn’t four. And it wasn’t Christmas morning. Nope, I was a cranky middle-aged woman decorating the Christmas tree with one snippy word after another escaping from my mouth, a clear sign that my heart was stirred up and needed attention (Luke 7:45).

My eldest daughter noticed and had the courage call me out. To my dismay, I confessed, “I hate Christmas. It brings back the hardest memories.” Her look of disbelief matched mine as she pressed further, “Mom, how is it that the last twenty

How’s Your Heart?

by Elisa Pulliam | | 9 comments

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A friend asked me the other day, “How’s your heart?” It really struck a chord with me because most of the time people just ask, “How are you doing?” And we tend to tell them what they want to hear. But this friend went deeper into what really matters in life—the heart.

Sometimes we can feel like life is too busy to get real. Pain is often too deep to let even a bit of it creep out. Maybe living on-the-surface with each other feels more bearable . . . even more socially acceptable. But the problem with on-the-surface living is that we’re ignoring what God wants us to give serious attention to – the state of our hearts

Finding Calm to Quiet Your Soul

by Elisa Pulliam | | 6 comments

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This has been quite the year, hasn’t it? The world feels in chaos . . . relationally, economically, spiritually. How many times have you found yourself saying, “2020 can’t get worse, can it?” Well, the truth is that it can get worse, and we could easily find ourselves wallowing in despair if we don’t know how to process the promise of pain.

The possibility of dire circumstances doesn’t have to be a declaration of hopelessness.

We know that hard is part of life on this side of heaven. Jesus promises us such in John 16:33 (NIV), “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” We find a similar promise in Matthew

A Better Hope, A Better Way

by Elisa Pulliam | | 1 comment

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Do you feel like God is depending upon you to take care of all the needs in your family, work, church, community?

Maybe you feel like God is watching your every move, evaluating whether you’re measuring up to His standard. Maybe you think your performance matters much, even though you might not want to admit it. Maybe you’ve been duped into believing that blessings only come when you “get it right.”

But no matter how hard you try . . .

No matter how determined you are to live out the Word . . .

No matter how much you do for others . . .

It never quite feels like enough.

“All the hard” continues to come your way, pressing upon you

The Lord Is Near

by Elisa Pulliam | | 10 comments

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Does it feel like the Lord is near to you? Do you feel like you can cry out to Him with the deepest longings, secret hopes, and unspoken sorrows buried within your heart?

Does it feel like God is watching you from afar, neglecting to hear your cry for help? Maybe you feel abandoned by God, as your circumstances rest heavily upon your shoulders.

No matter where you find yourself right now, the reality is that there are times in our lives when we question the nearness of God. We will all wonder whether His promises apply to us, particularly when we are in the middle of a trial.

I certainly have had my fair share of hard days, even

The Lord Is Near

by Elisa Pulliam | | 6 comments

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Does it feel like the Lord is near to you? Do you feel like you can cry out to Him with the deepest longings, secret hopes, and unspoken sorrows buried within your heart?

Does it feel like God is watching you from afar, neglecting to hear your cry for help? Maybe you feel abandoned by God, as your circumstances rest heavily upon your shoulders.

No matter where you find yourself right now, the reality is that there are times in our lives when we question the nearness of God. We all wonder whether His promises apply to us, particularly when we are in the middle of a trial.

I certainly have had my fair share of hard days, even years,

When Your Work and Faith is Re-defined

by Elisa Pulliam | | no comments

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Are you in a season of your work and life being re-defined?

If you’re reading this in the wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic that swept our world, my guess is that your answer is “yes.”

We’ve had our “normal” rocked. As I confessed in my last devotion, I struggle to not choose work over everything else, especially relationships. Nothing like experiencing stay-at-home orders to make that tendency all the more evident. How do I balance work with family? How do I walk in faith but steward my responsibilities well?

Maybe your work right now isn’t only your paid job but staying on top of the household needs or getting creative in supporting the ministry you volunteer for that’s struggling with

Just Be

by Elisa Pulliam | | 1 comment

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Just be.

How can two little words hold so much emotion and meaning? On the one hand,

just be may feel like a deep cleansing exhale. A release of pressure. A stepping away from all responsibilities. A surrender of unrealistic expectations.

One the other hand, just be could feel like handcuffs restricting you from that thing you feel compelled to do. Maybe it’s the dream you can’t wait to get started on. Maybe it is putting your hands to something, which gives you sense of security when life spins out of control, albeit that may not be the best course of action.

Yes, just be can feel different for each of us depending upon our God-given wiring and the nature

A Fresh Encounter with God Changes Everything

by Elisa Pulliam | | 2 comments

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How well do you know God? Do you see Him as an “out there” being who is gambling with your life? Is He a cranky old judge, ready to dole out an indictment? Or is He kind and gentle, gracious and forgiving?

Who we think God is impacts everything about the way we live our lives.

Growing up in an abusive home made it nearly impossible for me to see God as a loving father. My faith upbringing didn’t help either, as I believed I had to earn God’s love and blessing. Can you see how that might play out in my life, even today? Ahem, control issues. I always saw myself as needing to defend myself and provide for myself, because I didn’t believe