Christmas is Forgiving

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Sabbatical Planning

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  I'm BACK!! What a season of ministry this has been! Over the past year, I have talked with many leaders from churches, para-church ministries, and businesses, and many say the same thing: "I'm still recovering from the craziness of the pandemic four years later!" Does this resonate with you? It definitely has for me! While this past year has seen some INCREDIBLE moves of God and great blessings, it was also filled with many challenges, divisions, spiritual attacks, and a lot of weariness. Thankfully, God has given us many spiritual disciplines to help us overcome this weariness in our souls: Sabbath and Sabbatical. In October 2023 the craziness of the pandemic in the life of our church and family finally caught up to me. I was tired. More tired than I had ever been. Every decision in my role at the church felt heavy and filled with doubt. While my spiritual life was deep and I felt very close to God, a nagging voice would speak into my thoughts that it was time to t...
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Wellness Journey Update

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  In early April 2020, I decided to take better care of my health. Actually, the decision was made on January 1st, 2020. It just took me time and a month of lockdown in my basement to get me to do something about it. My focus was to care for myself physically, emotionally/mentally, and spiritually. In the first year of the journey, I saw some significant changes. I dropped nearly 60 pounds of weight, reduced back pain, and began sleeping through the night for the first time in my adult life! I also did some great work with my Christian therapist to strengthen my mental health. I began deepening my walk with Christ through strengthening devotions and intentional mentoring. As I experienced these blessings, my hope was to pass along these blessings to others. I became certified as a DDPY Fitness Level 1 Instructor and a FastTrack coach.  While there were blessings, there were also challenges. Particularly in the area of whether my involvement in particular exercise programs was ...
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Reset Leadership Retreat

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Last week, I returned to Ellel Ministries Canada for their Reset Leadership Retreat. This was the last event in my Sabbatical plan. My goal was to use this week away to meet with the Father and simply see what He wanted to say to me about all that I have learned and experienced over the past four months. And he certainly did not disappoint! I'm just in amazement at the Father's faithfulness! Back in January 2023, Danielle and I began a two-year course at Ellel called Explore. We originally signed up for Explore to care and minister to other people better. Little did we realize that God was going to personally care for us so much in this journey. During the week at Reset, I took time to go over all my notes from each of the Explore sessions. During the very first session in January 2023, I made a small note that simply said "Trust him!". At the time, I didn't know exactly what I was reminded of to trust. Was this just to trust God in the general sense, or was it in...
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