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prayers for choirs

Prayers for Choirs: No. 2

Prayers for Choirs: No. 2

It's that time of the year again. It's hard to ignore the daily reminders - pink and red hearts in the store windows, chocolate displays, and flower delivery ads in the sidebar of your browser.

Valentine's Day. Perhaps more of a "Hallmark holiday" than a true representation of what it means to love and be loved, but still, isn't it worth thinking about?

"Love one another" was the greatest commandment ever given, after all.

Love one another - no qualifiers, no rules, no exceptions. Just love. It's a way of life, a calling, really. But, you should know: This kind of love is not the kind you read about in Hallmark cards.

"The kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence." - Bob Goff, Love Does

This kind of love asks us to give of ourselves and set aside our own wants and needs. It's time-consuming and it won't always be reciprocated. But it also never fades. It "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:7). This kind of love never fails.

Prayers for Choirs: No. 1

Prayers for Choirs: No. 1

I've been thinking a lot about joy and sorrow lately.

At first, they seem like opposites: Most people don't feel a sense of joy in the midst of sorrow, right? But joy - it's hard to describe joy in a way that isn't tinged by sorrow. Joy is wise - it recognizes where we've come from, what we've been through; it acknowledges the sorrowful parts of our lives.

Someone recently described it like this:

We carry joy in our right hand, sorrow in our left. 

We walk through life with both in front of us, like we walk, one foot in front of the other. We can't have one without the other without losing balance. 

We walk through life knowing that it can't all be joy and it won't all be sorrow. But we recognize the value of both. 

We hold onto our joy in times of sorrow and remember our sorrow in times of joy. And when we come to God in prayer, we bring our hands - our joy and sorrow - together, and we pray.

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Top 10 Posts of 2015

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Top 10 Posts of 2015

I tend to do a lot of reflecting at this time of year. What did we do this year? How did we grow or change? What worked well? What didn't work? How did I do on my goals? What do I want to make happen in 2016?

With that comes an honest look at my blog and website and finding out what really resonated with all of you. I review search terms, blog topics, and popular pins on Pinterest, and look back on the most popular posts. I brainstorm content and themes for the coming year, start researching helpful resources, and outline a preliminary editorial calendar.

Last year, for the first time, I did a little round-up of the most-read posts in 2014 (read it here). Today, I'm continuing the tradition by featuring the top 10 posts from 2015. Enjoy!