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- Blog: The Last Word
As I’ve slogged through a particularly difficult journey during the last few months, I’ve found myself somewhat perversely fascinated with others who seem to be taking those same kinds of journeys. I don’t know—maybe I’ve been hoping to pick up some tips on how to stay vertical. Maybe I’ve been hoping to figure out what’s behind it all. Or maybe I’ve just been hoping to know I’m not alone.
I did find some tips. I did discover some insights. And I did find I’m not alone. But here’s what I didn’t expect to find: each of us has a different path to take.
Even if we’re struggling with an almost identical trial, we all move ahead on a different path—the one designed specifically to help each of us reach our designated endpoint in the best way for us. The one designed specifically to help each of us learn lessons tailored to our own needs. To read more, click the button below.
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- Written by Kathryn Jenkins Oveson
Read more: No Matter the Destination, Each Path Is Different
That thought is not original to me. I’ve seen it on posters, plaques, wall hangings, memes, and even embroidered on pillows. I’ve also seen plenty of variations on it (such as “praise Him in the hallway”). But despite my determined efforts, I haven’t found the name of the first person to utter it. I use it here with apologies to that person, whose inspiration has undoubtedly touched tens of thousands.
I know it has touched and inspired me. Because there have been many times when I’ve been the one in the hallway, standing in the shadows and waiting—often not very patiently—for God to open the door. Because I’ve been stubbornly convinced of a few things. To read more, click the button below.
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- Written by Kathryn Jenkins Oveson
Read more: Until God Opens the Door, Worship Him in the Hallway
My friend Heidi Tucker—one of the most cheerful souls I know, despite any challenge she might be facing—posted this spectacular photo of a sunflower on her Facebook page. It really caught my attention. But it also started me thinking.
I’ve always loved sunflowers—for many reasons. One is obvious: they are bright and cheerful and look like they’re about to rain sunlight down on everything around them, even if they have scratched their way out of a miserable little plot of uneven dirt on the side of a road somewhere. They don’t seem to mind their circumstances; they radiate cheer regardless of their situation. That started me thinking. Am I bright and cheerful, regardless of my situation? Is anyone prompted to smile just because they looked at me? I fear I have some work to do on that. To read more, click the button below.
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- Written by Kathryn Jenkins Oveson
Ever done something really stupid you wish you could take back? I mean something so foolish it was epic?
I have. And not just once. I’m guessing you have too.
And, like me, you’ve probably wished you could go back in time. Erase it. Have a do-over, as it were.
Well, no one can go back in time. But we can all have a do-over of sorts. It’s called a second chance.
Merriam-Webster defines a second chance as an opportunity to try something again after failing at it. I’d like to expand that a little. To me, a second chance is having the will and strength to change and being blessed by the grace of one who is willing to forgive. Sometimes that one is on earth. Sometimes that One is in heaven.
As in all other things, God’s dealings with His imperfect children give us the perfect example. The scriptures are bursting with the stories of people who made mistakes—sometimes really big ones—but then got a second chance and made the most of it. To read more, click the button below.
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- Written by Kathryn Jenkins Oveson
God has a plan.
You’ve heard all about it. And you know that it’s an incredible plan that covers all of humanity.
But did you know that He also has a plan just for you? You are so unique and so precious to Him that it’s as if you are the only one ever created. It’s the same for me. And for every other one of His children, as countless as the grains of sand in the sea.
Both of those plans—the one for all of us and the one for each of us—have the same goal: to save, redeem, and exalt.
Oh, and don’t forget happiness. In the end, we must never forget that God wants us to be happy—to partake of His mercy, to be restored, to be redeemed, and to be delivered from death. In other words, to partake of salvation.
That’s His desire for all of us. To read more, click the button below.
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- Written by Kathryn Jenkins Oveson