Restoring Hearts Blog

“You can sacrifice and not love.  But you cannot love and not sacrifice.” Kris Vallotton It was a struggle this morning to get myself up a bit earlier and to rearrange my schedule to spend thirty minutes alone with God while my daughter led worship at her church’s prayer ministry.  Afterwards I told her it wasn’t long enough and I wished I had arrived earlier.  Once you taste God’s Presence, you want to set up a tent and stay a while. Why is it so difficult to do whatever it

“If there be one God subsisting in three persons, then let us give equal reverence to all the persons in the Trinity.” Thomas Watson Tis the season to be thankful and the Trinity is at the top of my gratitude list.  As a new believer in high school, I learned the Trinity was like water. H20 is the same compound whether it’s in the form of water, gas, or ice. Likewise, I am one person who fulfills different roles; I’m a wife, mom and daughter. The Apostle Paul ended his second

“The chains of love are stronger than the chains of fear.” William Gurnall In 1988, my family moved from Arizona to Chicago, for my husband’s final year of training. I met another mom with young children who also liked to jog. So before our husbands went to work, we would run for a couple of miles, a few times each week. Since I had little experience with snow and ice, I had no idea what black ice was, that is until my feet slipped on it and I did a face plant on the sidewal

“The expression of Christian character is not good doing, but God-likeness.” Oswald Chambers I go through the same routine every day. I open the closet door and try to decide what to wear, how I will clothe myself for that day. I usually start with a pair of pants and then figure out which blouse goes best with it. Some days I have more to choose from, depending on whether or not I’m caught up with my ironing. And because ironing is one of my least favorite tasks, I often hav

“The surest evidence of our love to Christ is obedience to the laws of Christ. Love is the root, obedience is the fruit.” Matthew Henry On Valentine’s Day we express our love for others through cards, gifts, flowers and my favorite, chocolate. The best way we say, “I love you,” to God is through our obedience. Last night our small group studied Genesis 22:1-18. This passage is about God testing Abraham when He asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his one and only son. The first

“Unless Jesus is Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.” S. M. Zwemer Lordship was not in my vocabulary the first seventeen years of my walk with God. Yes, I believed and made a public confession of my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior. But my Christian life was full of compromise. My beliefs did not necessarily change my actions. Who I was on Sundays was not who I was the rest of the week. I’m not sure how much strangers could tell a difference in me because of my personal rel

“A man’s spiritual health is exactly proportional to his love for God.” C. S. Lewis I’m not a very competitive person, except when it comes to playing the daily, “I love you more” game between my husband and me. The rules are simple. The first one to tell the other, “I love you more,” wins! Actually it’s always a win-win scenario. If John beats me to it and loves me more, then what could be more wonderful for a wife to know she is loved by her husband. The other day while alo