Growing A Cultivated Life

When Life Takes You Down, Find A New Way To Live
When I crashed, I crashed hard. I could barely get out of bed anymore. I thought I needed rest for a day or two to make up for all the activity of fostering multiple children in a unique set up in the country. Those days turned into weeks. Tears lived on the edge of...

Four Powerful Tips to Break the Trap of Shame
Breaking the trap of shame involves more than positive statements and trying to get ourselves to believe positive things. Yet, we're prone to grasp every mantra that sounds good and rings true, with the hope that somehow we can start living that way. We need positive...

How Shame and Humility Get Tangled Up and How to Untie the Knot
I have the privilege of being tested by my own words. The things I'm compelled to teach about are often the result of past experiences. Even so, God allows me to be tested in the same areas again. I'm faced with these questions often. Do I mean what I say? Am I living...

3 Strategies to Turn Your Shame-Story Into Your Healing
What is your story? We all have one. You know, the story that contains the good, the bad, the ugly of...

5 Things Christians Ignore to Deny God at Work
Please note. The examples shared here, of ways we use God to deny God at work, which include phrases we say and scriptures we use, indicate possible obstacles to a cultivated life. They may also be used in well-intentioned helpful and healing ways. Truth is...

We Don’t Have to Understand to Walk Alongside
It started in the garden. This need to know. How things will work out. Why this happened. What to do next. And how others should live. It stunts our ability to grow. I'm not talking about knowing God intimately at a heart level, but trying to know about God which...

Stop Using God to Deny God at Work in the Struggles of Life
A friend posted her frustrations on Facebook. I grimaced as replies quickly dismissed her experience. Feelings and thoughts invalidated by cliches and hyper-spirituality. Yes, hyper-spirituality is a thing and it's costly to Christians who want to live well. We're...

How Busyness Impacts Our Bodies and Souls {Guest Post: Michelle DeRusha}
Today's post is a revised excerpt from my friend Michelle DeRusha's, new book, "True You: Let Go of Your False Self to Uncover the Person God Created". I love Michell's combination of personal insight as well as science, as seen in this article. You'll find some...

Why It’s OK to Not Be OK
Are you feeling OK? Our typical response it a quick, "I'm fine." Even when it's not true. It really is OK to not be OK. Even when others don't know how to handle this truth. You don't have to make yourself OK to be OK, in fact, attempting to do so might keep you from...

You Don’t Have To Do It All and You Don’t Need To Either
Maybe I'm stating the obvious to some, but I titled this post with words I need to remember often. You don't have to do it all. When I get an idea, I feel the need to act. When I see a need, I feel compelled to fill it. When I think someone else should do something, I...