Friday Favorites
Welcome back, everyone! We hope that you had a wonderful week and that you’re beginning to see some cooler fall weather, wherever you happen to be. In keeping with this week’s “pray” theme, we’ve been talking about the different ways that God seeks to grow our faith and deepen our relationship with Him. Here’s a summary of what we wrote here on the 4word blog, as well as a sampling of other bloggers’ thoughts on faith this week.
Previously on 4word
On Monday, Diane told us how she took a leap of faith and founded 4word: “I guess that’s the real beauty of a true “leap of faith:” if it were comfortable, and required only things we were good at, it wouldn’t be much of a “leap,” and it would be awfully easy to take credit for. As it is, I can see God’s hand in every single step.”
Then, on Wednesday, we talked to Jennie Allen, whose new Bible study series, Stuck, became available on Saturday: “God wants to do something on this planet and in me, but as long as I am privately fighting and losing inside, He can’t. He has a plan for these spaces inside of us, the places we feel broken, but we have to go to Him,” Jennie said.
Around the Blogosphere
- “Praying Scripture” from Keeping It Personal offers helpful tips for how to get out of a stuck place in your prayer life.
- “God Doesn’t Meet Our Expectations” from RELEVANT Magazine picks up a theme Jennie touched on in her interview: that God isn’t about giving us the life we think we should have. He gives us something even better.
- “Burn, Ladies, Burn” from a deeper story reminds us that “Women are called to be strong and valiant battling our Enemy alongside our brothers.” If you’re passionate about righting a wrong or promoting a cause, then go for it!
- “Speak life” from {in}courage uses the example of Aibileen, a character from The Help, to illustrate why taming the tongue is such an important spiritual discipline.
- “Right Thinking Wrong Thinking: Why” from Angela Mackey talks about one of the questions we most frequently ask of God and how that can be a positive or a negative, depending on what we expect from His answer.
Up Next
We’ll be talking about work next week. On Monday, Diane will review Chasing Superwoman, written by Susan DiMickele about her life as a mother, international lawyer and follower of Jesus. For our Wednesday interview, we’ll hear from Rachel Cruze about what she learned from her father, Dave Ramsey, about financial stewardship.
PS – If you’ve read Work, Love, Pray, you know that Diane started her business career as a young girl, working at her parents’ farm, Detering Orchards. Tomorrow, she’ll be returning to her roots. If you stop by the farm, you’ll find Diane scooping cobbler along with the rest of the family. Take a picture! We’d love to post it here on the blog.