Category Archives: Devotionals

Devotionals

the one for when you need to Recognize Your Worth

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Let’s all take a minute and look into our hearts. How do you feel about yourself?

If you don’t feel like you are amazing, valued, one-of-a-kind then I highly recommend that you sit down with Christ and talk to him.

We need to begin looking at ourselves the way God looks at us. When we study God’s word we will find out that we are precious, created in our mother’s womb by God’s own hand. We were not an accident. We are valuable, we have worth, we are gifted, we are talented, and we have a purpose on this earth. We are the child of the one true king!

We don’t need to let feelings rule our lives anymore. Let’s take a step of faith and start improving our quality of life today. Believe that you make good decisions, that you are a valuable person with a great future, and something good is going to happen to you today!

Lord, we ask you to imprint your love into the depths of our hearts. We believe that you have a great future planned for us and that we can walk in your purpose..

“…you are precious and honored in my sight” Isaiah 43 : 4

Devotionals

the one for when you need to listen

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Do you ever go to church and sit down in the back of the room and then start listening to the preacher and then realize…uh oh he’s talking to me? Do you hear his words and feel your heart race, blood drain from your face, and look down because you feel like in the midst of an E N T I R E room of people, he is looking and talking directly to Y O U. That’s always my favorite type of church service. Knowing that you’re struggling in an area and God used someone else to speak directly to your heart.

This happened to me yesterday. We sat down after praise and worship and realized the regular preacher, who we love to hear wasn’t going to be there today. It was another preacher, something had come up and he had to take the stage today instead of the usual preacher.

Today, his sermon was on Shame. He talked about how we handle shame and what triggers both men and women when it comes to shame. You see the night before my husband and I had gotten into an argument, a stupid, pointless argument and we went to bed angry with one another. This is something we N E V E R do. We always talk it out and do our very best to never go to bed upset with one another. But, a stupid fight blew up; and we went to bed angry. I’m not sure if you’re this way, but if I go to bed angry I always wake up angry. You see, this stupid argument has now rolled over into a new day. Another day of a stupid, pointless, R I D I C U L O U S argument.

We walked into church that morning and unexpectedly got told to quit being stupid. The preacher spoke and spoke and both of us listened relentlessly. I couldn’t get enough. I didn’t even pray for an answer or a solution yet. I hadn’t even asked God to ease my soul. I hadn’t even vented to God like I usually do when I’m angry or frustrated. But, in good faith – I went to church; and I listened.

You see, the key here is that I gave God my full attention; I made it a point to L I S T E N.

Even if we haven’t asked for it, even if we are not expecting an answer. God listens to us, he listens to our thoughts and he knows what we need. All we have to do is listen. He uses so many different things to talk to us – whether it be a song on the radio, a random preacher giving a random sermon, or an article showing up on your timeline.

God, thank you for hearing us. Thank you for listening even when we’re not speaking. Help us to open our hearts and hear your words. Help us to listen for your voice in times of need.

| Proverbs 3:6 Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. |

Devotionals

the one for whoever is struggling

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I’ve been struggling. My mind has been ALL over the place. My heart has been aching. I haven’t been okay.

I haven’t been writing because I couldn’t find words, I can’t share these devotionals whenever I’m not living by them, when I’m drowning and just can’t catch a breath.

So, I figured I’d share that. Sometimes I just go through these spouts of whatever this is. I can’t catch my breath, I can’t get out of my head, I worry, I struggle, I ache. I don’t want to eat, don’t want to talk (which is a struggle because my job is literally talking), I feel sick all day, I just go to work and come home and lay restlessly in bed. This will last for about 3 or 4 days – sometimes longer and then for about a two weeks I’ll be back to my usual, won’t-shut-up-to-take-a-breath self.

It sucks, a lot of people don’t get it. They don’t understand it. People are unable to comprehend how you can be completely “normal” and you see/hear/feel something that puts a gray filter on life.

I feel this way often, and I’m working on myself. I’m working towards not feeling this way. Talking to God helps – I recite a prayer consistently as if it’s a mantra.

I know that there’s a lot of people out there who go through this and I know it’s easier to not talk about it. But, God hears us, we’re human, we’re all a work in progress. You’re allowed to have feelings, you’re allowed to not be okay sometimes. Just remember God is there, and he’ll take care of you, he’ll always be there for us at the end of the black tunnel, and with time he’ll help us out of that tunnel.

Dear God, I’m not okay. I’m not myself. Please calm my mind, heal my heart, and take my worries away. Amen.



Devotionals

the one for your uncertainty

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Uncertainty. We face this daily. People are uncertain in their marriage. uncertain in their career, uncertain in S O many different aspects of our world. You see, uncertainty can eat away at you. It’s deadly. You start questioning every aspect of every detail of your life. “Maybe I should’ve turned down this job”, “Maybe I should’ve pursued that other job”, “Maybe I should have never left that other job two years ago”

It’s exhausting and it’s a never-ending cycle . . . why torture yourself? You did it. You made a decision. Your decision is a part of H I S plan for Y O U. He has a plan for us. When we are uncertain in our decisions, we are questioning his plan. He made us a promise, our job is to trust that he will keep that promise. He knows our future.

Lord, help us to trust you and your plan for our lives.

| ♥ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

J E R E M I A H 2 9 : 1 1 ♥ |

Devotionals

the one for L E F T O V E R S

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Holiday meals are a special time when family members are intentional about gathering together around the table. There is plenty of food, and plenty of conversation. We enjoy conversation, laughter, and most importantly leftovers!!

When the meal is finished all of the partially eaten dishes are transferred into butter tubs and plastic bowls and put into the fridge, everyone goes into another room and in our case,starts complaining about how they’ll never be able to eat again, and takes a nap.

Later that evening, however someone (usually Beverly) reaches into the fridge and grabs that tub of butter that is full of butternut squash casserole; throws it in the microwave and precedes to nibble on it until once again, complaining that they’ll never be able to eat again. But the next day, the meat is a tad dry, the corn dip is gone, and the pumpkin cheesecake bites just aren’t as good as they were when Mom brought them over. The leftovers have officially reached the point where we have to throw them out. Just like the holiday, it’s over.

Sometimes we treat our spiritual lives the same way. We attend church on Sunday, let our ears soak up the sermon, fill ourselves with the sound of worship, and we leave feeling full, feeling like we are on top of the world. Then we move on with our lives. We get back to the motion of our lives. We go to work – we bathe the kids, tuck them in, turn on Netflix and go to bed.

The example Christ set for us – it wasn’t a once-a-week or once-a-month trip to a spiritual holiday meal… Jesus worshiped in the church – but he also consistently spent time talking to God, living the way God teaches us to live, and encouraging others to do the same. He didn’t live his life depending on spiritual leftovers.

You see, leftovers don’t last forever. Leftovers won’t hold you over until the next holiday. Nothing tastes the same, nothing will have the same smell or flavor. Nothing is the same as when you’re gathered around the island, gazing at your family, hearing everyone catching up over a plate of Mom’s hard work. Leftovers simply just don’t live up to that standard.. Same thing applies to our spiritual lives. Going to church and being moved and feeling the presence of the Lord, that feeling fades away if you don’t live your life constantly praising and talking to God. Throughout the week – if you just rely on the leftovers from church that Sunday, you won’t be satisfied.

Instill in us, Lord, an insatiable appetite for You. Awaken in us a hunger for your presence and for your word.

| ♡ Whoever claims to live in him, must live as Jesus did. 1 J O H N 2 : 6 ♡ |

Devotionals

the one about FORGIVENESS

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Let me just start by saying.. This was not easy to write. It wasn’t easy to relive. It’s not something I talk about to people. It’s something I typically keep locked in a box deep inside me. But, I hope this helps someone feeling these feelings – whether our situation is the same or not, I’m sure you’ve felt similar to the way I’ve felt.

•••••

Do you know the feeling you get when you get rid of a T-shirt that you used to wear all the time because it shrunk in the dryer. It’s definitely not a good feeling for three reasons:1.) you love it 2.) you’re going to miss it. 3.) we all know it didn’t really shrink in the dryer

This is kind of a jump but…do you catch yourself thinking those same thoughts about people you’ve cut out of your life, well…besides the dryer part? We’ve all cut somebody that we’ve deemd “toxic” out of our lives before.. Do you feel a constant tug of war inside of you?

I’m going to get really personal here – because mainly, I hope that this will bring me some peace.

My Dad.

If you know me well, you’ve probably picked up that he isn’t a big part of my life – in a positive way that is.. I’ll spare you the long backstory and just hit a few highlight moments.

Back when I was around 12 – I told Justin I didn’t feel like it was necessary to continue hurting myself by going to his house. You see he got me maybe twice a year – and I had to initiate it – I never felt wanted..which isn’t a good feeeling when you’re 12 years old.. Things were ugly – but ultimately I got my wish.

Fast forward to my 16th birthday there were some words exchaned the night before – which resulted in me ringing in the chime of my 16th birthday – a pretty important one to any girl – laying in bed sobbing uncontrollably in my mom’s arms…I still have those messages – i stilll cry every time I read them. I swore to myself that night that I would never let you hurt me again…I was wrong.

Flash forward to my high school graduation – a big day! I had battled back and forth on whether I should invite you or not – I wanted to but I didn’t… mainly because I didn’t want another important day to be ruined when you didn’t show up – but I didn’t trust my gut – I sent the invitiation. Now, when I think about my graduation I think of looking out and not seeing your face in the crowd.I told myself – that’s the last straw never again…I was wrong…again..

April 1st, 2018 I got engaged one of the happiest moments of my life I posted it on facebook, your wife, Rebecca reached out – her and I have stayed in contact a little here and a little there over the years. We set up dinner, no matter how many times you have hurt me – I wanted you to meet my soon to be husband. We met at texas roadhouse. it was AWKWARD – but I tried, I visited with you a little…but you – you sat on your phone almost the entire dinner. You barely spoke to me. You ate your prime rib – paid – and got the hell out of there. Believe it or not, I was not hurt that night. I figured yeah, it was awkward – but I finally built up a wall of protection when it came to you – honestly ,I was just relieved that you had even showed up…in my eyes it was a step in the right direction.

January 12, 2019 – so far the best day of my entire life – my wedding. I invited you – not because I had to but because a part of me has always hoped that we would one day rekindle our relationship and if we did, I knew I would regret not having invited you. But once again – you weren’t there. This one cut deep – this is MY DAY. You didn’t even call or text me – you used the excuse of traffic – Rebecca told me that y’all would’ve been 20 minutes late if you would’ve stayed on the road – I feel like this is just an excuse because you would’ve texted if you were running behind – or if you had to turn around. How do I know that? Because traffic slowed y’all down at roadhouse – and you texted me. Even if this isn’t an excuse if it’s the truth – what would 20 minutes have hurt? What wedding is over in twenty minutes?? My heart was broken on my wedding day. To this day I think back on my wedding and all of the people that were there…and I remember…you weren’t, my brothers weren’t, part of my family was not there.

You know after all the pain that you’ve caused me: taking my brothers out of my life, giving up on me, breaking my heart over and over…I’m still very appreciative of you. You taught me how strong I am, you taught me that when I look out at a crowd and don’t see you that I’ll survive, you gave me a reason to cling onto the men in my life who did support me, you helped me find my husband – how? I learned red flags, I learned what I didn’t want the father of my children to be like – because of you – I found Dustin.

After all of this, I still want a realtionship with you and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. Maybe because I know that your selfishness has caused me to miss out on life with my grandparents over there and I don’t want my kids to feel that void. Or maybe because I want my children to know their uncles, my brothers. Maybe it’s just because the AMAZING people that raised me taught me that we make mistakes, pride and ego don’t matter. Family is family – that is something that is rooted deep in me.

I hash it out in my head all the time – and I am always reminded of my relationship with God – no matter how many times I have hurt him, no matter how many times I have abandoned him, no matter what I do he is there for me – with open arms, welcoming me back to in to his kingdom.

I am trying to live my life more christ-like than I have in the past. I believe we’ve both made some mistakes… I guess what I’m boling down to is: If Christ can extend Grace to me, then I can extend grace to you.

Lord, help us to extend grace to those who have hurt us. Help us to remember that we’re all sinners and that you forgive us . Remind us to do unto others like we want you to do unto us.

|• Get rid of all the bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgive each other just as in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32 •|

Devotionals

the one for Grace.

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Grace.

This word has a special place in my heart. For many reasons, this word will always be a major part of my life.

* Grace, my sweet girl, my aunt/niece/pretty much daughter depending on how I’ve introduced her to you. (she’s really my aunt, yes, she’s only four..long story) This girl. I cannot even begin to describe how important this girl is to my life. She saved me, she was and is my saving grace. When her daddy, my Pawpaw died, I didn’t think I was going to make it through, but that little girl, the little girl I helped raise – she was always there. She made me smile, she took my mind off of things, she gave me a reason to be strong. I still struggle, almost daily with not having Pawpaw in my life..and every time it creeps up in my mind, I wipe my tears away and I see her, I see Grace and I smile through the pain. She’s not with me, she’s at home, surrounded by the abundance of love (and children) at her house. She is my Grace, my saving Grace; and will forever be such a huge part of my life. *Also today is her birthday so Happy Birthday Princess, I love you*
* Grace. Graceful, something I’ve been called my entire life – served with a HUGE side of sarcasm. I get it from my mama, and well..every other woman in my family. This is probably a little silly to some, but my “gracefulness” is a constant reminder to me. What’s it remind me of? The fact that I’ll never become a tight rope walker, or a good walker in general honestly; but really, it reminds me of who I come from, of where I come from. I like to know that my family has strong genes. Our blue eyes, blonde hair, strong faith, and an innate amount of clumsiness. It is comforting to know that regardless of my last name changing, moving to a new town, embarking on an entire life of my own I still have my blue eyes, strong faith, and my abundance of grace.
* Grace. Just Grace. Our Lord has been so gracious to us. He’s sent his one and only son to die on the cross for us. He’s forgiven us for all of our sins. He’s even given us an entire book on how to live our life. I mean come on, he gave us a handbook!! He’s given us life, given us a purpose, and a future. He’s given us dogs..honestly what more could you ask for? In all seriousness, we’ve messed up. Again, it’s Katie speaking captain of the struggle bus, I know i’ve messed up – millions of times. I have lied, I have cheated, I have envied, and I could keep going. Yet, he still extends grace to us. He gives us another chance – he offers us forgiveness and redemption. How lucky are we?

Lord, thank you for being so gracious in SO many ways. Thank you for continually extending grace to us. Thank you for forgiving us, and redeeming us. Help us to extend grace to others – so that way can be more like you.

| For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 |

Devotionals

the one for relationships

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We hear these verses constantly. At weddings, in church, on that super cute couple’s Instagram page. We always associate these few verses as if they belong solely to relationships. I’m not saying they don’t or that they shouldn’t. I actually have a sign with the verses hanging in my living room next to our marriage certificate – so I promise that’s by no means what I’m saying.

These verses shouldn’t only apply to our relationship with our significant other, it should also apply to our friendships, to our relationship with Christ.

When God is working in our lives, when he is closing doors left and right and we’re just so frustrated with the world – and we don’t know what to do. • “Love is patient, love is kind” • Remember – we love Him, we’re so thankful for his sacrifices for us. We need to be patient because he tells us time and time again that he has plans for US. He knows what he’s doing, and we need to quit losing sight of that.

When God blesses someone else’s life – wether it be a promotion, or an engagement, or a pregnancy. • ”It does not envy” • God is working on you, don’t worry about what he’s doing for others. I’m preaching to the choir right now, let me go ahead and tell you I have a season pass on the struggle bus when it comes to this; and I know we’ve all struggled with this at least once, we’re human, it happens. But, remember our time will come darlings, and when our time does • “it does not boast” • Try to remember…someone is looking at you right now praying, begging for a blessing to come their way. Don’t flaunt it – but tell them of times you were envious – of times you begged for a change — give them faith that their time will come – just like ours.

It is very easy today, to see someone acting “wrong”, and for us to get underneath that facebook post and just blast them for not being Christ-like…to tell them that they are acting wrong, and that it is just unacceptable. It’s easy to do a good deed, then turn around and post it all over facebook because you’re looking for the Glory that comes along with it. We should do good things, we should use our faith to remind others of what Christ is – of who HE is, not for likes and comments and replies under our post. • It does not dishonor others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ” •

• It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” • This verse. It gets me every time. We should always protect the Word of God, we should always trust that HE will take care of us, we should always hope that can be worthy of the ultimate sacrifice that HE gave to us. Lastly, we should always persevere. No matter what is thrown our way, no matter what obstacle, what tragedy, what heartbreak we encounter. We can and we will preserve with God at our right side walking us through the fire. We shall prevail – because with him, we have it all.

Lord help us to use this passage to not only grow our earthly relationships – but help us to use this as a guide for our relationship with you. Help us to have faith, patience, and hope. Teach us your ways.

| “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 |

Devotionals

the one for your Empty Promises

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Self control – ugh that’s a rough one. As I’m writing this it is one o’clock in the morning, I’ve just flipped the TV from Brooklyn Nine Nine (after watching four episodes) to Friends. Full disclosure I’ve watched every episode at least fifteen times. I’ve had two cups of milk, and this is the third devotional I’ve written today.

Why for the life of me do I have no self control…I mean ZERO self control? I broke a habit today – I told myself I was going to force myself into having my sleep schedule “normalized”. I had my husband put a lock on my phone – I can’t use anything on my phone (other than notes… you know for late night writing – like this). He’s the only one who knows the password for it – so after eleven o’clock I am locked out. Also, I told myself I wouldn’t turn on any show after I lay down other than Friends (I have to fall asleep to the sweet sound of “I’ll be there for you”. I’m pathetic, I know). But tonight…I came to bed, laid down, and turned on Brooklyn Nine Nine. I knew I shouldn’t have. I even thought about it as I scrolled through my keep watching page on Hulu…but yet, I still turned it on, and I still watched four episodes.

I couldn’t stop – I kept thinking come on Katie, you know you need to turn it off and go to bed. But, episode after episode I kept clicking “Play Next Episode”. I feel guilty, it really is making me sick to my stomach…I feel like I betrayed myself (keep in mind I am a writer…so I may be a little over dramatic).

How does God feel when we make him empty promises? I mean, come on, I feel sick to my stomach when I make an empty promise to myself. Can you imagine how our Maker, the one who had an entire life planned for us before our parents had even given us a second thought, feels whenever we don’t mean the promises we make to him. When we beg and plead for something, then promise him something in return, and then we don’t follow through.

Are you guilty of saying a prayer and ending it with “…I promise I will start going to church again” or “…I promise I’ll do better in talking to you daily”? I know I am, I’ve done it time and time again – I’ve given God an ultimatum, which is bad enough, but then…then he is gracious enough to give me what I prayed for and I don’t even hold up my end of the deal…that’s sucks. I can’t even sugar coat in. I put that on paper (technically on my screen, but still) and I can’t even begin to comprehend how much that…sucks. How bad that feels – being betrayed by your best friend, that hurts more than you can comprehend, right? Try having your child do it. Try having someone you sent your child to die for do it to you. Man, if that doesn’t put things into perspective…

Lord, help us to honor our word. To honor our word in everyday life, to our friends, our family, and most importantly to you. You give us time and time again, you give us your life, you give us redemption..and still we have problems keeping the promises we’ve made to you. Help us, teach us your ways, mold us to be more like you.

“When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but, must do everything he said. ” Numbers 30:2

Devotionals

the one for following directions

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This one is for the men…and for all of us know it all ladies who do the same thing but pretend we don’t.

How many times have you opened a new box, seen the instruction pamphlet, thrown it to the side, and started digging in. Because honestly, I mean how hard could putting together a child’s toy be. It’s hard. Let me tell you – I’ve spent many of Christmas Day’s digging through an entire pile of instruction manuals to finally find the one I was looking for – just to find out that I had already broken the toy by just “digging in” on my own.

We’re given an instruction manual for life. We’re given a bible, a book that lays out all of the laws. A book that has a suggestion for ANYTHING we need. Sad? Angry? Happy? In love? Guess what, it’s all in there. Literally all we have to do is open it up and look at it. Instead, when we face a problem in our life we put the bible to the side, and we just go to town, because how hard is it really to get yourself out of a slump when you feel like everything is going wrong? By the way – it’s hard, it wasn’t until recently I realized how important that instruction manual is when it comes to dealing with that feeling.

To take it one step further, we’re given a 24/7 Support Line. One to someone who speaks our language! One that it doesn’t matter if you have your phone on you, or if your phone battery is almost dead. Literally all we have to do is talk to him. No phone? No signal? NO PROBLEM! Anywhere we are all we have to do is talk! We talk all the time! It’s not hard! But, instead we shut our mouths and we just dig in. Because how hard is it to get through the uneasy feeling when you’re laying in bed in the middle of the night questioning your decisions. Side note – again it is not easy!

Lord – remind us of the abundance of resources you’ve given us. Remind us that we have a book full of answers to so many different questions we have. Remind us that you’re easy to talk to and that you want to have that connection with us. Help us to remember that you are always there for us – no matter the time, the place, or the issue. You’re there, you’ll listen, and like always you will provide.

| Psalm 9:9-10 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.|