My mom sang this little song when I was a child; it made me giggle. And it still does.

"How dry I am, how wet I'll be if I don't find the bathroom key. "

I have no idea where she learned it, but it came rushing back yesterday as I jiggled the handle of the women's restroom.

It wouldn't open.

I had the code. It was written on the conference room table, and I scribbled it on my hand before I left the meeting.

1523 ENTER

But it wouldn't open. UGH.

Prayer can be like that...we come to God, and the door doesn't open.

We know prayer is the key, and we pray. We punch in the code and wiggle the handle of heaven's door, and it won't open.

What am I doing wrong? I need this prayer answered.

I bang on the door, hoping it will open from the inside, "Is anyone in there?"

It doesn't.

Then, as I stood outside the door, desperate and nearing the disaster of a grown woman wetting her pants, someone came along and whispered, "turn the handle UP."

"WHAT!"

I try again...1523 ENTER. I...

Kingdom confidence is very different from self-confidence.

Self-confidence is what the world says we have.

Confidence (noun)

• a trust or a reliance that is applied to our own abilities, our own strengths, our own giftings, our own competency.

And for many of us, we're familiar with that. We understand what that looks like; it is basing our confidence in being prepared to do something.

We are told we have confidence when ready to do those things.

How do you grow in confidence?

I did a quick little search on how to grow in confidence, and the number one search result was that "you connect with your inner power, your strengths, and your abilities."

The world tells us we have to get skills; we have to go build our strengths.

And I am not opposed to any of that. Not at all. I am from the corporate world, and I have a file that's 10 inches thick, telling me all about the strengths that I have,  my giftings, and how to grow in specific skills.

I'm not...

I had barely flipped the calendar over when my mom, sister, kids, and husband began to ask me, "Do you know what you want for your birthday?"

Sadly, no. The running list of ideas I have are gifts for someone else, and my wishlist on Amazon is full of business books, not exactly birthday material.

Why is it so hard? ‍

Do I have trouble receiving? I used to.

As I was sitting with God about this, He reminded me of a season of my life where God had a gift for me, and I couldn't receive it.

Can you picture the silliness of it? Here He was with this beautifully wrapped gift in his hands and His arms extended towards me. And I couldn't receive it.

I stared at the unopened gift.

Even knowing that what was inside was perfect for me, something I wanted and exactly what I needed.

I knew it was exceedingly and abundantly more than I could hope or imagine.

Yet, I struggled.

I couldn't bring myself to open my hands and let God give me this gift.

Why?

Because deep down inside, I believed I...

Ever had something you’ve been waiting for God to do, and you wait and wait, and wait. It could be provision, open doors, healing in your body, a loved one to come back to Jesus. It could be finding God’s plan for you or walking out the purposes you were created for. It could be a prophetic word you’ve received about your life.

You hold on to it; you stand on it, and for a while, you’re good.

Then, you wait and wait and wait.

You look at your circumstances, and nothing is changing. You look at your watch, and time is running out. You wonder if God will EVER show up. You feel stuck in that place called “the same.” The purposes and plans for you seem forgotten. Your promises seem delayed - indefinitely.

And you’re not good anymore.

You begin to waver. Doubt creeps in. Discouragement comes. And your current reality causes you to be cynical and slip into unbelief.

Has this happened to you, or is it just me?

When those expectations...

In our eyes, it’s never a good time to go through hardships in life. Oftentimes, we have our sights set on this plan we created for ourselves and we work so hard for that goal. Then God calls us into something else that differs from that plan, which typically requires us to have hope and faith that our next chapter will be extraordinary.

Take it from me, a woman who felt crippled by my corporate job loss. I collapsed into my chair when I got the call that my position was no longer needed and began to spiral down the endless thoughts behind the question, “Now what!?” There were so many pieces of my life relying on this job that I thought I was meant to do.

When something like this happens, we go through this state of grief. I went through all the stages: disbelief/denial, anger, worry/depression, and then finally acceptance. It was not an easy transition to go through by any means. However, it did bring me to where I am today.

In my darkest hour, I was being invited...

I want to share a story with you about a troubling time in my life. When all was going well in my corporate job, it felt like my mission in life was fulfilled. I quickly learned that when Jesus calls and the world feels like it’s shattering all around me, nothing else matters except His true calling.

One day, I had a job and the next day, I was informed my position was no longer needed. I can’t tell you how much fear that brought upon me. All the questions ran through my mind about what to do next and what this would mean for my family. It took some time to accept that I needed to have faith over fear because the Lord’s timing is never wrong.

Life can change in the blink of an eye. However, I’m here to tell you that it is possible to ROAR back when things seem to go array. If you are in a similar situation and you’re looking for some guidance, I want to empower you to have faith. Use those struggles and turn them into strengths because once you do, you...

She poured milk over her Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, grabbed a spoon and sat at the table for breakfast. Her nose crinkled and her eyes narrowed. "Mom, there is something wrong with this milk."

Sure enough, it was sour and thankfully we had a fresh carton in the refrigerator and she sampled it first before preparing her breakfast again.

We know what good milk tastes like because we've experienced it. And when we taste something that does not measure up, then we are immediately aware that something isn't right.

We know the difference because we can compare what isn't against what should be. 

Our discernment is spot on when milk is bad, but what about discernment in other things? 

What is it, why do we need it, and how do we get it?

What is Discernment?

Discernment is the ability to judge well, to gain spiritual guidance or understanding.

When we discern we:

• observe,
• look with our eyes,
• detect with our senses, and 
• understand the difference in...