May 2023 – Welcome

Summer Announcement!

This summer we will be taking a break from the devotional blogs to enjoy family time, study, write, and work on a special project to celebrate the one year anniversary of Providence Ministries.

Throughout the summer, we will be featuring some of Caroline’s favorite books by doing a book review on the blog and on social media.

We pray you also enjoy the summer and look for ways to walk in providence this season! We will be back in August!

Making Space – Week 6: Making Space for Growth

2 Peter 3:18
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

Helen Keller once said, “Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” In essence, we should never stop learning and never stop growing. As I have worked to intentionally make space in my own life for God, myself, others, healing, and rest; spiritual and personal growth was born. I grew spiritually as I desperately sought God in a difficult season, I grew in friendships with those who walked with us and allowed us to confide in them, I grew emotionally as I healed from the pain of the last several years, and this growth created a new level of maturity from all the life lessons thus far.

Making Space – Week 5: Making Space for Rest

Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I have never done well with resting. I’m the type of person that feels unproductive and guilty when I’m not doing something efficient. Even on vacations, there is a well-planned and thought-out itinerary to get the most out of our time away and in a new place. However, in these last few months of seeking healing, I have learned a lot about what rest is and what rest isn’t.

Making Space – Week 4: Making Space for Healing

John 5:6
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

“I can’t live like this anymore.” For weeks this was the first thing that came to my mind each morning when I woke up gasping for breath as I felt the physical sensation of suffocating. Sleep was not restful, and dreams repeated the nightmare that was my real life. It was like an instant replay showing the same gut-wrenching collision on the football field over and over again. Enough was enough but I felt trapped in my circumstances and didn’t know how to get out.

Making Space – Week 3: Making Space for Others

John 13:34
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

Her old sedan clunked into the gas pump next to mine. I would not have noticed her but the two car seats in the back seat caught my eye. One forward facing and one rear facing, just like mine. I had just dropped my boys off and had zero miles to empty or I wouldn’t have made time to stop on my way to work. I was going to be late, again. But as I stood there impatiently waiting for my SUV to fill up, God nudged me, “Buy her gas.”