Tell His Story-Almost There

Hello!

If you made it here to link up to #TellHisStory, I’m so glad! However, the linkup community will be meeting weekly at this link.

Please grab a cuppa something tasty, hop on over, and join our #TellHisStory community.

The linkup begins on Tuesdays at 7:00 a.m. Eastern time.

See you there!

I’m Moving!

Hey Everyone!

I know this isn’t the day I normally post, but . . . I have a little announcement, and I thought I’d share it in a video.

Beginning tomorrow (Tuesday, August 11, 2020), I’ll be blogging from my NEW online home. You can find the blog here.

PLEASE be sure to subscribe to my blog on my new site. See the side bar to sign up. It’s easy.

I’d love for you to check out my new website and tell me what you think. The address is: https://jeannetakenaka.com

The welcome mat is out. See you over there!

Bridges: 4 Truths About Bridges and Relationships

By Jeanne Takenaka

Most of this blog is a repost from a much earlier post . . . Our family took an impromptu trip, so I’m sharing this with you, and I’ll be commenting this week as I have time. 🙂

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This past weekend, the family and I had a paintball adventure. It was my first time ever playing the game. A creek ran through the course. Our referee told Hubs and me that there were five bridges crossing it, some were rickety, but they provided a way to cross and stay dry. 

There were a couple narrow places where one could jump from one side of the creek to the other, but I was always on the lookout for a bridge. Who needs the stress of trying to jump while not being splatted with paint?

Map: How is Your Spiritual GPS?

Hey everyone, I have a little news . . . I’m working on building a website. In a few weeks my blog will be moving over there. I’m so excited for you to visit my new little home! I’ll keep you filled in as the project wraps up. My blog will still be filled with encouraging posts, uplifting truths, and pretty pictures, it’ll just have a new home. 🙂

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By Lisa Jordan

I turned on the Maps feature on my phone and looked at the GPS. The robotic voice commanded me to go southwest then turn right. Okay, but I wasn’t sure if southwest was right or left. 

My mom thought we needed to turn right, so we did. 

And my GPS rerouted us around the block—or so I thought—to get back onto the road we needed to head out of the busy city.

However, instead of connecting us back to the route I was familiar with, the GPS guided us a different way. And honestly, that way had less traffic, less congestion, and less roadwork. 

Grief: One Author’s Lessons From the Book of Job

Guest Post by Anne Morelli

I haven’t yet had the privilege of meeting Anne Morelli in person, but we’ve connected in a number of places online. And every one of her posts is encouraging and authentic. She has a way of sharing quiet, heartfelt wisdom. She recently released an intriguing book about grief called, When Grief Descends: Suffering, Consolation, and The Book of Job (see details below). I invited her to share a little bit about her book and her thoughts here. Will you please help me welcome Anne to this little corner of the internet?

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In an incredibly short period, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused us to face a breadth and depth of change that has thrown us off-kilter. The losses that are associated with every change have forced us to walk on unfamiliar paths, through uncharted territory. Most of us are just trying to find our next step, process everything that has happened, and do what we can to console others while still maintaining appropriate social distancing.

Summer-Glimpses So Far

@JeanneTakenaka

Happy July, Everyone!

I hope you had a relaxing Independence Day celebration, though I suspect it looked different from past years.

My husband spent the last number of weeks working out of state, so I’ve decided to take a two-week blogging break to spend some time with family. I’m sharing a few glimpses of my summer so far. I hope you’ll join me back here in two weeks!

And, if you are looking for something to read and focus on Jesus this summer, I’m giving away a 28-day devotional book called, Finding God’s Presence in Everyday Living to my newsletter subscribers. Click the book cover below for more information.

Darkness: Seeing the Light

Byine Lisa Jordan

When I was seven years old, I had a nightmare there was a snake in my bed.

I rushed into the living room where my parents had been watching TV. My dad took a flashlight into my bedroom, pulled back the covers, and shined his light to prove the snake was not there.

It wasn’t real . . . only a dream.

It felt so real in fact that I still remember the details over forty years later . . . and snakes continue to be my greatest fear.

But isn’t that what darkness does?

Mothering: When All We See is Failure

@JeanneTakenaka

I read the post with a lump in my throat. This writer shared about how amazing her sons have turned out. Oh, not that there weren’t struggles, and pulling out of hair, but as they grew from boys into men, they have become good men.

And images of our own sons came to mind. 

It’s so easy to see the character traits that seem like weaknesses rather than the potential that is still taking root in their hearts.

Father: When Fathers Love

@JeanneTakenaka

The three men in my life who speak the most of fatherhood are my dad, my father-in-law, and my husband. My father was raised by a single mom, and yet, he figured out this “dad-thing.” He learned how to help his three daughters know they were loved. He encouraged us to chase our dreams and to grow into the women God intended us to be, not the women he thought we should be. I’m sure this was tough, as we sometimes made choices that grated against what he thought was best for us!

Comfort Zone: When Hearts are Confronted

@JeanneTakenaka

I think everyone would agree this version of 2020 was not the year we signed up for when we turned the calendar page on January first. 

First, a pandemic shut down our country and tried to erase hope and joy. As we’ve become a little more comfortable living in the “new different”, we are confronted with where our hearts and thoughts really stand when it comes to racism.