Embracing life
Back to School Blessings
A new school year brings new beginnings, new opportunities, and often a few unknowns. We naturally want to protect the children we love, help them succeed, and prepare them for whatever the year may bring. But we can't know every challenge they will face or walk every step of the journey with them. We can, however, entrust them to the God who knows every day ahead of them and remind our children of His presence, His promises, and His love. To speak a blessing over someone is more than simply wishing them well. It is an intentional way of speaking God’s truth and promises over their lives. Blessings can certainly be prayed between you and God, but they can also be spoken aloud, allowing the one you are blessing to hear God’s Word and His truth spoken directly to their heart, mind, and spirit.
Featured | Prayer25 Scripture Prayers For Your Child(ren)
Prayer is powerful and the fact that you want to pray for your children is an awesome thing. No matter the age, ability, and personality of your children, they need our prayers. It is a privilege as a Christian parent to advocate for our children before the throne of God with His own precious and powerful words. -God gave us His Word and He wants us to pray. When you combine the two spiritual disciplines of reading the Word and prayer (by praying Scripture), it will help you apply God’s Word to your life while growing deeper in your prayer life. -Praying Scripture honors God by using His own words to praise Him and pray to Him. -We tend to pray for things WE want, but praying Scripture will help align your desires with what HE wants. And when our desires are aligned, that’s when we’re most likely to see God move powerfully in our prayers. -If you don’t know how to pray about something, you can find a Scripture that will help you say it, refreshing and deepening your prayer language.
Featured | Prayer25 Scriptures to Pray For Your Family
Prayer in and of itself is powerful. When you combine it with Scripture, well, let's just say you should be prepared to see some mighty things happen. God gave us His word and He wants us to pray. When you combine the two spiritual disciplines of reading the Word and prayer by praying Scripture, it will help you apply God's word to your life while growing deeper in your prayer life.,Praying Scripture honors God by using His own words to praise Him and pray to Him.,We tend to pray for things WE want, but praying Scripture will help align your desires with what HE wants. And when our desires are aligned, that's when we're most likely to see God move powerfully in our prayers. If you'd like to learn more about praying Scripture with lists of verses to pray on a variety of topics (such as praying for your family, marriage, children, purpose, health, church, and so much more) check out my book On the Same Page with God: Embracing the Power of Praying Scripture.
Featured | PrayerEncouraging Scriptures For When Your Child Has A Speech Delay
My younger son has a speech delay, my older son has apraxia —a neurological speech disorder that requires frequent and intensive speech therapy to learn to speak. He didn't say his first words until he was almost four. Devastated by the lack of conversations I got to have with my children, one day I turned to Scripture. Surely there was a passage or verse about speech that would encourage me, right? Yes there was. I was astounded by the hundreds of Scriptures that referenced words and speech and speaking and declaring. Some of them I found especially encouraging as I worked with my sons and their speech difficulties, and I will share my favorites with you below. But what also encouraged me is how many times in Scripture we see a story of a Bible character with a disability of some kind, and we see that they were not overlooked, but lavished with love and compassion and care by God and by Jesus. Each story was a beautiful reminder that God loves and pursues us and our children too.
Featured | Special needsSpeaking Blessings Over Your Family Members
The words of a loved one have a lot of weight and power. I’m sure you’ve had a loved one say something to you that hurt. Whether intentionally or intentionally, those words have stuck with you. But also, the words of a loved one can bring healing and purpose and encouragement to us. They can make us stand a little taller, feel like we can climb any mountain. In Genesis 2, God breathed life into Adam, and we can breathe life and encouragement into the hearts of our loved ones. Doubts and insecurities can creep into our minds and hearts, and a person in authority speaking God’s truths to us can do wonders for our hearts, minds, and spirits. The heart is what God cares about above all else, and the heart is where the Spirit of God speaks. We can offer compliments and praise, which can go to the minds and egos of the listener. But a blessing is a truth spoken to the heart and the Spirit of another person, based on the very word of God.
Featured | FaithA Prayer for Your Child with Special Needs
I have two sons, ages 12 and 14, both in middle school. Between the two of them, we’re at 14 diagnoses and counting. They are my greatest pride and joy, and to be honest, my greatest source of stress and worry. I’ve never prayed for anything in my life as much as I’ve prayed for these two. Maybe you can relate, and that’s why you’ve found yourself here. There are many things we can be praying for our child with special needs, but here is a prayer to cover them from head to toe. I love incorporating God’s Word in my prayers , so you’ll find God’s Word and the Scripture references throughout. Make it personal to your child and their needs. May this prayer encourage your prayers for your child(ren). Heavenly Father, I thank you for ___ (child’s name). I know that ___ is a gift from you, fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 149:13). I thank you for gifting ___ with a unique personality, gifts, strengths, and talents, especially for ___ (share with God the things you love about your child).
Featured | Special needsWhen You Find Yourself Asking God "Why?"
When something unexpected happens in our life, or in our world, it's easy for us to ask God why it happened. We want to live the blessed "abundant life" (John 10:10b) that Jesus said He was bringing, and we forget that He also told us that "in this world, you will have trouble," John 16:33. We forget that all our favorite Bible characters had their share of struggles and grief and hard circumstances. Sometimes they experienced struggles for decades before they saw God's plan come to pass in their life. When both of my sons began to receive diagnosis after diagnosis, I continually asked God "Why? Why my child? Why both of my children? Why me? Why don't you heal them? Why is this special needs parenting thing so hard? Why do you feel so far away?" After months and months of pleading these questions and God not giving me an answer, I experienced a crisis of faith that scared me.
Featured | Faith25 Scriptures To Pray For Your Writing
I knew God had called me to write a book about praying Scripture , and I needed Him to help me do so. Every time I came across a Bible verse that inspired my writing, I recorded it on a list I kept in my prayer journal. I'd read through and pray the writing-related scriptures before I started writing. Or when I felt led to pray for specific things for my writing, I'd look up the related scriptures. My guess is you know you need to be praying for your writing too. Maybe you're not sure how to get started praying for your writing. Or you're looking for fresh words and verses to pray. You've come to the right place my friend. Below are some of my favorite prayer prompts and scriptures I like to pray for my writing and ministry. There's plenty of other relevant Bible verses, but this list should help you get started in praying over your writing.
Featured | WritingWhen God Calls You To Write A Book
I have dreamed of writing a book for a long time. I thought perhaps I would write a young adult book: as a former middle school English teacher, I devour plenty of those, wanting to be able to share my love of reading with my students who are always looking for a good book. I wrote two young adult novels and even sought out publication for them. I even had a few agents interested in one of my books but they wanted me to make some changes that I didn't have time for, because I was suddenly thrown into a world of special needs parenting. Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support! Note: This article was originally published in September of 2018 and updated in June of 2025.
Featured | Writing