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 | PrayerWe take measures to protect our home. We lock windows and doors and install security systems and we buy insurance just in case something should happen. All are smart measures to protect your loved ones, and we can also take steps to protect our family and our home spiritually as well. Years ago, our family felt like it was struggling in many ways. My younger son was having night terrors. My anxiety was keeping me up at night. My husband and I were stressed and arguing more than normal. Something just didn’t feel right and I wasn’t sure what it was. But then I learned about the practice of praying through your home and anointing it with oil at a Bible study session I attended. When I got home I decided to try it. The results were immediate. As I went through the house praying, I felt my anxiety lift and I felt joy in my heart. I felt God’s presence in a way I hadn’t in a while. I found joy in praying over my home, each family member, my marriage, and our sleep.
Featured | PrayerThe 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 | FaithAs the school year approaches, and we find ourselves busy buying supplies and new clothes and doing other tasks to get ready for the new school year, I start to feel a little anxious. Will our kids have a good teacher? Make good friends? Are they prepared for the school year? Have I done enough? Will they do ok? When I find myself feeling anxious about my kiddos returning to school, I am trying to turn my worries into prayers. I try and pray for my children daily, but to be honest, I pray for them much more fervently as the new school year approaches and for the first few weeks of school. At the beginning of each school year I find myself living out this verse: "Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your children." Lamentations 2:19 Disclosure: Some of the links in this post 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.
Featured | PrayerAs a special needs parent we learn to advocate for our children—with insurance companies, with doctors and specialists, with schools, within churches, and within the community. But one of the best ways to advocate for your child is on your knees before the throne of God . We know we should pray, and I've experienced how painful it can be to pray for God to move mountains for our children in ways that are not in His will or timing, and then we grow discouraged by prayer, and begin to question God’s love and care for us and our children. I have found the practice of praying Scripture is one of the best ways to combat this discouragement, because we are aligning our prayers and desires with God’s own Word and His desires . There is power in God's Word, and there's also power in our prayers. When you combine those two powers together, wow, get ready to see God move in mighty ways in your children's lives, but also in your heart.
Featured | Special needsWhen 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 | FaithI 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 | WritingMy 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 needsI 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