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Before You Ring in the New Year!

Posted on December 29, 2017December 29, 2017by tara.dickson

I grabbed my stocking cap, pulling it snug over my ears and stepped outside. Pulling my gloves from my pocket I inhaled deeply. “There’s nothing like the crisp clean air of winter,” I thought. Still, the temperature had dropped and it took everything in me to brave the cold. Walking around the bend I passed […]

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I was talking to my youngest one day about the len I was talking to my youngest one day about the lengths God will go to change the direction of our steps. 

If I look back at the hard season our family has walked through I can literally see in each of us a dramatic turn. 

It was a veer in our path. 

We left homes, schools, friends, habits, the comfortable and familiar for the unknown and the scary. 

Only God could take something hard and use it to direct our steps. 

The abundance he has brought from taking those first dark and scary steps has been incredible. 

His faithful hand is still uncovering the treasures He was leading us too. 😭❤️

I’m sharing this to encourage you beloved that He wants to guide your steps as well. 

My prayer has been this,
“You are the one that establishes our steps Lord. Shine your light on the very next steps you want each of us to take.”

*Here is my challenge dear friends.

Lift up your eyes and look back to see where you’ve  come from and how far He has brought you today. 

Then ask him what’s next. Not in a 10 year plan kind of way. But just a “today” kind of way. 

And maybe it starts with “Thank you!”

Thank you that you have brought me this far. 

I would love to pray for your next steps.
Drop a comment if you want that.
#liftupyoureyes #seekandsavorpodcast #givethankstogod #directionforlife #hopeforthefuture #hiswordisalamp #worksallthingsforgood #dailydevotion
I somehow don’t think Alan is surprised that I’m on this writing journey.

In fact I know as a part of that great cloud of witnesses he is probably cheering me on to keep saying yes to that next right thing, that takes me out of my comfort zone but deeper into God’s will. 

For those of you have felt the nudge to write but want to be equipped and accompanied by other writers, editors and agents, my beloved Hope*Writers is doing a webinar on how to write a book. I would love for you to join me on this journey. 
The link is in my bio. ❤️
#liftupyoureyes #futurewriter #incourage #hopeforthefuture #lifeafterloss #hegivesmehope #onethousandgifts #rejoicealways
What encourages you to keep going friend? Is it s What encourages you to keep going friend? 
Is it setting goals? 
Is it words of affirmation? 
I was thinking about how hard it can be to persevere when life feels hard. 
When all we want to do is REST…
And I had a memory come back to me.
I was in high school in the middle of a track meet. 
I wasn’t fast. A sprinter I was not. 
No, the mile was my race. 
I never considered myself a runner, just someone who could endure. 
But as I remembered circling the track I was taken back to the stretch of turf that ran in front of the home crowd. 
You know, the one right before the finish line.
And, I remembered instead of slowing down because I was tired and it was near the end of the race, I actually ran faster. 
I had a bit of a kick at the end. 
You see, it didn’t matter that my body was tired. 
I had witnesses. All my friends and family were cheering me on! 
I wanted to give it everything I had to finish well.
Guess what! 
We have that still. 

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”(Hebrews 12:1)

So friends, let us lay aside or throw off every weight be it sin, or sorrow or heaviness or fear and let us RUN.

Who’s running with me? 
#liftupyoureyes #seekandsavorpodcast #runtherace #donotgrowweary #presson #onethousandgifts #rejoicealways #lifeafterloss #nofears
I like to think of joy as that feeling of bubbling I like to think of joy as that feeling of bubbling mirth that just wells up inside us and spills out of our mouths in trickles of laughter or splits our face with a wide toothy grin.
 And so it is. 
I  picture a room full of family laughing at a story shared or reuniting with a loved one you haven’t seen in awhile. 
Your heart is bursting when you open the door and they walk into your arms. 
And so it is. 
But sometimes joy is being so weary and tired from the storms of life that we stumble to the Word letting it fall open out of sheer desperation for some help.
When we glance down at the page the words seem to leap off it and down into the soil of our heart and we feel seen. 
We feel known by the God of the universe. 
It feels like those words written so very long ago were written specifically for us, for such a time as this.
Our hearts fill up with a bubbling joy, as if our very soul has split wide open with a grin and His Joy becomes our strength!
Let HIS joy become YOUR strength beloved.
#liftupyoureyes #seekingchrist #joyforthejourney #renewyourmind #hopefortheworld #givethanksforlife #dailydevo #christianpodcasters #womenoftheword #seekandsavorpodcast #letallthewearyworldrejoice
8 years ago today, my youngest daughter captured t 8 years ago today, my youngest daughter captured this picture of her Dad and big brother. 
We were in the thick of a battle. 
Our world turned upside down. 
The strong ones were weak and the weak had to be strong. 
But God was at work the whole time. 
While some things were dying, God was giving birth to others.
I was in a place of mothering where there was nowhere near enough of me to go around. 
Everywhere I looked there were gaps. 
And yet….
Looking back I can see His faithful presence. I see how He took the very worst and used it for our good and His glory. 
Something God has reminded me of again and again is that it’s okay to not always rescue our children from hard things. 
Believe me, I wanted too! I still do. 
But what if God wants to use those things to press them and us up into His very heart?
What if He wants us to be drenched in His aroma? 
Just sharing some thoughts this morning as I marvel at the Goodness of God. 
Even while I miss my beloved, I trust God. 
#liftupyoureyes #seekandsavorpodcast #hopeforthefuture #lifeafterloss #lifeaftercancer #joyforthejourney #graceupongrace #onethousandgifts #fatherlesschildren #christianwriterscommunity #dailydevo
Words are so important to me. They carry great we Words are so important to me. 
They carry great weight. 
They can speak truth or lies. 
They have the power to evoke great emotion and give you visual pictures of hard concepts. 

They can bring forth memories, and deep feelings or they can be twisted and confused and cause chaos. 
Sharing words with people is a privilege and responsibility, whether our family and friends or an online community. 
But, it's so important that we show love not just in words but with TRUTH and ACTION. 

It is my hope that the words of life and love, of encouragement and peace we speak  are backed by Truth and Action. 

May we pour out our hearts in an offering to the King by loving others well through word AND through action. 
And may that love point us all to the TRUTH. 

Jesus says, I am the way the truth and the life. If you are wanting more "life", beloved or a better life, you are really wanting more Jesus! #bruisedbutnotbroken #brave #liftupyoureyes #seekandsavorpodcast #truthseekers #iamthewaythetruthandthelife #christianpodcasters #christianwriter #loveisaction #renewyourmind
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