Kyria

Experiments in Hiding God's Word

One discipline I've practiced that enables me to connect with God through his Word, no matter what my schedule is like, is to memorize Scripture. It's something far easier to do than one might think. Here are some tips I've found helpful:

* Select a passage that includes several verses or even an entire chapter and print it out in large letters on several cards that you can carry with you where you ...

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Hospitality for Introverts

I don't have the gift of hospitality. I first truly understood that when I was at my friend Mary's house along with a woman who was in campus ministry. This woman told us of an Indian student who needed housing. As she was telling us this girl's situation, I was saying to God, I don't want to have her live with us, but if that's what you want, I'm listening. But every fiber of my body was resisting ...

Related Topics: Anxiety, Appearances, Caring, Cheerfulness, Home, Self-confidence, Service, Shyness, Welcoming

Hospitality for the Domestically Challenged

What do you do if you want to practice the spiritual discipline of hospitality, but feel as though you or your house is never clean enough, good enough, fill-in-the-blank enough? Kyria met with three women (Carla Barnhill, from Minnesota; Tricia Goyer, from Arkansas; and Caryn Rivadeneira, from Illinois) to find out how they practice hospitality and what it really means to them—in the midst ...

Related Topics: Anxiety, Appearances, Caring, Cheerfulness, Home, Self-confidence, Service, Shyness, Welcoming

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Building God's Temple Within

Most of us want to follow Jesus' bidding to take up our cross (Matthew 16:24). And we long to renew our minds as Paul advised (Romans 12:2). But how do we reject our selfishness, take up our burdens, refuse worldly values, and renew our love, becoming more like Jesus?

For the first 15 centuries of Christianity, it was through the spiritual discipline of biblical contemplation. The natural by-product ...

Related Topics: Contemplation, Lectio Divina, Meditation, Prayer

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The Best New Year's Resolutions

Are you planning to make resolutions this New Year's? Why not base them on some of the declarations that are recorded in Scripture? Check out these biblical resolutions.

1. Resolve to inquire of the Lord.King Jehoshaphat was told that a vast army was coming to make war against him and his country of Judah. But before he ever rallied his troops or formulated a battle plan, "Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire ...

Related Topics: Decision making, Promises

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Are You Dangerously Tired?

Irritability or hypersensitivity. Do things that normally wouldn't bother you (such as a child's mistake, another driver cutting you off in traffic, or a coworker's irritating habit) put you over the edge?

Restlessness. During waking hours are you aware of a vague sense that something isn't quite right or an even stronger feeling of wanting to bolt from your life? When it's time to rest, do you find ...

Related Topics: Rest

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Overloaded!

With the relentless sobbing of three preschoolers ringing in my ears, I succumbed to a full-blown mommy-meltdown. I sank into the nearest chair overwhelmed and shaking. For months I'd been running ragged on the fumes of an empty tank.   

The reality of this truth threatened every fiber of my being. I adored my "three musketeers" (all in diapers), who kept me running. But I also continued to minister ...

Related Topics: Guilt, Rest, Restoration, stress

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I Found Community

For many years on any given Sunday after church, I'd feel like Lisa Simpson, the daughter on the TV sitcom The Simpsons. As the Simpson family opens the door to their home after church, they breathe in deeply and declare Sunday afternoons the best time of the whole week. "It's the longest possible time before more church!" Lisa exclaims.

When I was younger, nothing beat the feeling of freedom as the ...

Related Topics: Church involvement, Community, Small groups

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Eat, Pray, Grow

My doctor and I were shocked. I, a seemingly healthy 40-year-old woman, had a blocked artery. Then there were my blood profiles: both cholesterol and blood sugar too high. I determined to set things right, chopping veggies and putting them into baggies, adding salads to each night's downsized dinner. As the knife struck the cutting board, I heard the Holy Spirit murmur, It takes time and commitment ...

Related Topics: Busyness, Food, Spiritual Growth

Kyria Talks to Margaret Feinberg

Margaret Feinberg didn't set out to become a Christian communicator. At age 18 she wanted to go to Georgetown University and study pre-law and public relations, but she didn't get in. Instead she attended Wake Forest University in North Carolina, the first of many God-driven course corrections in Margaret's life.

Margaret embarked on a journey that led her to graduate with a religion major, try ...