Author Archives: Shelley Johnson

Dust. Broken world. Broken people. Shattered heart. Shattered dreams. These are all phrases we’re familiar with, realities we may even live with. In this second chapter, Lysa builds on what we already know, what’s familiar, to give us something new to grasp about how we can walk with God through our hardest seasons, our worstContinue reading “It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way — Chapter 2”

Between Two Gardens Have you ever had a perspective changer?  An ah-ha moment where what you thought was happening wasn’t at all what was happening? Maybe it was that time you were just sure that your friend was hiding something from you, was betraying your friendship. And you stewed. And stewed, convinced your friendship was over.Continue reading “It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way — Chapter 1”

Recently, I attended a Good Friday Breakfast. Many in my church gathered on this particular morning as a way to remember together what Jesus endured and how He died. Our pastor commented that without that day, without Jesus’ death, we wouldn’t have been gathered there. At all. That jolted me. How much I take forContinue reading “It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way — The Introduction”

Life is full of tensions — good things and bad things happen nearly simultaneously, pulling our emotions like a cosmic tug-of-war. We watch with deep sadness the burning of a beloved cathedral like Notre Dame while in the same moment we weep tears of gratitude to see people linked arm-in-arm singing hymns, united by theirContinue reading “It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way — Getting Started”

John Camp, my maternal grandpa, was one of those rare people who loved life a lot and loved people even more. After 96 great years of life, he finally breathed his last here on earth, but he leaves behind a legacy of love, laughter, and light. Grandpa started life an orphan, yet never once inContinue reading “Love, Laughter, and Light”

What we believe about God and His nature has a profound effect on the way we pray. If we believe He’s an angry God, looking for us to do something wrong so He can strike us down, then our prayers will reflect a distrust and even a fear of Him. If we believe He isContinue reading “The Way We Pray — Part Two”

Did you know that your learning style and personality type can impact they way you pray? As we discover more about ourselves, we’ll find ways to pray that really open us up to the person and power of God. Remembering What Prayer Is In the months since I’ve read and listened to J.D. Walt’s DailyContinue reading “The Way We Pray — Part One”

It’s so tempting to dismiss prayer as unnecessary because we think it’s silly to tell God what He already knows. And if that’s all prayer is, it’d be silly indeed. It would also seem senseless to pray if we thought God didn’t hear us or wasn’t moved by our prayers. In fact, it would seemContinue reading “Why Pray? Part Three”

If we’re honest with ourselves, at some point we’ve each wondered if our prayers matter. And we either just keep praying because, well, that’s what we do. Or we stop the conversation with God completely. Or we dig-in and start investigating this mysterious spiritual practice. That’s what we’re doing in this series. We’re investigating —Continue reading “Why Pray? Part Two”

Have you ever asked yourself, why pray, because you’re pretty sure God already knows everything anyway. Why tell Him again? Have you ever asked yourself, why pray, because your prayers don’t get answered the way you want them to? You are not alone! Over the last few weeks we’ve been laying a great foundation forContinue reading “Why Pray? Part One”