For thirty days we have stood beside our cisterns. Together we have examined the cracks, removed the debris, faced the places of dryness, and invited the Lord into areas that needed repentance and healing. We have talked about fear, pride, shame, striving, distraction, bitterness, people-pleasing, false sources, divided hearts, and all the things that prevent us from fully receiving the Living Water God desires to pour into our lives. Yet repentance was never the destination.

This morning, after I had once again prayed to the Lord about this week’s blog post—which was already a week late—I took a break to read. In the book I was reading, the author was discussing purpose and calling. Immediately, I felt led to turn her statements into questions. The first question was: What work do I hope to produce for the Lord’s glory? The second question was: What do I envision God wants me to become? At my age, you would think I would have had an immediate ans

There is something sobering about the book of Book of Joel. Joel does not begin with comfort.He begins with devastation. Fields stripped bare.Vines destroyed.Joy withered.The sound of abundance replaced with emptiness. And yet hidden within the warning is one of the most hope-filled promises in Scripture: “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten…” — Joel 2:25 At first glance, this verse feels deeply comforting.And it is. But before restoration comes repentanc