Coffee and Prayer With Stormy

Sometimes the wilderness makes us miss Egypt, not because Egypt was good for us, but because at least we knew what to expect. But familiar doesn’t always mean better, and uncertainty doesn’t mean God has forgotten us.

God was teaching the Israelites to trust Him for their daily provision, and He even built rest into His instructions. What a reminder that we don’t have to live in fear of tomorrow when we serve a God who is faithful today.

Are we trusting Him, or are we picking back up what we already surrendered because we’re afraid there won’t be enough?

📖 Scripture to read: Exodus 16:4, 18–30; Matthew 6:25–34; Proverbs 3:5–6.

Marriage is more than two people sharing a life. Scripture gives us a picture of two people becoming one, learning to love and serve one another in a way that reflects Christ.

For husbands, that means sacrificial love and Christlike leadership. For wives, it means respect and willing submission. For both, it means laying down pride and learning to put the other person before yourself.

The goal isn’t simply to stay married. It’s to become the kind of husband and wife who point each other toward Jesus.

What does that look like in your marriage today?

Scripture: Ephesians 5:22–33 | 1 Peter 3:7

There are seasons we wish we could forget, and then there are seasons we look back on and realize just how faithful God was through them.

Sometimes gratitude comes from what God has given us. Sometimes it comes from what He brought us out of. And sometimes it comes simply from knowing that when we couldn’t see what He was doing, He never stopped working.

Today, I’m choosing to look back with gratitude instead of regret, with praise instead of “what if,” and with confidence that the same God who carried me then will carry me through whatever comes next.

We really do have so much to be thankful for.

Someone needs to hear this today: you are not too far gone for God to redeem you.

Scripture is full of people who made terrible choices, sinned against God, and yet He still used them. Moses. Jacob. Rahab. David. Peter. Paul. And then there’s the thief on the cross, who turned to Jesus in the final moments of his life and was promised, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Your past isn’t bigger than Jesus. Your sin isn’t greater than His grace.

If you’ve been believing that God could never want someone like you, I pray you’ll watch today’s Coffee & Prayer. You don’t have to clean yourself up before you come to Jesus. Come to Him as you are and let Him begin the work of transforming your life.

You are not too far gone. Jesus is still calling you.

Sometimes we get so focused on figuring out what happens next that we forget we don’t have to know the whole story. We just have to trust the Author.

You may be in a chapter right now that doesn’t make sense. You may not know what’s coming next or understand why things are changing. But God sees the whole story when we can only see one page.

Keep turning the page. Keep trusting Him. He’s already in the next chapter.

Today was one of those days that reminded me just how much I hate saying goodbye.

We went from soccer pictures after church to a homegoing celebration for someone we love who is still very much here, but who we know won’t be here forever.

He has stage 4 terminal cancer. These days, he’s getting weaker. He doesn’t look like himself anymore, and it’s hard to watch someone you love slowly fade.

But there’s something beautiful about his peace.

He knows where he’s going.

He’ll tell you himself. He’ll joke that he’s beating us there. A few weeks ago, we were talking about whether we get new bodies when we get to Heaven, and he said, “I’ll let y’all know when I get there in a couple weeks.”

That’s the kind of peace he has.

And today, he called this his homegoing celebration.

But here’s the thing: knowing he’s ready doesn’t make it easy for the rest of us.

You can be completely confident that someone is going to see Jesus and still not want to let them go. You can celebrate the life they’ve lived and still dread the moment you know is coming.

And when you leave a day like today, it hits you that this may have been the last time you see them.

That isn’t easy.

On the way home, I found myself thinking about all the people I’ve loved and lost. Uncle Moody. The baby we lost. My mom. My Pawpaw. Friends and classmates. And how sometimes one goodbye brings every other goodbye right back to the surface.

Then I came across this video from Lady A, and something about their story and this song hit me differently today.

If you watch it, you’ll understand why.

The song is about those moments when life doesn’t make sense, when things happen that we never would have chosen or understood, and yet God is still working on something bigger than what we can see.

And sitting there listening to it today, through everything I was already feeling, one thought kept coming back to me:

I don’t have to understand the picture to trust the Painter.

I don’t understand every piece of the picture.

I don’t understand why some people have to leave us when they do. I don’t understand why some prayers aren’t answered the way we begged God to answer them.

But I don’t have to understand it to know that God is still good.

He’s still faithful when we don’t understand. His grace is still enough. His love is still enough.

And because of Jesus, I know that for those who belong to Him, death isn’t the end.

So tonight, I’m choosing to trust the One who can see what I can’t.

He’s painting a bigger picture.

And one day, we’ll see it too.

There’s a strange season of motherhood where you look at your child and think, “Where did my baby go?”

They’re becoming more independent. They have their own friends, their own interests, their own opinions, and suddenly “Mama” is being replaced with “bro” more times than I care to count.

And while I’m incredibly proud of the person my child is becoming, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the little boy who needed me for everything.

But maybe that’s the part we have to learn as moms: our children don’t stop needing us. They just start needing us differently.

So if you’re in that weird in-between season too, wondering if your prayers, conversations, corrections, and all those little lessons are actually sinking in, keep going. Keep planting. Keep praying. Keep showing up. What you’re pouring into your child is not wasted, even when you can’t see the fruit yet.

I still believe Proverbs 31:28, even in the seasons when my child isn’t exactly acting like he’s ready to rise up and call me blessed. 😂

But that’s okay. He’s growing, and I’m learning how to parent the child in front of me instead of holding on to the little boy he used to be.

So mama, if you’re in that season too, you’re not alone. You don’t have to raise them perfectly. You just have to faithfully point them back to Jesus.

Keep going. Keep praying. Keep showing up. God is still working, even in the “bro” season.

God isn’t just a Sunday God or a Wednesday night God. He’s God every day of the week.

And every day gives us opportunities to love somebody, encourage somebody, meet a need, pray for someone, or simply slow down long enough to notice the person God has put right in front of us.

We may not always recognize the opportunity when it comes, but God does.

So this week, ask Him for eyes to see and ears to hear. You never know what somebody is carrying until you stop long enough to see them.

And remember, we don’t have to. WE GET TO!

There are seasons when the hardest question isn’t “Where are You, God?” but “When?”

When will this chapter end? When will this door open? When will the pain ease? When will I finally get to move forward?

And sometimes, in the middle of asking “when,” we forget to look back and remember all the times God has already carried us through. The moments we thought would break us. The seasons we thought would never end. The times we wondered how we would make it out.

But we did.

Not because we had everything figured out, but because He was there through every moment of it.

So if you’re asking God “when” today, I hope this reminds you that you don’t have to know the when to trust the Who.

He sees you. He is with you. And He is always on time.

If we’re not careful, we will fall for anything. We have to stay awake, stay grounded in God’s Word, and pay attention to what’s happening around us. There is too much happening for us to become complacent.

“Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:6