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Strengthening Spirituality

“Speak to me, your servant is listening…”

How to Make Big Life Decisions: What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do

We’ve all been there-you have a big decision to make and you are feeling the pressure to make a decision quickly. These crossroads in life are familiar to most. Often, the road in which you choose could change your life. These decisions can come in the form of a big job change, a move to…

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by merrickgallegos November 3, 2022November 9, 2022

88 of My Favorite Fall Joys and How to Truly Embrace the Fall Season

Life can be overwhelmingly busy, which makes it so easy to gloss over simple yet meaningful gifts God has blessed us with that often fill our days. But if you really set your focus each morning to find and experience these beautiful blessings throughout your day, you will see how bountiful they truly are. I…

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by merrickgallegos October 17, 2022October 17, 2022

3 Types of Joy Stealers

1. Focusing on Other’s Blessings and Forgetting About Your Own “I’m too busy working on my own grass to notice if yours is greener.” Anonymous God has placed abundant blessings in each person’s life, but so often these blessings can be overlooked. Many of us are too concerned with other people’s blessings, and this leads…

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by merrickgallegos September 13, 2022September 13, 2022

If You’re Feeling Burnt Out, Stressed, or Irritable, Read this.

“Your life is the by-product of your lifestyle. By life I mean your experience of the human condition, and by lifestyle I mean the rhythms and routines that make up your day-to-day existence. The way you organize your time. Spend your money. There is a saying in business literature that I love: “Every system is…

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by merrickgallegos July 28, 2022July 29, 2022

4 Christian Books + Devotionals I’m Loving

Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10). My favorite way to start each day is to wake up early, sit with a cup of coffee, my journal, and prayer devotionals. It truly helps me prepare for each day, and I honestly feel like my days run so much smoother when I take…

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by merrickgallegos July 12, 2022July 12, 2022

3 Steps to Spiritual Surrender

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…” Ecclesiastes 3:1 Spiritually Surrendering I was talking with a friend of mine who just moved back after moving to the south with her husband and two kids. Her husband had gotten laid off right in the middle of Covid and…

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by merrickgallegos July 7, 2022July 7, 2022

Finding Moments of Transcendence in Your Everyday

The mystery that is life surrounds us. As we go about taking care of our responsibilities throughout the day, we can choose to take a few moments to be with what is greater than ourselves and revel in it (HuffPost). What is Transcendence in Simple Terms? What’s a moment you go back in time that…

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by merrickgallegos May 10, 2022June 6, 2022

The Realization that Changed My Life

“To realize that you are not your thoughts is when you begin to awaken spiritually” (Eckhart Tolle). This post may contain Amazon Affiliate Links (paid links). I was so upset. I sat down with my sister for lunch to tell her what was going on. I was actually pretty ashamed to verbalize what I had been…

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by merrickgallegos April 20, 2022April 21, 2022

A Step by Step Guide to Actually Make Your Dreams a Reality

Based on: You Are a Badass-How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero This post may contain Amazon Affiliate Links (paid links). “If you want to live a life you’ve never lived, you have to do things you’ve never done”. -Jen Sincero I am not kidding you, I am…

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by merrickgallegos February 16, 2022March 24, 2022

5 Powerful Steps Towards Truly Forgiving Someone

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7). We’ve all been there. Someone close to you did something to you that made you angry, upset, hurt, or sad. Maybe it was a one time offense, or perhaps it’s a hurt that’s replayed on a repeating cycle. We all have a choice on…

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by merrickgallegos February 2, 2022February 2, 2022

5 Bible Verses to Soothe a Broken Heart

This post is for those whose hearts have been shattered in two. For those who put on a brave face but are crumbling on the inside. For those who are weak and weary and find it next to impossible to get out of bed in the morning. For those who are experiencing pain beyond what…

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by merrickgallegos January 23, 2022January 24, 2022

3 Secrets to Complete and Utter Happiness

We live in a world of distractions. We have trained our eyes to look from one shiny thing to the next. But material goods will never satisfy us. We will always long for the next new shiny thing. Because of our infatuation with worldly things, we are often forgetting to seek the only one who…

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by merrickgallegos January 19, 2022January 20, 2022

3 Highly Effective Stress Relievers for Christians

“When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy” (Psalm 94:19). Stress and anxiety can come in many forms and sometimes you never know what could trigger it, leaving us always vulnerable to its trap. Jesus experienced his own anxiety and fear first hand when he came to us in human form. Because…

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by merrickgallegos January 9, 2022January 9, 2022

Quick Practices to Break the Habit of Complaining and Live a Life Full of Gratitude

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). There are days that I wake up a grump. The weather is dreary, the same mundane tasks seem endless, and I have a heavy head from a wakeful sleep the night before. Have you been there?…

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by merrickgallegos January 5, 2022January 6, 2022

The Alchemist Quotes: Finding Your Life’s Purpose

This post may contain Amazon Affiliate Links (paid links). I recently read the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It is a story about a shepherd named Santiago who leaves everything he knows to discover treasure in Egypt. During his quest, he learns many lessons but most importantly Santiago discovers the importance of listening to his…

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by merrickgallegos December 28, 2021June 6, 2022

How to Keep a Vibrant Prayer Life When You Have No Time

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.  (Mark 1:35) How much time do you have to spare for prayer? For me, it started with 10 minutes before I began getting ready for work and the kids…

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by merrickgallegos December 22, 2021December 22, 2021

Meaningful Coincidences

There I was in unfamiliar town in Wyoming, about to move into a house with strangers, hours away from anything or anyone I knew. My parents found a host family that was going to take me in while I completed my student teaching at an elementary school. I was so grateful for these sweet people,…

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by merrickgallegos December 13, 2021December 13, 2021

Jesus Take the Wheel

It took me a long time to let go of the steering wheel to my life. I wanted my life to go a certain way, a path I had already chosen without consulting with the Lord. I just flippantly made decisions I felt would suit me best in the moment. I took many wrong turns,…

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by merrickgallegos December 6, 2021December 6, 2021

Breaking Away From the Chains of Regret

“You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.” Psalm 86:5 There are so many things I did in my past that I wish I could take back; Mistakes, embarrassments, resentments, all things that remind me of the far from perfect human I am. For many years, I would…

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by merrickgallegos November 30, 2021November 30, 2021

Daily Guidance

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). Awareness of Jesus’ Presence Most mornings, I have my quiet prayer time in the morning where I begin my day feeling clear headed and energized. But so…

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by merrickgallegos October 18, 2021November 4, 2021

The Best Things in Life Are Free

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Isaiah 55:2 Finding Joy in the Simple Things There is a huge misconception of the importance of money to live…

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by merrickgallegos October 11, 2021November 4, 2021

Release My Fears

Overwhelming Anxiety Recently, I have had extreme fear and anxiety watching and listening to the news. So much hate, division, and devastation. Many times, I have trapped myself in an anxiety filled state by engrossing myself in this destructive habit. Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the…

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by merrickgallegos October 11, 2021November 1, 2021

Listening to God’s Gentle Calling

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 There Are No Coincidences I pulled up to the grocery store and I noticed an older woman in a run-down van next to me. She was outside of her car talking on her phone. She looked frantic and upset. When I…

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by merrickgallegos August 22, 2021November 1, 2021

Carpe Diem

 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:18-19 The Gift of Today I feel…

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by merrickgallegos July 20, 2021November 1, 2021

Pump the Breaks

Hot Mess There are some days I am what one would call a “hot mess”. On these days, I am running around like a mad woman. The tasks and chores on my to do list are overwhelming. The phone buzzing and ringing is making me even more spastic. I start putting pressure on myself to…

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by merrickgallegos August 25, 2021November 1, 2021

The Armor of God

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly…

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by merrickgallegos August 3, 2021November 1, 2021

Soaking in the Simple Things

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”   Matthew 18:3 Be More like Little Children Have you ever observed a baby when you give them an…

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by merrickgallegos July 16, 2021November 1, 2021

Discovering God Through Precious Time Spent

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28 Morning Bliss One of my favorite things to do to spend time with God is sit outside in the early morning during the spring and summer with a cup of coffee and my prayer journal. I think…

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by merrickgallegos June 27, 2021November 1, 2021

What’s God’s Will for Me?

But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because tho defendest them; let the also that love thy name be joyful in thee.” Psalm 5:11 Achieving a Fruitful Life God placed you on this earth for a very specific reason. He wants you to achieve many…

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by merrickgallegos June 27, 2021October 27, 2021

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I'm Merrick and I help people build prayer filled, warm, loving homes filled with delightful meals, lovely surroundings, healthy living, and memorable gatherings with loved ones! I'm so glad you're here!

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