“I am the vine, and you are the branches. If any remain in me and I remain in them, they produce much fruit. But without me, they can do nothing." - John 15:5
My faith is growing every day this year! Trust me, between becoming brave and having faith has big as mustard seed I have felt God.
Write the Word
Let's start with Cultivate What Matter's epic product. They have several Write the Word journals on different topics of faith. I started my journey with the gratitude one, because so many people say that the more you are grateful the less negative that you are. Now, this is very simple; you are given a verse or a few verses and you write it out in your own handwriting. There is a spot for what you are grateful for that day, and the back of the page where you write the verse is a page where you can write whatever, plus a word of the day! Now, I do not do mine every day. I do mine on Wednesday for #WritetheWordWednesday and I do it when I most need it. There is also a kid option!
Prayer Bowl
This was a product that I had seen in the middle of my Tea Time magazine. They were advertising a handpainted bowl. While that is nice to have and I'll probably paint my own bowls in the future I have started out with the slips of paper in a plastic bag. So, I have a prayer "bowl" at work and at home. The work one is strictly for my coworkers, the company, and the company situations. It turned out to be a hit at work when people found out what I was doing that there are six of us praying in our company for each other and the company. My bowl at home is a little more tricky with prayers on the slips of papers. I tried doing the whole pray something each day, but that got tricky. So, I've gone to weekly prayers.
Devotional
I have had several devotionals over the years. I have a few lined up for the rest of the year. The one I am doing right now is Annie F. Downs' 100 Days to Brave. My best friend and I are loving this devotional, especially when it gut punches us. It makes it raw for us which is what a devotional should do! Are there devotionals that you have finished that you recommend?
Church & Serve
This was the biggest thing on my list. To find a church, and actually participate in that church. The Church of the Highlands was a huge answered prayer for me. The church is huge, with locations all over the state of Alabama. The Tuscaloosa campus is wonderful and we love it as a family. There is something for every age stage in our house. Plus, we love that this is a church that really gets out into the community. Trust me, I have been to a church that was too worried about pleasing the church council with a nice building instead of reaching the community. And it makes you sit back and wonder what kind of church you are attending.
Bible Study
There is one that I really miss with my best friend is doing an in-depth Bible study. I cannot wait until we do the next ones. We have to make a list of the Bible studies we want to do. I cannot wait to get a group of friends around a table filled with snacks, drinks, highlighters, commentaries, and have a huge filled discussion about God. I crave that right now.
Christian books
While I love romance and magical books, I do need a good reminder of God in nonfiction and fiction. And, I have been embracing different books this year. Lara Casey's books are some great starting points to Christian nonfiction. I hope to continue reading some Christian books. I'm totally up for suggestions!
Worship Playlist
This one is a huge hit with me lately. I love the worship songs at church, but I also love some good ole regular Christian music as well. And this music has really helped me on some days. I have linked my own faith playlist that is continuously updated.
Please let me know what else would you do for a closer relationship with God? What faith habits do you have?
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