About Dena
“First and foremost, I’m a Daughter of the King and a long-time Christ follower. I’m also a dog mom who enjoys reading Christian books, cardio drumming, traveling often, and I’m a bit of a technology geek. My life has seen its fair share of curve-balls and I’ve found that I’ve become closer to Christ in each trial as He’s comforted me and shown me that I can solely put my faith and trust in Him. 2 Corinthians 1:4 NLT says “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” I feel thankful and blessed for the messes in my life – as they have brought me closer to God. Through the messes, God has given me a message to share with you.”
#NoMessNoMessage
~Dena
05
Sep '20
Unmet Expectations
05
Sep '20
Two quotes* online popped up in front of my face within hours of each other, and I couldn’t stop contemplating either of them or their meaning. In context, both were referencing God. While both different statements, my thought process continued ruminating on them toward the same thought pattern:
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25
Apr '20
Hope
25
Apr '20
“What would I do at this time without hope?” I’ve asked myself that question many times over the last few weeks of being at home in isolation. The coronavirus is front and center everywhere. Jobs are being lost, people are getting sick, some losing their lives, the economy is falling quicker than a lead balloon and we can’t escape any of it when turning on the tv.
I’m not going to sugar coat it – week one of isolation (5 weeks ago for me starting to work from home daily) was a bit tough for me. Everyone was nervous and we didn’t know much about this virus (not that we
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29
Feb '20
Praying in All Seasons
29
Feb '20
Our pastor has recently been teaching on the various aspects of prayer. So many things can be changed through prayer – mainly, our own hearts. As I’ve pondered these last few weeks of teaching, I’ve been seeing a lot more things about prayer online. Maybe it’s just that it’s in the forefront of my mind that I’m noticing this, however, it’s been consistent.
One of the things that I’ve been focused on recently about prayer is something that went along the lines of this: “Just because you may not feel close to God doesn’t mean you should stop praying. Your prayers don’t
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04
Jan '20
Jesus Wept
04
Jan '20
Have you ever wondered what’s the shortest verse in the KJV Bible? Maybe not, but it’s right there in John. While it may be the shortest verse, the impact is monumental.
“Jesus wept”. – (John 11:35 KJV)
How comforting is it to know that Jesus actually weeps? Not that we desire for Jesus to cry. My point is – Jesus weeps with me. Jesus weeps with you. Jesus; God in the flesh wept! How comforting to know that
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09
Nov '19
(Remind Me) Whose I Am
09
Nov '19
Does the enemy ever get completely in your head and wreak havoc with your thoughts? Just recently this very thing happened to me with something in my life. When looking back, it really wasn’t “that” big of a deal, and I have no idea how or why I allowed this thought to get to me so bad, but I did. I think when the enemy gets in our head, until we recognize what is going on, we sometimes keep going down the path that he’s creating for us; and I did exactly that. Down the “rabbit hole”. This, in turn, created a “pity party” in
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02
Nov '19
Is it Maybe Something More?
02
Nov '19
As I headed out the door one day last week, a bit late mind you, I found that nearly every time I went to leave, there was something I remembered I was forgetting. First it was my computer. Delay. Pack it up in its bag and time to go. Supplements. Forgot to take those. Got each one out of the bottle, took them – I need my vitamins! Time to go! Oops.. needed to send that text message to a friend so I didn’t forget later. Quickly completed. Time to leave! Half way out the door and remembered I needed to ask Google to Play Smile FM for the dogs while I’m gone. “Hey Google, play Smile FM”. “Ok, playing Smile FM”. Nothing played. I
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26
Oct '19
Control Girls (and Guys)
26
Oct '19
Do I even want to talk about being someone who likes to be “in control”? Not really….. but it’s good to know that I’m not alone, as many people of the Bible were themselves people who took control of situations that God already had under control. Eve, Sarai (Sarah), and even Rebekah were Control Girls. David and Saul were Control Guys. I’m thankful that I can take heart and learn from the warnings and lessons from some of these people in the Bible.
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19
Oct '19
Not What I Had Planned
19
Oct '19
I recently saw a photo online of the Mississippi River and the various paths it has taken over the course of its existence. Did you know the Mississippi River is a dynamic and changing river? Its course has already changed numerous times and will eventually change again.* It has jumped back and forth and winded this way and that way, and there were so many paths along the way, at one point, to keep it steady and on the same path. they simply built walls around it. The boundaries were set. It’s not moving again. But even after the
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28
Sep '19
Is Your Tank on E?
28
Sep '19
Like me, do you ever get weary in spirit? It’s nearly debilitating. Have you done this? You just feel like a deflated balloon at times? Always tired and just general feelings of exhaustion? Do you ever end up with your own tank on empty just trying to fill everyone else’s tanks?
There comes times in our lives where we need to recharge ourselves. We can do so much for others that we wear ourselves down to the point where we have nothing left to give. I will be the first to say that things are NOT
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21
Sep '19
God Will Find Us
21
Sep '19
I was driving this morning, listening to The Message on Sirius XM and the DJ said something that hit me really quickly.. and somewhat hard. Of course, this isn’t a new thought, but it’s just amazing how God will let you hear something again and it just hits you differently this time – kind of like a ton of bricks. I think as we experience life and we go through things, when we hear something again, we have a different perspective and different circumstances in which to apply it.
This is what he said: “As children of God, we can’t run far because He has a way of finding us”.
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