Quotes from Margaret Feinberg

Always remain suspicious that God is up to something good.

God sits enthroned, ready to listen, to help.

Prayer might not change things, but it will change my perspective of things. Prayer might not change the past, but inevitably, it changes the present.

Joy is a weapon we use to fight life's battles.

I had been searching for joy in the relatively good times of life, now I had to find joy amidst darkness and agony.

Whenever your thoughts spiral, work to identify the lie at the core of your negative thinking. Look up what Scripture says about it, denounce the lie, and declare the truth aloud with boldness.

Remember: the neurons that fire together wire together, so you can reroute and redeem your thinking patterns.

as he huffed across the rocky edge.

Hospitality has a hidden power that is difficult to explain but even harder to deny.

Leif's hands pressed on my shoulders, muscles turned

The journey to joy begins with acceptance.

God had been intentional in each gathering. He used these encounters to uncover a deep need and satiate a deep hunger.

My deepest hunger was my longing for connectedness and friendship.

Shepherds often slept across the openings of their homemade sheepfolds, guarding the animals from predators and thieves with their own bodies. When Jesus describes himself as "the door" of the sheepfold in John 10:9, he is painting a rich portrait of being both protector and provider.

Though I had read the story many times before, I never realized until that moment that shepherds carefully keep track of their flocks by constantly counting, continually checking.

Just as salt brings out the best in food, so too, Christ brings out the best in us as others experience the flavor of Christ through us.

IN the midst of a busy life, we can all create a space to taste and see God's goodness. This begins by recognizing food as a gift from God instead of a commodity. Every mealtime is an opportunity to be on the lookout for Christ to reveal himself in surprising ways. We can all pause in order to pay attention to the One who has provided the food before us

From the beginning, bread was shared around a table—a table of working together, a table of living together, a table of vulnerability, a table of sacrifice, a table of thanksgiving. God set this table for the Israelites in the wilderness so they remember their deliverance. Christ set this table for the disciples in the upper room so we remember his sacrifice.

We are created to live life around a table in the taking and breaking, giving and sharing, knowing and being known. Bread welcomes us into the community for which our souls were made.

In a desire to help, I cleaned and tossed the leftovers for the first few days. Then I became curious, for it seemed as if the bread had been left purposely to linger on the tables. "Because it's holy," Mama Vered explained. "We offer it to the poor, and if they do not take it, we feed the birds and fish, but we never throw bread away.

Bread plays a sacred role in Jewish life. Every loaf contains an element of mystery and hallowedness. Each bite provides a reminder of the privilege of food, not to be taken for granted, and of the hope of blessing the bread in the messianic future.

didn't plan to spend this amount of time these past weeks," Lynne said. "But I have learned a lot. I know my sheep and they know me, but this was a different kind of knowing. Because of what we've been through, there's a greater trust between Piaget and me than with the other sheep.

Most of us discover early on that it's safer to hide behind prayers that can't be measured, petitions so nebulous they don't require intervention from God.

The same is true for God, and I long to experience that depth of love in my relationship with Christ.