Why do I want you to know Jesus?

It’s not so you vote like me, look like me, or make all the same choices that I do. It’s not because I think I’m better than you or smarter than you. It’s not because I’ve been brainwashed, and I want you to join my cult. And it’s certainly not because I’m ashamed of you or disappointed in you.

It’s because my heart aches for you to know there’s none other like Him.

It’s because He’s the greatest gift I’ve ever received, so why wouldn’t I want you to receive Him, too?

It’s because I know all that He has forgiven me of, and I’m still amazed by the unconditional love He willingly and daily offers me.

It’s because I want you to know the goodness of all that He offers you.

He is our God, who knew we could never earn our way to Him, and so He came for us.

He is our Good Shepherd who lovingly leads us through the darkest valleys and provides all that we need.

He is our Great High Priest who sacrificed Himself for us, who leans in close to listen to us, and who is right now praying the perfect prayers for us – praying us all the way Home.

I realize you see in vivid color that knowing Him hasn’t made me perfect. That in so many ways, I’m still so very me. And while I pray that I’m changing, that I’m different, that I’m more and more like Jesus, this has never been about me. I want you to know His perfection. His perfect love. His perfect grace. His perfect plans. His perfect forgiveness. His perfect ways. The unfailing mercy that He holds out to all who would call upon Him and believe.

I want you to know that you can cry out to Him, trust in Him, and follow His lead. I want you to know that Jesus isn’t a Republican or a Democrat but our good and perfect King. He’s not a ticket to the American dream or a free pass from hard times, but He is our very real and present hope, and He is the only way we can know peace for all eternity. I want you to know His ways are better, that He is far wiser, and that we weren’t meant to try to stumble through this life on our own.

I know we misrepresent Him and even misunderstand Him ourselves as those who call ourselves Christians. But don’t miss Him because of us.

He is good. The greatest good we can ever receive.

So this is what I want most right now.

I want you to know Jesus.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” John 14:6

“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” Romans 10:8-13

(For those who have friends and loved ones you have long been praying will come to know and love Jesus, I’m praying with you for them. Asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten their eyes to the truth of who Christ is.)

Much Love,
Kimberly

The siren song of our cell phones starts early in the day, doesn’t it? Certainly, I’m not saying the act of picking up our phones first thing in the morning is a sin, and I’m not over here trying to be legalistic. But I do think what we reach for first, and most, reveals much about what we desire or what we think will fulfill our desires.

It can’t hurt to ask ourselves why we’re grabbing our phones before we seek the Lord—in His Word or simply in prayer or quiet communion. What is it that we are desiring? Affirmation? Attention? Peace? Comfort? Distraction? Knowledge (because if we know it all, we think we have more control)? To make sure we’re accomplishing all the things so we look good to others? To feed the outrage over all that is going on in the world? The list could go on and on.

Psalm 25:1 reads, “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.” My ESV study Bible notes say that “I lift up my soul” is an idiom for “I direct my desire.” I love that. In the midst of all that this world and my phone seem to offer, I have to choose to direct my desire towards the Lord. On purpose. Looking to Him. Choosing Him. Reminding my heart, He holds all that I truly need.

May we become those who quietly rebel against the demands to immediately and daily share our thoughts and opinions with this world. May we become those who know we need the lens of Scripture to help us process all that’s going on—both within us and around us. May we lift our souls to Him before we reach to lift our phones.

Father God, how is it that I vow to choose differently, yet I find myself again and again scrolling before the day’s really rolling? And while I know there is grace, I also know I’m letting the world set my priorities and my pace. Help me remember that I need You more than I need anyone’s online approval. Help me remember that I need Your wisdom before I try to process the woes of this world or seek to bring hope to all that is so very wrong and hurtful. Help me remember that You alone are my source of unending peace, hope, and love that satisfies, not my phone. Help me seek You first. Speak to You first. Desire You most. To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. Amen.

It’s a battle. A daily one. And I pray these words are received not as condemnation but as the Father’s invitation to taste the sweetness of seeking Him first and most.

Blessings, dear friends,
Kimberly

Jesus, the One who reigns over every storm, knew we would face storms in this life. He was aware of the literal ice storms, the ICE storm (we can all agree it’s been a rage-stirring, painful mess, wherever you may land), and every personal storm you have faced already this year. And He, in His INFINITE kindness, prepares us for those things that would pound us and hound us. Shake us and try to break us. He has given us the keys to a life of stability and integrity when the storms rage all around.

Matthew 7:24-27 reads, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

I often forget that these words come at the end of a whole host of other words. This is Jesus’ closing statement at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, which begins with Matthew 5:1 and ends with this call to build our lives on everything He has just taught. A call not to empty religious activity (i.e., like the Pharisees who were excellent at keeping the law, but were really just whitewashed tombs – dead inside), but to hearts brought to life and changed by full and true surrender to Him.

And I’m sharing this today because maybe you are wondering what you should DO in these difficult days. If we are longing for wisdom, peace, and a life of true Kingdom impact, Matthew 5 – Matthew 7 is a great place to spend an extended amount of time. Because if Jesus called us to it, even saying we should build our lives ON it, why wouldn’t we want to live it?

Truth be told, it’s easy to look around at others and judge them, even yell at them, for how they are handling the current issues in this world. But this passage speaks into that—reminding us of the danger of judging and how desperately we need our own eyes and hearts checked. (See Matthew 7:1-5) And it’s easy to feel disheartened when very real storms threaten our well-being, but He speaks into that, as well—reminding us that we don’t have to live anxiously, for we have a good Father and Provider who knows and gives what we need. (See Matthew 6:25-34)

Here are some of the words I walked away with from my own time with this passage over the weekend. In EVERY season, I am called to live a life of:

Utter Christ-dependency. Humility. Generosity. Righteousness. Meekness, gentleness over abusiveness. Purity of heart, mind, and motive. Kindness. Prayerfulness. Compassion. Active love and mercy. Fasting. Trust. Obedience and surrender to the Lord. Honesty and integrity. Peacemaking. Sincere faith. Honor of God and others. Wisdom and discernment without self-righteous judgment. Forgiveness. Repentance. Rejoicing, even in persecution. Faithfulness. Hope. Goodness. Eternal mindedness. Light-giving, Kingdom-focused influence. A life where the teachings of Jesus are foundational to all that I say and do.

There’s so much more, and I do so encourage you to sit with it as well. Because if we want to know how to live well in these storms and prepare for other storms, there is no better source of wisdom than Jesus. There’s also no better day to let Him check our eyes and our hearts than this day. Goodness, how I need Him to check mine.

Let’s lean into Him, friends. Learn from Him. Follow Him. Trust in Him. Build our lives faithfully and fully upon Him.

Love in Christ,
Kimberly

I’m reading “The Watchmaker’s Daughter” by Larry Loftis for the first time right now – a historical account of the life and times of Corrie Ten Boom. I’ve also read “The Hiding Place” several times – a life-changing book I recommend to people every chance I get.

Corrie ended up being part of the topic of conversation on a phone call with a dear friend yesterday. I didn’t realize that a stroke had left her bedridden and unable to speak for the last five years of her life. A woman dedicated to making Christ known, stripped of her ability to share about Him. It can make you want to pause and ask, “Why, Lord?” Truthfully, it would be so easy to look at the whole of her life and be appalled by what she was allowed to endure. She was hiding Jews, protecting precious lives, only to end up in the very same camps.

I’m also reading through 1 Samuel right now in my time with the Lord. The story of David, anointed to be king but viciously pursued by a bloodthirsty King Saul. The struggles he faced were surely confusing and frustrating at the very least for David. And a hard truth struck me.

I expect ease.

Without actually coming out and saying it, I live as if I expect that being a “good Christian” earns us favor in the form of the blessing of comfort, ease, absence of pain, and a happily ever after story right here on earth. But these are not things God ever promised.

He had a call on David’s life, but He promised no pain-free path of ease in getting there.
He had a call on John the Baptist’s life, but He promised no fairy tale ending here on earth. Indeed, John ended up beheaded.
The same was true for Corrie. He had a beautiful call on her life, yet both the path and the earthly ending were rife with persecution and pain.

Ask any of those three now if the pain of this earth was worth it, and I know they would give an unhesitating and resounding “yes.” They would confirm that 2 Corinthians 4:17 is true, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”

But if we’re being completely honest? It can be quite terrifying to consider what the human soul and even body may endure in this life. This is where we must cling to the unfading promise of eternity for those who call on Jesus as their Lord – a future with no tears, no pain, no death. This is where we give thanks for a Savior who came and endured the human experience to its fullest extent. This is where we must cling to the knowledge that God is faithful, holy, loving, and good.

And in our fears of what might lie ahead, in our knowledge and acceptance that He has not promised us ease, we cling to the hope of Psalm 23.

The Lord is our Shepherd; we shall know no lack. Why?

Because the Shepherd who is leading us is our Creator – the One who purposefully made us, chose us, and gave His life for us.

The Shepherd tenderly tending to us is the sacrificial Lamb – the One who became like us, fully understands us, bled and died for us.

The Shepherd who is providing for us is our High Priest – the One who intercedes for us is the One who was willingly sacrificed in place of us.

The Shepherd watching over us is our King – the One seeing us all the way Home, the One who walks with us through the valleys, is ruler over all things.

And we can be mad at Him, frustrated by Him, and pull back from Him because of what He allows. Or we can bring our disappointments to Him and keep tucking ourselves in as close to Him as possible. Because why cheat ourselves out of all that we have in Him? We do not have the promise of ease, but we do have the promise of His presence. The promise of His mercy and goodness. The promise of His love. The promise of salvation in Him. The promise that He will be our refuge and our help. The promise that He can work all things together for good. The promise His sovereignty is forever inseparable from His holiness and goodness. The promise that this life isn’t the end of our story.

In all that feels unbearable and ununderstandable, we can trust Him. The One who leads us made us, loves us, became like us, intercedes for us, and rules in perfection over all things. This is our Shepherd. We will know pain and loss and heartbreak. But in the face of those things, we can know the abundance of His presence – our Shepherd, our Creator, our Lamb, our High Priest, our great King. And when the valley is at its very darkest, we can know that even the darkness is not dark to Him; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light with Him. (Psalm 139:12)

We can keep following Him. We can keep trusting Him. He knows the way. He is the Way.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Praying for you in your valleys, dear friends,
Kimberly

I know I just emailed you yesterday. But this feels incredibly important because, goodness gracious, life can show up so very hard, can’t it? As in, “curled up in a ball in the middle of the night just ready to give up on it all,” devastatingly and painfully hard.

I’ve had years when I felt like I was face down in the dirt by this time, barely crawling across the finish line – beat down and bloodied, so very brokenhearted over what the year had held. And then there have been years like this one, where I read back over my gratitude journal and sit in awe of the abundance of unexpected beauty and the kind evidence of healing. All of which leaves me thinking, “I’m so glad I made it through that year so I could see this year. I’m so glad I made it through those days so I could see these days.”

I don’t know what 2025 was like for you. Parts of it might have felt like pure hell. I want you to know I’m so glad you’re still here. I’m so glad you kept going. I’m so glad you persevered. I also want you to know that messy perseverance counts. Maybe you’re proud of yourself, too, or maybe you’re disappointed in how you handled everything. Failing and falling, cursing and weeping, stopping and starting over and over again, only to finally crawl across the finish line? It counts.

And I’m praying you see days when you can say it, too. That you’re so glad you made it through “that” year so that you could see a new year. That you’re so glad you made it through “that” excruciating season so that you could know the abundance of a new season. That you’re so glad you made it through that day so that you could see the goodness of this day.

Keep going, friend. Keep trusting Jesus and choosing His ways. I can’t promise you everything will work out how you want or when you want. But I can promise you this… God’s goodness and faithfulness haven’t run out. He will see you through. And where He calls you to press on and persevere – in a relationship, with a job or a calling, with challenges and just life itself – there will be good on the other side of perseverance and obedience. He is a Redeemer, a Restorer, a Healer, our Helper. Cry out to Him. Be wildly honest with Him. Ask for His wisdom and sustaining grace.

Where you find yourself barely crawling today, I pray you’ll find yourself standing, dancing, running in your tomorrows. Where you have sown in tears, I pray you reap in joy. I pray this new year is filled with unexpected beauty, evidence of healing, and tender shoots of hope. I pray that when the days and the nights feel long, and you’re tempted to quit it all, you’ll trust that there truly will be a day ahead when you’re so glad you didn’t give up.

Keep going, friend. I’m praying for you and cheering you on. And with Jesus by your side, you’ll never walk alone.

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!” Psalm 27:13-14 (NKJV)

“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!” Psalm 30:11-12 (ESV)

“I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Psalm 18:1-2 (ESV)

Love in Christ,
Kimberly

We struggle as human beings with not knowing what the days ahead may hold. We worry about what pain, trials, loss, and sorrows might be lurking just around the corner. Because the nature of life in a broken, fallen, sin-sick world is that life will hold those things.

Yet, no matter what the days ahead may hold, the Lord reminds us of what we need to keep holding to.

Hebrews 10:23 instructs, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hopewithout wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” And Hebrews 3:14, “For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firmto the end.” Luke 8:15, “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fastin an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” And 1 Corinthians 15:1-2, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the wordI preached to you—unless you believed in vain.”

Will this new year hold hard things? Without a doubt. But we must continue to hold fast to the confidence we first placed in the gospel and in Jesus Christ. We can hold tightly to His Word. Why? Because He is still faithful and true. Our hope has not changed because He never changes. We don’t have to live chained in fear to the what-ifs crowding our hearts and minds.

We see this truth in a beautiful Old Testament passage:

Zechariah 9:9-12 –
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
today I declare that I will restore to you double.”

And it’s that phrase “prisoners of hope” I can’t shake. So many days, I feel more like a prisoner of fear than one held tightly by hope. I build strong towers around my heart instead of trusting Him to be my stronghold. But this passage gives us the reason for our hope – our mighty and faithful King! Jesus, who humbly came and died for us, setting us free from slavery to death, sin, and fear.

We can face the days ahead as prisoners of hope – those who are HELD FAST by the hope we’re holding fast to. Not hope placed in anything we can do, but hope in who Christ is and what He can do and still does. He still uses trials and difficulties to strengthen, sanctify, and mature us. He still redeems and works all things together for good (Romans 5:3-5; James 1:2-4; Romans 8:28-30). He still lifts souls out of waterless pits and puts His living water within them (Zechariah 9:11, Psalm 40:1-3; John 7:38). He still breathes life into dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14). He still turns hearts of stone into hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). He still offers forgiveness and restores joy (Psalm 51:7-12). He still brings life where there was death, making us new creations from the inside out (Ephesians 2:1-10; 2 Corinthians 5:17). He still does exceedingly and abundantly above and beyond what we can even ask, hope, or think according to His power at work in us and those we love (Ephesians 3:20). We are still saved by His blood, sealed by His Spirit, and held fast by His love.

Do you feel more like a prisoner of fear or a prisoner of hope right now? Ask the Lord to lead you to words in His Word to cling to. Ask Him to help you remember the confidence you first placed in Him and to remind you that He has not changed! Ask Him to let the hard times that leave you tempted to feel cynical and jaded cause you to become more deeply rooted instead.

May we hold unswervingly to the hope we have in Him, for He is unfailingly good, unfathomably wise, and unendingly faithful and true. And may we let His sure and steady hope hold firmly on to us as it surrounds us, grounds us, guards us, and guides us.

Happy New Year, friends,
Kimberly

When I bring a prayer request to God, I typically already have an answer and plan in mind. I also have a timeline for when I would prefer said plans and answers to play out. Which would be – immediately.

I want His answers to make sense to me, feel good to me, and, of course, happen quite quickly. But as I’ve been reflecting on Christmas and God’s answer of “Jesus” to mankind’s need for rescue, I’m seeing yet again how much I struggle with being wise in my own eyes.

Isaiah 9:6-7 reads,
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

And it’s that very first line that gets me.

Who sends a child to rescue captives? Who offers a baby when the chaos of the world demands the right-now strong hand of a conquering king?

Our good and wise God does, that’s who.

His people longed for a mighty man of great renown. “Send rescue now! Just give us a strong political leader, a king of our choosing, who will set things right!” But God gave a better gift than they even knew to ask for. He sent a child who would grow to be a suffering servant. He sent His Son to save them, not immediately, but for all of eternity. A King born to die so that all who come to know Him might live.

His answer would arrive at the right time and unfold over time. A helpless babe sent to a world desperately in need of help. His newborn cries, the perfect answer to mankind’s cries for deliverance.

And this reminder to stop looking for answers that align with my reasoning gives me hope. When life feels hard, when relief and rescue don’t seem to be coming fast enough, when it looks like God isn’t answering our prayers as we hoped… we can trust He is doing infinitely more than we could ever ask, hope, or imagine.

God knows what He’s doing. We can trust how He’s moving. He sees us, hears us, and loves us, and one day, His Son will return to fully and completely rescue us.

Until then, we keep bringing Him our prayers. We keep waiting on Him with hope. Because this is who rules and reigns. The One whose shoulders bore the weight of the cross? We can trust Him to carry every one of our cares. He is our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Ever learning to trust Him more,
Kimberly

There’s a running joke in my house about how if it’s hand-wash-only—clothes or dishes—I don’t want it. Who has the time?

But as I went about cleaning a new pan I recently purchased in hot sudsy water, one that I love and do not want to damage, I got to thinking about how we don’t mind the extra time and effort if we truly care about something, which soon turned my thoughts toward Jesus.

Jesus on His hands and knees.
Jesus bent low to wash His disciples’ feet.
Jesus, demonstrating servant-leadership, humility, and love.
Jesus, helping us see that human beings? We’re all “hand wash only.”

We can want people to change and clean up quickly—as if we can toss them into some washing machine for the human soul—with little to no effort on our part and definitely with no intimate, messy contact. But Jesus never demonstrated an easy, distant method. He calls us to love and serve from a place of closeness and humility. He calls us to honor and give tender care. He calls us to get up close and personal, no matter how dirty—to touch with our own hands and give of our own time as we live lives that point others to Him, the One who willingly heals and cleanses and makes sins like scarlet as white as snow.

There’s no production line. There’s no fast track. Meaning that if we truly care about the well-being of others, about their very souls, we will have to bend low. We’ll humbly love like Jesus. His hands, the hands that formed us, came and fed us. Broke bread for us and touched the leprous. Washed filth-caked feet and were ultimately pierced for us.

Philippians 2:3-8 spells this out so beautifully for us as the Apostle Paul describes Jesus and calls us to be like Him, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Oh, how I need His help in living and loving more like this. I confess that I don’t want the messiness and needs of others to cost me too much. Quite honestly, I just want people to be easier—less fuss and inconvenience, you know? Yet Christ continually gets up close and personal with my most shameful of messes. He shows up and cares for me time and again with great grace and compassion—never rushing me, meeting me again and again with fresh mercies as He gently leads me forward on His paths of righteousness.

And so I pray…

Father God, forgive my selfish and self-protecting heart that leads to a life lived with unloving hands. Help me grow in compassion, making me more and more aware of what I am doing with my hands. Our hands are one of our chief tools for sinning against You and others. But instead of letting them be weapons for wounding or instruments aiding in my areas of idolatry, help me use my hands like You, Jesus. Help me take the time to tangibly love and serve others. Instead of constantly clinging to distractions, such as mindlessly scrolling or carelessly spending, let my hands be found moving in ways that are faithful, helpful, holy, and good. Convict me of where my hands and even my time are not being used in ways that honor You. Lead me to those around me who need a little extra care. Remind me that You ran toward me, and You still take Your time with me. Help me refuse to avoid those who feel extra hard to love. Help me remember every human heart is “hand wash only.” Amen.

As we move quickly toward the end of this year, may we ask the Lord to do a new work in us and to work through us. How can you use your hands to bless someone else in a tangible way today? Know that I’m over here, prayerfully asking the same question.

Blessings, friends,
Kimberly