Rise and Shine sweet friends! We have made it through another year.

10 years ago, this idea, this notion to read God’s Word together and grow closer to Jesus stirred my heart.

I took a baby step in December of 2011. On the first day of January 2012, God did IMMEASURABLY MORE than I could ever think or imagine.

He grew this little space and He drew others to His heart through our original site, Shine Girls.

If you have been here since the beginning, 10 years ago, God bless your sweet bones.

It certainly has not always been pretty. You have watched me literally grow up before your very eyes, and I have gotten the most incredible view into many of your lives as well along the way.

My writing has changed a lot since those early days. He continues to stir my heart for His Word and His people, even when I stubbornly refuse to move forward.

He, the Gentleman that He is, whispers faintly into the deepest parts of my heart. He pursues me even when I am the most undesirable pursuit.

It had been a few weeks since we had been at church. My spirit was craving the fellowship. With giddy hands, I applied my mascara and finished up by applying some pink gloss on my lips. It felt so good to get back to church. So good.

Until my husband said these words, “On second thought, I am going to head into work and get some much needed paper work done. It will make my day easier on Monday. Y’all go ahead and I will meet you back at home later.

And just like that….my little happy bubble was busted. All over the bathroom floor were my feelings of sadness and resentment.

I muttered something under my breath…then immediately regretted it. Thankfully, he didn’t hear me.

My mood went from happy to disappointed in about 2 seconds flat.

Ugh.

“Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then, the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:9

As I came across these words of Paul, my mind jolted back to something I read many years ago. It was a book on marriage.

The author said, “Whatever you practice in your daily life is what you will eventually become.”

She was teaching on the kind of attitude we have towards our spouses. If we practice bitterness, we will become bitter older women. If we practice laziness, we will become lazy.

So, here, I see Paul in the book of Philippians telling us to put into practice these things that we have been taught through God’s Word.

I shared with you a few months ago that I had begun to journal my gratitude as soon as I roll out of bed each day. Grabbing my notebook and pen, I write down things that I am thankful for before I even have time to wipe the sleep from my eyes.