Monthly Archives: April 2023

What to do When You Can’t Sleep at Night

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girl unable to sleep

I’ve always been the kind of person that falls asleep pretty much as soon as my head hits the pillow; I never really struggled with insomnia. That is, until a few years ago.

Our Car Fire

A few years ago, we experienced a car fire in the middle of the night. I was in the middle of a sound sleep when I heard a loud sound. My eyes shot open, and I laid in bed for a moment, trying to figure out what in the world the sound was. Moments later, somebody started banging on the front door. I quickly woke up Matt and ran into the kids’ room to check on them.

Matt ran down the stairs and opened the door for the police officer, that was banging on our door; and I woke up our two older kids and grabbed our third from her crib and raced down the stairs. We stepped outside and immediately felt the blast of heat hit us. I looked over and saw flames shooting high into the sky as we ran down the steps and away from our home.

Eventually, the firefighters came and put out the fire. We found out sometime later from the detective on the case that it had been intentionally set. The fear that came from that night stayed with me for a long time.

Insomnia

For months after the fire, I woke up every night between 2:30 and 3:00am. No matter how tired I was, I woke up single every night. It was exhausting and a dark time in my life. I really struggled with fear and consequently, with sleeping at night.

During that season of my life, I put some things into practice to help me be able to get past the fear and to be able to start sleeping all night again. I still use those practices today.

If you’ve ever struggled with insomnia because of fear or lack of peace or worry, it’s so frustrating. You can’t sleep because of something, and then that something just gets worse because you’re not sleeping. It’s a circular problem. A lot of women that I talk to struggle with sleeping well at night, whether that’s because of fear, shame, worry, anxiety, or something else.

Help for When You Can’t Sleep

Here are the things that helped me get through that time that I still do nightly:

  1. Every night before I go to bed, I spend just a few minutes in prayer. I thank God for something good that day, confess anything I need to from the day, and pray for a good night’s sleep and safety around each of us and our home as we sleep.
  2. Every night when I get into bed, I open up YouVersion on my phone and read a Psalm before going to sleep. I do this so that it’s the last thing on my mind before I go to sleep.
  3. During that time my life when I couldn’t sleep, I started memorizing passages of Scripture to say to myself at night when I couldn’t sleep. There’s something about reciting verses at night that helps you to relax. Not always, but most times, if I can’t sleep and I start reciting a passage of Scripture, I will usually fall asleep around verses 10-13. If I’m having a rough night and can’t get to sleep or wake up and can’t get back to sleep, I will start reciting those verses to myself until I fall asleep again. If I am particularly struggling with fear, I will recite verses about fear to myself repeatedly.

Verses to Memorize for When You Can’t Sleep

If you’re looking for some great verses to memorize to help you sleep at night, here’s a few good ones:

  1. Psalm 4:8 In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.
  2. II Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
  3. Romans 8:38-39 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Passages of Scripture to Memorize for When You Can’t Sleep

  1. Psalm 23
  2. James 1
  3. Psalm 100
  4. Psalm 91
  5. John 14:1-6

I hope this post gives you a few things to try when you can’t sleep.

More Encouragement

If you want to know more about my story with all this, check out my book, The Hidden Pain: When You Fear God is No Longer Blessing Your Life or read my post The Hidden Pain—a Peek into the Book I’m writing.

Simple Steps to Get Back to Reading Your Bible Each Day

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picture of a girl reading her bible

Have you ever found yourself getting away from reading your Bible and praying each day? We all know we’re supposed to do it every day. But then one day slips away from us, then two, then three. Soon, we find ourselves going way too long without a routine that involves Bible reading and prayer each day.

What do you do when that happens? Have you ever found yourself there? It’s paralyzing. You don’t even know where to start or what to read anymore. How do you get it going again?

Sometimes you just need to push reset and start fresh. You have to just decide that today is the day, and just do it. So here are my best tips for starting fresh.

My goal is not to overwhelm you in this post but to help you get back on track or start. Here’s just a few ideas to give you a jump start.

What Do You Need?

  1. Light a candle that you love. If you don’t have one, this is an excuse to go get one! It doesn’t have to be expensive. Aldi and Walmart both offer cheap, delicious-smelling candles.
  2. Make a good cup of coffee.
  3. Grab a journal. If you need a good journal, check out our Faithfully Stepping Journals. They were created specifically for morning time, using the system that Matt and I use every single morning. But for now, use whatever you have.
  4. Grab your Bible.
  5. Find a comfortable place to sit; grab a blanket if you need to and a pen.

What Do You Read?

  1. If you need encouragement, read the Psalms. A chapter or two a day is great.
  2. When you feel overwhelmed with trials and hardships, read I and II Peter.
  3. If you’re at a place in life that you need wisdom, read a Proverb each day.
  4. The Gospels are great if you want to just get more of Jesus.
  5. If you prefer to use a devotional along with your Bible reading, check out our Devotionals.
  6. If you want to use your phone, use YouVersion and pick a plan to follow.

That’s it. Simply grab what you need and choose what to read and simply start! Start today; start fresh tomorrow morning. The important thing is simply that you start! I’m super passionate about this topic, because I know I would not be where I am today without my morning time routine. It has kept me grounded over the years at a time in my life when nothing else could!

More on This Topic

This post is just to get you started. If you’re looking to take it deeper, check out my free Morning Time Routine Course. We also teach a system called Thirty-to-THRIVE, that you can check out HERE.

How Nature Helps Me Combat Discouragement

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One of the things I have found over the years that helps me combat discouragement is getting outside in nature. Because we homeschool, one of the things we try to do is to take nature walks. The kids look for as many things as they can find while we’re out and then write it down in their notebooks. Sometimes we draw or paint, sometimes we listen to a podcast about nature, sometimes we read a book, and sometimes we simply just write down everything we saw.

Our Walk Yesterday

white flowers on our nature walk
some of the flowers from our nature walk

Yesterday, we took a nature walk. We were so happy just to be outside. The sun was out, and it was finally warm after a long, dreary winter. One of the first things we saw was a furry and rather large ground hog wiggling his way across the grass. After that, the kids were off. We saw tadpoles, bees, fish, flowers, a spider, ducks, water, and more. We took pictures of some of the things we saw. I love flowers, especially bright spring ones. So we took pictures of those.

pink flowers from our nature walk

By the time we were finished, everybody was worn out and hungry, but refreshed and heartened after being out in nature.

When I find myself getting depressed or discouraged, sometimes a simple walk outside can make all the difference in the world. I’m not saying go crazy and pack a backpack and hike a mountain. I’m simply talking about grabbing a water bottle and a granola bar and a phone for pictures. Pick a place that has some beauty to enjoy and just get outside for a little while.

Here are a few ideas for getting out in nature.

10 Ideas for Getting Out into Nature

  1. Pack a lunch and eat by a creek or pond or lake.
  2. Go for a nature walk and write down or take pictures of as many “nature-y” things as you can see.
  3. Go for a walk and listen to good music or preaching.
  4. Listen to a nature podcast as you walk. We love the No Sweat Nature Study Podcast with Miss Cindy. She’s the best; my kids love her podcast.
  5. Sign up for a nature study or hike with your local library or a local park.
  6. Explore a new trail.
  7. Take a picnic lunch and eat in a field with nature all around you.
  8. Plan a visit to a garden or an arboretum. We score free passes for these things from our library.
  9. Find something beautiful on your walk or at a park and sketch it or paint it.
  10. Find a beautiful setting and write—journal your thoughts, write some poetry, write down a prayer to God.

There are so many ways to enjoy nature that don’t have to be crazy or a lot of work. It just takes a few minutes of planning.

The next time you are feeling discouraged, try one of the ideas above and see if that helps to encourage your heart!

More Encouragement

For more on this topic, check out my post, 10 Things You Can do to Combat Burnout.

Easter Can be a Time for Healing

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New Beginnings

Easter is our reminder of hope and new beginnings. It comes at such the perfect time of year for me. Where we live, Easter comes when Spring has just started to descend. The sun has just started to come out again. New buds begin to form on trees and early plants begin to shoot up. It feels fresh and alive and so good after a long, dreary winter.

Jesus’ resurrection had to have felt the same way all those years ago. The disciples and Jesus’ followers had been through so much before Jesus even died. Then their beloved leader dies a gruesome death. They feel such sorrow and loss of hope. Those three days were the longest days they’d ever experienced.

So imagine their surprise and even disbelief when they hear Jesus is no longer in the tomb. John and Peter run to the tomb and find it empty. Then Jesus begins appearing to some and then all of them. It was amazing and exciting all at the same time.

Fresh Hope

Easter is our reminder that fresh hope is still available. Maybe you’ve been in a season of grief or sickness. Maybe financial stress has crippled you, or maybe somebody has done something to cause you incredible grief.

This weekend is a chance to celebrate new life, new beginnings and to let the past go. I don’t know if you need this, but I do. Sometimes, I just need to be able to set the reset button. I need to be able to let go of some things and put some things behind me. I am giving myself permission to do that this Easter, and I’m giving you permission to do the same.

A Sunday of Healing

When you celebrate Easter this Sunday, let your heart open up and really feel God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, and renewal. When you sing the worship songs, release the frustrations and worry and fear. When you hear the message, open your heart to God’s message of new life and new beginnings. When you fellowship, love on other people and feel their love in return as the body of Christ is meant to be. Let this Easter Sunday minister to your heart and heal you; then let it propel you towards what God has for you.

More Encouragement

For more encouragement, check out Matt’s book, 6 Days to Sunday: Turn Setbacks into Comebacks or check out my post, When Everything Changed for Mary.