Monthly Archives: January 2026

Bring More Jars

We find the story of the widow and the oil in the book of 2 Kings. A widow from the group of prophets who worked with Elisha comes to Elisha and tells him that the creditors have come to get what they owe. She can’t pay it back, and they threaten to take her two boys from her. Elisha hears her plea for help and asks what she has. She tells him she has a little oil. He then tells her to gather jars from her neighbors and then go back to her house and pour the oil in the jars. She does as he says, and the oil just keeps on flowing.

So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. Soon every container was full to the brim!

“Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons.

“There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.

When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”

2 Kings 4:5-7

No More Jars

What is interesting to note is that the oil kept flowing until there were no more jars to fill. Only then did the oil stop. “And then the olive oil stopped flowing.” I think that if there were more jars, there would have been more oil. And if there had been fewer jars, there would have been less oil. This blessing was based on her faith and her ability to get jars.

How many times do we limit what God wants to do in our lives either because we don’t have the faith for it, or we don’t do the work on our part that we need to do. Over and over again in the New Testament Jesus healed people according to their faith.

Then he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, it will happen.”

Matthew 9:29 NLT

Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

Matthew 8:13 NLT

And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.

Mark 10:52 NLT

And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.

Luke 17:19 NLT

Don’t Stop the Flow

There is an aspect of faith that is dependent on us, which sort of feels like it goes against the very essence of faith. God wants to work on our behalf. He wants to do more than we could ask or think. But what happens when our lack of faith gets in the way? How many times do get in the way of God doing what He wants in our lives simply because we don’t have enough jars…we don’t have the faith to believe for it?

God wants to work on our behalf today. Don’t stop the blessings of faith flowing into your life today simply because we don’t believe He can or will. Have the faith that God can and will still heal, that He will provide for that need, that He will bring that baby, that He will give you that job, that He will bring the right person along, that He will bring good into your life…that He is still good and is Who He says He is.

Let’s not limit what God can do in our lives by our lack of faith. Let’s ask for and believe for exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask and think!

More Encouragement

For more encouragement, check out my post, 6 Ways to Build Your Faith Today. I also have been encouraged by Tauren Wells’ new song, Breathe On It. Check it out!

What’s Currently in My Morning Basket?

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I try to do this post once or twice a year simply because my basket is always changing. I like to keep it fresh and new and something I look forward to. Then I like sharing what’s in my basket to hopefully give you some ideas for great new books, resources, pens, etc. And because it’s January…we all need the extra inspiration. So here are the items currently in my morning time basket.

Pens

I have a few different pens I love. I love colorful pens that write well, and those are increasingly hard to find. But these Pilot G-2 pens–the purple pack and the pink pack–are really good. I also still love these paper mate pens and these other paper mate pens.

My Bible

I currently use the inCourge devotional Bible. The women from inCourage put this out, and I really love it. There are lots of devotional readings interspersed. I don’t always read them, but when I do, they are great. They also do small breakouts of different characters in the Bible, and I love those. I started this Bible at the beginning of the last school year, so I haven’t gotten all the way through it yet, but I really am enjoying it. It’s not my most favorite translation, as it’s CSB, but I’m enjoying reading the same verses put a little differently.

Devotionals

I’m currently still working my way through the Jesus is Better (Hebrews) study from Daily Grace Co. These are my favorite devotionals. I received a few more for Christmas that I can’t wait to work through. This Hebrews one is a lot longer, and I usually only get to it on my day off when I have more time to sit at the table and do a longer morning time routine. But any of the Daily Grace Co devotionals are great. I received Waiting for Hope (Malachi) for Christmas and can’t wait to work through that one.

Thank You Cards

I always keep thank-you cards in my basket. During my morning time routine is usually when God brings to mind somebody I need to write a thank you too. Hobby Lobby has the best assortment of thank you cards that are super inexpensive. I currently have these thank you cards in my basket. There are fifteen notecards, and they were only $1.99.

Gratitude Journal

Check out my post on making gratitude journals. We make these as a family each year, and everybody writes in theirs all year long.

Bookmarks

I always keep bookmarks in my basket for underlining in my Bible or whatever book I’m currently reading. I order my bookmarks from SJ Wonderlandz.

Books

I like to incorporate a book into my morning time routine. Right now, I’m alternating between With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God by Sky Jethani and Leap Over a Wall by Eugene Peterson.

Journal

I use my Faithfully Stepping Journals every day. I’m currently using the Morning by Morning journal.

To-Do Notebook

I also keep my daily to-do notebook in my basket where I write down everything I need to accomplish for the day. I use a simple spiral bound notebook for this. You can read about how I use notebooks here.

Coffee and Candles

Not in my basket but included in my morning time routine are candles and coffee. I love Bath and Body Candles, particularly when they’re on sale and I pair it with a coupon. Coffee changes for me. Currently, I love any kind of Dunkin’ Donuts flavored ground coffee for hot coffee, and I just started using Nescafe Gold Espresso for iced coffee and am loving that as well.

I hope that gives you some ideas and new products to add to your own basket! What’s currently in your morning time basket that you’re loving?

Grace for This January

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It’s January. Do you feel it? I love the start of a new year–the freshness, the excitement. But that quickly dissipates and leaves us with the rest of January. I saw a meme the other day that read, “Currently doing a challenge called January. It’s where you just try to make it through every day in January.” And boy, do I feel that! Life just hits differently in January, and it rolls on into February.

Combating the Winter Blues

How do we combat these winter blues? How do we stay encouraged when the world seems to be falling apart around us, and there is so much contention and strife and problems? We can find the answer in a passage of Scripture found in II Corinthians. But before we get to the answer, read these verses.

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair^.We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

II Corinthians 4:8-10 NLT

Not Broken

Does that sound a little like how your life is currently going? It does for so many of us. We feel pressed on every side. The Message translation puts it this way:

We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken.

II Corinthians 4:8-10 MSG

Sometimes, life and the struggles we’re facing feel like too much; but Paul reminds us that though we have troubles all around us, we’re not pushed too far that we’re crushed. We’re never abandoned by God. He hasn’t forgotten us. God promises that he won’t give us more than we can handle.

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

I Corinthians 10:13 NLT

Making It Through January

So, how do we make it through this January? What do we do to keep ourselves from feeling overwhelmed, pressed down, and troubled on every side? The answer comes a few verses later in the chapter. Paul tells us what to do so that we don’t give up.

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

II Corinthians 4:16-18

Daily Choice

Did you see it in there? The answer? We have to renew our spirit every day. Every single day, we have to choose to spend time with God and renew our Spirit. That’s how we’ll find the strength we need to face today. Then tomorrow, we have to get up and do it once again. Every single day that we start our day with God, He renews our strength and helps us to continue on so that we don’t give up.

I love how The Message puts it.

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

II Corinthians 4:16-18

The things we see right now aren’t the full picture, and they won’t last. So don’t give up in the mean time. Keep getting up and spending time with God, keep staying faithful, and watch as this season fades away and a better one takes its place.

More Encouragement

If this new year is a struggle, and you don’t quite know up from down and everything seems all tangled up, I suggest reading Untangle Your Emotions by Jennie Allen. I finished that one recently, and it’s a really good help for navigating life and all its emotions, both good and bad.

Twenty-Five Steps

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There are twenty-five steps from my bed to the dining room table downstairs where I do my morning time. Just twenty-five steps. And yet, those steps are sometimes the hardest ones to take. All I have to do is get out of bed and walk downstairs; it’s really not that difficult. But taking those steps sometimes feel like too much, especially when I’m exhausted or discouraged or depressed. And yet, I know if I can just get downstairs, I will feel so much better. Why? Because I will light a candle, get the coffee going, and turn on the white lights hanging on from the ceiling. Once I do those things, I will feel so much better and ready to start my morning time.

Why is it so hard to do the things we know we need to do? We know if we just do them, we will feel better about ourselves or getting that thing done. And yet, it’s like everything is fighting against us to keep us from doing that one thing.

A Breakthrough

Some mornings, it feels like there’s a force keeping me from getting downstairs. It’s like I can’t break through that oppression that keeps me in my bed in the dark, even though I know what’s waiting for me downstairs is so much better. When I push through and make it downstairs, it’s like a breakthrough.

I can’t think of a single morning I’ve regretted getting up and doing my morning time routine downstairs. And yet, some mornings are such a struggle. Why is that? Because Satan is literally fighting against us. He knows if we spend time with God first thing in the morning, everything in our day will change. We will have more peace, more focus, love for others, enjoyment, and direction in our day.

Make It a Priority

In this new year, make it a priority to spend time with God every morning, no matter what’s keeping you from it. Push through the barriers and the distractions and conquer the morning battle. Find the willpower with God’s strength to push through and do that hard thing.

More Encouragement

For more encouragement to conquer your mornings, check out Hal Elrod’s The Miracle Morning. You can also check out our free morning time guide.

Tracing God’s Hand of Faithfulness through 2025

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And just like that, it’s a new year. It came so fast! There’s something about facing down a new year, an empty calendar filled with nothing but expectancy and hope, that’s so exciting. We had a great time celebrating the holidays as a family, and we enjoyed our New Year’s Eve tradition of making gratitude journals for this new year. (We used these journals this year.)

Gratitude Journals

On New Year’s Eve, we cracked open our gratitude journals from last year and spent a few minutes looking back on God’s goodness in 2025. It’s also our tradition to look through pictures on Matt’s phone of the year; it helps us to remember all the good that took place. We write down the highlights of the year in our gratitude journals.

Sometimes, we get so bogged down by the negative that we don’t see God’s goodness. But we can use times like a new year to look back and find the good. When we do, we will be able to trace God’s hand all throughout the year in both the good and the bad. Then, after that, we spent a few minutes writing down our goals for this new year.

Tracing God’s Hand

If you haven’t had time to look back on last year, I want to encourage you to do so. Even just a few minutes remembering God’s goodness can change our entire look going into the new year. And whether you like to set goals or not, at least write down one or two things you want to see God do in your life this year. Then use your notebook all year to write down the good things that God does. It’s such an amazing thing to be able to look back at the end of the year and be able to trace God’s hand of goodness all year long.

More Encouragement

If you live this idea, check out my post on making gratitude journals.