Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:7
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Tag: forgiveness
Podcast Episode 17: 31 Days of Prayer for Estranged Family & Friends
Pip: Pollywog’s Place Blog is the kind of corner of the internet that hands you something genuinely useful and asks nothing dramatic in return.
Mara: Susie at Pollywog’s Place Blog has put together a thirty-one-day prayer devotional for anyone carrying the weight of an estranged relationship — and that’s the territory we’re covering today.
Pip: Let’s start with the devotional itself and what it’s actually asking of the person who picks it up.
Continue reading “Podcast Episode 17: 31 Days of Prayer for Estranged Family & Friends”
Ten Days of Returning to God: A Children’s Devotional
The days between Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur provide a meaningful opportunity for families to slow down, listen to God, and prepare their hearts together.
Yom Teruah is associated with the sound of trumpets—a call to awaken and pay attention. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, reminds us of our need for forgiveness and points us toward the perfect sacrifice of Jesus.
Ten Days of Returning to God is a simplified children’s devotional designed to help families explore these truths together. Each day includes a short Bible reading, a child-friendly lesson, a discussion question, a simple activity, and a prayer.
Throughout the ten days, children will learn what it means to:
- Listen for God’s direction
- Ask God to search their hearts
- Turn away from wrong choices
- Confess their sins honestly
- Apologize and make things right
- Forgive others
- Show God’s love through kindness
- Draw near to God through Jesus
- Trust in Christ’s sacrifice
- Begin again with God
Ten Days of Returning to God: A Devotional Journey from Yom Teruah to Yom Kippur
Hello friends,
There are seasons when God calls us to keep moving forward, faithfully tending the work He has placed before us. There are also seasons when He calls us to become still—to examine our hearts, mend what has been broken, and return to Him.
Lately God has been calling me to share what I’ve been learning with others. I won’t pretend to be any kind of expert so I do encourage you to do your own research whenever you may have questions or doubts about things. My biggest reason for sharing is that observing the feasts have allowed me to become close to GOD, delve deeper in HIS WORD, and they allow me to remember HIS PROMISES.
The period from Yom Teruah to Yom Kippur offers a beautiful opportunity for this kind of quiet reflection. This devotional can be done by anyone at any time though!
Yom Teruah, sometimes called the Feast of Trumpets, begins with the biblical image of a trumpet blast. In Scripture, the sound of a trumpet could announce a gathering, warn of danger, prepare people for action, or call God’s people to attention. It was a sound that could not easily be ignored.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, comes ten days later. It is a solemn day associated with repentance, cleansing, and restoration before God.
Together, these days form a meaningful journey: awakening, examining, returning, confessing, forgiving, and resting in God’s mercy.
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”
—James 4:8
31 Days of Prayer for Estranged Family & Friends
There are some things we can fix with our own hands.
We can mend a broken fence, replenish tired soil, prune an overgrown plant, and tend a struggling garden back to health.
But we cannot force another person’s heart to change.
Estrangement from a child, parent, sibling, other family member, or dear friend carries a unique kind of grief. We may long for another conversation, another chance to listen, an opportunity to apologize, or simply an open door where there has been silence.
Sometimes, after we have done all we know to do, the only thing left is to place that person into God’s hands.
That is why I created 31 Days of Prayer for Estranged Family & Friends: A Journey of Surrender, Healing, Forgiveness & Restoration.
