The Hello Mornings Blog

This post is by Patty Lewis.

I don’t really know all that this next year will hold, but I have already begun my planning for it!  I value planning time and have seen the fruit of developing tools to help me plan ahead for the upcoming year, rather than let it come at me unprepared.

 I’m not really the kind who likes to set specific long term goals that are difficult to accomplish, rather, I prefer to find ways to step back from the details, evaluate what I really want to prioritize and writ...

This post is by Shaina Weisgerber.

I have been a planner enthusiast for as long as I can remember. When I was little I loved to have a calendar on my wall and fill it out with all the events and to-do’s. As I grew up and got into high school we got our very own day planner. I geeked out every year when we received them. I put in all my choir concerts, youth activities, babysitting jobs and more. I love planning. Reviewing doesn’t come as natural to me though. I find it hard to look back and rev...

This post is by Jen Shultz.

December is a time for so many wonderful things. There is an abundance of good will, of togetherness, and the whole world is aglow with twinkling lights, and if we are lucky, a good snowfall to trick us into thinking we are living in a snowglobe. Some days, I think that it would be nice to live in a snapshot in time where only the happiest moment is captured. In a lot of ways, that is a nice thought. In a lot of other ways, it sounds terrible. 

For starters, I do...

This post is by Lindsey Bell.

Why do you think a car’s windshield is so much larger than its rearview mirror? 

Maybe there’s a reason. 

Maybe it’s because the most important place for us to focus our attention is on what lies ahead, rather than what we’ve already passed. 

But just because we’re meant to spend more time looking ahead doesn’t mean we should forget what’s behind us. There’s a time and a place for looking back, especially when we need to learn from our experiences.

And that’...

This post is by Sabeth Kapahu.

We are women pulled in a million different directions each day. We are carving out time to deepen our relationships with God in order to live for Him according to our unique designs.

We need simple, tangible ways to meet this desire. Here is an acronym that I use to integrate God Time into my life from the moment I wake through to seventeen hours later when I put my head down to sleep.

G: Gratitude

O: Offered

D: Daily

“Let the morning bring me word of your...

This post is by Patty Lewis.

I’m tired today, and I am also very thankful for the life God has given my family.  We’ve experienced, as a family, some incredible grief, a few literal storms and some equally incredible abundant living.  That is just the last couple months. 

We have lost two dear family friends and grieved alongside their families who have lost a loved one that they treasured and will never be the same without.  It is challenging to mourn with others in a quiet and supportive way...

This post is by Courtney Cohen.

Growing up as a musician, embracing the common idea that worship equates with the musical portion of a weekend service wasn’t a difficult thing to do. After all, worship through musical expression is all over Scripture! Singing, playing instruments, and clapping hands flood the psalms with their invitations to worship God musically.

I was raised in a denomination which worships God through moderately conservative postures and tools: hymnals, choir robes, standin...

Post by Shaina Weisgerber

John 11:35

“Jesus wept.”

Knowing Jesus cried tears helps me today. If there ever endless amounts of encouragement, hope and truth come from one person, it was him. Yet, he wept. His humanity reminds me that he understands me.

It is okay to weep.

It is okay to be sad.

It is okay to wonder why.

It is okay to not understand.

During these uncertain times (and all times really), we proclaim God’s goodness, faithfulness, stability and sustaining grace. We also fully f...

This post is by Jen Shultz.

Exercise can seem like a chore, especially if it is daunting. I know this first hand because I have looked at it that way for quite some time now. It was not always that way. From a very young age, I was actively involved in team sports. We were a family who spent a lot of time outdoors. My friends and I gathered to do things in our free time that, to others, might look like as exercise. For me, it was just fun. I created all of those habits with my own children as w...

This post is by Cindy Chen.

I’m of an age that the word ‘pivot’ makes me recall a couch being moved through a certain stairwell on the TV show, ‘Friends.’ Even though I didn’t really watch it when it was in its prime, the word ‘pivot’ has become a funny part of the American vocabulary.

A pivot is a change in direction around one point that is staying in place. Think of a running horse stopping short, leaning into his hindquarters, twirling on one hind foot while his other three legs redirect h...

This post is by Shaina Weisgerber.

Walking is one of the most beneficial exercises you can do. We know that walking is a full body workout that helps our joints, muscles, weight-loss/management, respiratory health, heart health and even mental health. Walking is an amazing way to stay healthy and keep healthy rhythms. 

Enoch is not one of the first people I think of when I think of people in the Bible. We tend to focus on Moses, Abraham, Paul, Mary, Peter, and of course Christ. Enoch is mentio...

This post is by Jennifer Dixon.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens….There is A TIME TO DANCE."  (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4b).  I find the Hebrew meaning for the word dance in this verse fascinating.  According to Strong's Concordance, it means to spring about (wildly or for joy)--to dance, jump, leap, skip. 

The word for dance in Ecclesiastes is the exact Hebrew word in 1 Chronicles 15, when David was bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem....