The Hello Mornings Blog

This post is by Shaina Weisgerber. 

I love getting coffee with my best friend. We usually get together once a week or at least every couple of weeks. Whether we get together at our local coffee shop or at one of our houses, we sit, we visit, listen to each other’s life updates and just enjoy each other’s company. We always leave feeling encouraged and our hearts uplifted. 

Lauren and I lived twelve hours apart for more than ten years. During those years our coffee dates were few and far betwee...

This post is by Jen Shultz.

I grew up attending the only Catholic church in a very small town that happens to be located right smack in the Bible Belt. My humble church home had approximately twenty families, priests that rotated from larger parishes in larger towns, and folding chairs. My first glimpse of what most people thought of when I said I went to Mass happened at a wedding and then again at a funeral when I was very young. Interestingly enough, in those beautiful churches with their st...

This post is by Patty Lewis.

As I grow older in years and in my relationship with the Lord, I have discovered I can enjoy the freedom He has given me in some creative and simple ways.  There are nice rules, guidelines and suggestions the church and other believers have laid out for me.  I have tried a lot of them.  They can be helpful, and they can also be cumbersome.  What seems to work best is when I lean into how He has made me, my gifts and my passions while adhering to His Word.  Also, rem...

This post is by Tami Rodriguez.

“God Time” has often been hard for me. I felt like I was doing it wrong. I am not someone who likes to spend an hour in prayer or do devotionals. I love to study and go really deep. 

I took a “worship personality” test awhile ago and my results came back as “intellectual” (which I didn’t know was a thing!). What it told me is I feel closest to God when I’m intellectually stimulated and my study of God is how I naturally love Him. This was life changing for me...

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 Kelli LaFram.

A few years ago, in church we began singing the song “Great Are You Lord” by All Sons & Daughters. It’s a beautiful worship song with lyrics that recognize God as the only one worthy of our adoration. If you’ve never heard it before, I highly recommend that you google it, listen to it, and allow it to lead you into praise and worship of our Lord and Savior. 

The problem for me at the time was that the chorus brought on a tremendous amount of guilt and shame. Si...

This post is by Karen Bozeman.

I love praise and worship. Songs and hymns help me refocus, removing the grating noise of daily life. Music fills up my “soul holes” and regenerates my sagging spirit. Yet how many times have we heard this complaint about worship songs? I don’t like these 7-11 songs. These songs are just the same seven words repeated 11 times.

Singing requires me to actively participate in the worship process. I can sing a song, or I can praise God. I can watch the words on the s...

This post is by Kelli LaFram.

When it comes to your time with Jesus, have you ever felt sluggish, dry, unmotivated? Like, despite your desire to have a full and rich morning with Jesus, your best friend and Savior, you just don’t have the willpower to make it happen? Then you feel guilty because you are neglecting Him. You feel despair at your lack of fulfillment in Him. Right? Well, consider your ways.

“You have sown much, and bring in little;

You eat, but do not have enough;

You drink, but...

This post is by Shaina Weisgerber.

I have been a part of every kind of church music you could think of: children’s choir, hand bells, I sang specials, and have been a part of many worship teams over the years.  I prided myself on my ability to sing for the Lord. It became part of my identity, it was my full time career for a time, it was a ministry, a hobby and my main source of friendship and community. Stepping out of that last year I have had to unlearn and relearn a lot of aspects of church...

This post is by Sarah Johnson.

...And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire: but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. (1 Kings 19:11-12, KJV)

After the wind, after the earthquake, after the fire, when everything is quiet... a still, small ...