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How to Catch a Wild Pig

Do you know how to catch wild pigs? By finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the spot where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again. So, you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate on the last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat. You slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly, the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon, they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.  This is what is happening in America. The government keeps pushin
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Colton + Counseling

2020 has had an impact on our kids and I want to be careful not to just throw a "kids are resilient" sticker on them and call it a day. They are resilient and they need to learn to adapt and cope to change, but they're also human beings, navigating challenging waters with big emotions. Helping them learn how to manage those feelings is really important, and something Matt and I have made a priority over the past several months. People usually flinch when the word "counseling" comes up. Counseling? Oh no, what's wrong? We're human... that's what's "wrong". I was afraid of counseling for a long time, because I didn't have a good understanding of it. I was too busy puffed up in pride and "we've got this" to find out. (Side note: I don't believe all counseling is created equal and I'm a firm believer in Godly, Bible-based counseling over other kinds but that's my personal opinion). I was afraid of
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Freedom

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I can remember, at a very young age, feeling God move in me. I loved lyrics to worship songs and felt the music speak to me. I felt like God’s word was alive and very real and could be applied to my life. Growing up in a Christian home and active in church, I had a fear of God. A healthy fear that included the fear of the consequences of disobedience. At age 8, I made the decision to give my life to God and was baptized in Big Creek on Shelton Laurel, my home. On that beautiful March day, with my Pastor and my Daddy by my side and my Momma looking on, what started as a fear of God grew into a personal relationship with Him. In my walk, I began to understand that giving my life to Him isn’t just focusing on all the things I have to give up or “not do”, it isn’t that God wants to punish me for my shortcomings and mistakes, but it’s actually the opposite – it’s freedom! True rest. True forgiveness and peace. In my experience, living with Christ (and for Christ) is not perfect a
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Another in the Fire

There are times when life seems overwhelming (hello COVID world). The perfect storm crashes in on us. It is during these seasons that I tend to become self- reliant. Self-reliance, for me, means a greater need to control things. When I feel life spinning out of control, I reach for control in any way I can. This is why the lyrics to this song speek so deeply to me. God is the one I want in control, not me. Here is part of the chorus to 'Another in the Fire' by Hillsong United. "There is another in the fire Standing next to me There is another in the waters Holding back the seas And should I ever need reminding What power set me free There is a grave that holds no body And now that power lives in me" There are so many Biblical references within the lyrics of that song. One is the story in the book of Daniel when King Nebuchadnezzar threw three guys; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fire for not worshiping the golden image that the King had
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It's enough

We scroll social media, taking in the hundreds of different voices and different opinions on what we "should be" doing right now. We compare our bodies to the woman who seems to have her home workout down like it's nothing, while we struggle to find time to fit in a quick run (or even just a shower). We question our relationships because maybe we and our spouses are having a really hard time just communicating while Susie Q and Ken are having picnics and making pillow forts together. We worry if we're good enough Moms because we don't have a color coded schedule or numbered learning stations and can hardly keep up on the weekly E-learning, ZOOM meetings and expectations of serving our family a healthy dinner every night, so we find ourselves feeding our kids cereal for dinner and wondering if there's enough nutrients in gold fish to keep them alive. We're feeling the pressure to start new projects because so many around us are hustling harder than
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Forty

According to Meriam-Webster, quarantine is defined as (1)   a period of 40 days . The official COVID-19 "stay at home" order went into effect on March 23 and will be lifted (in most areas) on May 1. That's 40 days. Christianity uses forty (40) to designate important time periods. The rains that came as a flood that covered the earth lasted 40 days and 40 nights (Genesis 7:12).  Moses departed for Mount Sinai and stayed there for 40 days and nights to receive the 10 commandments before wandering in the wilderness for 40 years (Joshua 5:6). Jesus fasted in the dessert for 40 days (Matthew 4:2). I think it's interesting that the optimum number of weeks for human gestation is 40 weeks and the recommended postpartum recovery for a Mother is 40 days. A group of theologians believe the number 40 represents "change". It is the time of preparing a person (or people) to make a fundamental change.  Change is happening and will continue to happen. These 40 days of &
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Hustle

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2020 is about alignment, connection, obedience, wholeness, rest and getting rid of a lot of head garbage centered around the "hustle" mentality.  I'm in favor of getting rid of the toxic hustle beliefs like: ▪️that if we're not achieving big goals, we're not doing enough ▪️that we have to push to make things happen ▪️that we're in charge of our own destiny ▪️that if others are doing it successfully and we're not, we must be doing something wrong ▪️that if we don't hit our personal goals, that's, in some way or another, our fault ▪️that our successes, titles, promotions or roles determine our worth We live in a world where it's easy to fall into the trap of believing these statements at some point or another. But what happens when we hustle, with no rest? We grow weary and disconnected.When we hustle and hustle but our goals still aren't met? We are left feeling defeated. If there's anything we can admit, it's
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