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Brenda Bradford Ottinger

Encouraging Women to Live Rooted in the Sacred

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When Life Doesn’t Follow Your Plans

Short on time and long on haste, I jotted a nearby address into my car’s GPS one morning and, to my surprise, the highlighted route stretched wide across the dashboard map. What ever happened to the shortest distance between two points being a straight line?, I thought, as I backed out of the driveway. But as my pace calmed and…
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Seeing God in the Middle of Your Messed-Up Plans

I’ve had my share of daydreams about living on permanent vacation, but this wasn’t how I pictured it going down. After moving to a new city for work, we couldn’t find a home that fit our family or our budget, despite how hard we tried. And to our surprise, this new city of ours even had a waiting list for…
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Thirsting for Rest Amid Stress

I’d barely tiptoed into dreamland before hearing a clamor down the hall. Rising in the moonlit shadows, I tend to the night-owl-noise of my offspring before shuffling back to the warmth of my sheets. Yet my mind has long forsaken sleep, wandering instead through a mental desert of checklists and concerns. A tide of trouble beats against the shores of…
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When You Wonder Who You Would Have Been

Some seasons of our stories are so challenging, they invest themselves into who we become, leaving a clear before and after in their dust. We hold these moments close, protective of their scars, as they nestle deep within our personalities, affecting the way we view ourselves and others. Perhaps someone who was supposed to love you, didn’t — leaving a…
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The Long Prayer of Motherhood

Raise your hand if you thought for sure 2020 would look normal again by now. Me too. In this season of sheltering-in-place, yesterday looks like today looks like tomorrow, yet nothing looks like normal. While this wayward year remains seated in the principal’s office of life, it can feel challenging to lead our families into a fresh semester of uncertainty….
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Daughters of the Day

Once upon a Saturday morning, the house chores held a conference and elected me their leader. While rushing through chores, I noticed a theme unfolding in my living room. All day, our napping kitten, Noelle, scooted herself around, warmly snuggled in the patch of sunlight beaming through the window. As the sun moved across the sky, so Noelle moved across…
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Winter always seems to rally in March here in Caro Winter always seems to rally in March here in Carolina where I live.
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Oh, how that parallels life sometimes, doesn’t it, friend?
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Weary seasons often challenge the boundaries of their timetables, refusing to surrender to brighter days.
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Dear friend, if you’re in a season that feels challenging & relentless, run to the God who holds all things together. 
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Root your hope in Him, for He will not deny your spirit its Spring.
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The creation of beautiful things is a messy, time-consuming process; don’t lose hope, my friend, your spring will come.
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So, plant your garden of dreams and longings in expectation, for our God is a trustworthy God who makes all things beautiful in their time. And there is no beauty like beauty born of burden.
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God has not forgotten you, friend. Rest in the promise of what you can’t yet see, for He is forever able. 💕
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#spring #hope #dream #longing #weary #rest #trust #faith #faithfulgod #seasons #surrender #brighterdays #relentless #challenging #beautifulthings #beautyforashes #expectation #burden #struggle #christianwriter #amwriting #leadership #influence #ministry #serve #bible #godisable #jesus #springwillcome #waitongod
Oh, friend, no matter what you’re going through Oh, friend, no matter what you’re going through today…there is a God who is greater.
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Greater than confusion. Greater than joy. Greater than the exhaustion. Greater than the love.
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Lean into His promises. Trust His wisdom. Rest in His care. Live in His strength.
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For every single word of the Lord proves true.
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He is faithful.
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Today.
Tomorrow.
Always. 💕
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#faithfulgod #hardship #heartache #confusion #regret #pain #weary #lost #hope #comfort #exhaustion #faith #rest #trust #ministry #influence #serve #leadership #christianwriter #amwriting #scripture #truth #godisgreater #godspromises #godsword #longing #lonely #comeasyouare #godsgotthis #trustworthy
Dear friend, the God who saw you ahead of your bir Dear friend, the God who saw you ahead of your birth, whose precious thoughts about you are greater than numbers can contain, He recorded purpose for you long before your life existed in time!
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It’s true. 💗
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Over at Proverbs 31 Ministries today, I share a memory of Younger Me and how the Lord met me—and meets you!—in the midst of our insecurity with the confidence to be ourselves & the belonging our hearts crave.
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We’d love for you to join the conversation today over at proverbs31ministries.org . Meet you there, friend! 💕
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#insecurity #belonging #freedom #beyourself #beyou #youreenough #justasyouare #p31 #ministry #proverbs31ministries #newgirl #awkward #confidence #comfort #purpose #service #leadership #christianwriter #faith #god #godslove #influence #bible #community #fittingin #findyourplace #trustgod #showup #onelife #identity
The timeliness of God is a mystery & miracle unto The timeliness of God is a mystery & miracle unto itself…
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I’d already prepared this post & had it ready to share today, when I happened upon this verse in my quiet time this morning:
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“Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” (Eph. 5:2)
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Wherever you find yourself this week, friend, look around you. Notice the ones God places in your sphere.
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Living a life of love need not be complicated. It can be as simple as a timely smile, letting someone know they’re seen.
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For, indeed, “The best use of life is love.”
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Spend it well. Use it up, pour it out, make a difference with your one life, my friend. The world needs the love you have to offer.
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And, never forget how very adored you are by your God. No thing in all of creation—past, present, or future—can ever separate you from His tender heart for you. Forever He’s the lover of your soul. 💕
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#love #belonging #care #godslove #life #lovingwell #heartofgod #loverofmysoul #rest #hope #showup #riseup #ministry #serve #anwriting #christianwriter #leadership #faith #influence #godlovesyou #bible #trust #weary #revive #renew #refresh #loveothers #bethechange #makeadifference #onelife
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