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52-Week Women’s Retirement Devotional: Awaken to Your Identity, Flourish in God’s Love, Strengthen Your Purpose & Rediscover a Joyful, Radiant Life
A cut flower looks alive and slowly dies. A planted tree can look still and quietly gets stronger. If your retirement feels like your first, Psalm 1:3 is your invitation to the second. The book, 52-Week Women’s Retirement Devotional: Awaken to Your Identity, Flourish in God’s Love, Strengthen Your Purpose & Rediscover a Joyful, Radiant Life, by Susie J. Owens, features a proven 4-phase process that can help you: Awaken – Remember your identity in Christ and your value beyond work and productivity. Rebuild – Process the emotional and spiritual shifts of retirement and changing relationships. Strengthen – Grow closer to God after retirement and step into new rhythms of joy and purpose. Legacy – Invest…
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Sarah Laughed At God’s Impossible Promise; God Named A Child After It
There’s a woman in Genesis 18 who laughed at the impossible promise. God heard the laugh. Named the child after it. And then, she lied about it when God asked why she laughed. “I didn’t laugh.” God didn’t give her a consequence, and God didn’t take the promise away. Instead, he delivered the promise. Most of us have the same kind of unconscious operating system running underneath our own faith. It sounds like this: “If I doubt too much — God will never grant it. If I’m honest about how much of a failure I am, I’ll lose the support I desperately need. ” So, we’re busy managing the…
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The Worst Detour of Your Life Might Actually Be an Ambush of Blessings
When prayers go unanswered, dreams are delayed, and when life takes a devastating, unexpected turn, it’s easy to wonder: Has God forgotten about me? What’s really happening? A completely different reality is unfolding. God isn’t absent. When Naomi and Ruth lost everything, they thought their story was over. They were walking through a devastating detour of heartbreak and uncertainty. But behind the scenes, He was coordinating a massive setup for a breakthrough greater than either of them could have ever imagined. If you are struggling for a breakthrough, or trying to trust God in the dark, the Book of Ruth holds a powerful truth for you today: God’s timing is…
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What Do You Give a Graduate Who Needs More Than a Celebration?
There is a particular kind of worry that settles into a parent somewhere around graduation season — not the kind you talk about at the party, but the kind that finds you in the kitchen at night, long after the dishes are done, thinking about your child and what comes next for them. You have watched them grow up. You have watched them struggle and push through and figure things out, sometimes with your help and sometimes very much without it, the way kids have to when they are becoming their own person. And now they are standing at the edge of something enormous, and you are proud — genuinely,…
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Because You Can’t Walk Beside Them Anymore
While you’re out shopping for dorm room supplies, there’s something else nagging you behind the anticipation of their new adventure. Yes, you’re full of excitement and joy for their new adventure, but you’re fearful of the heavy isolation of the world might find them first. You remember every prayer you’ve whispered over them since they were small, and all you can do now is hope that it was enough. But here’s the thing you can’t and shouldn’t let go of: One in three, they say, that 1 in 3 young adults inevitably face frequent, high levels of loneliness. So yeah, despite the new adventure that awaits them, despite all the…
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The Legacy Letter
A shoebox of old photos, corners soft and worn. The truth of a tough year, told with a smile because she survived. A handwritten letter tucked into a Bible she’s used for thirty years. Stories of rescue that we never knew she carried. Inheritance isn’t just about what she leaves in a will; it’s the legacy of faith she’s building right now in her quietest moments. The scent of fresh rain on a path she finally has time to walk. Mercies that are new every single morning, just like she is. For the mom who spent decades rushing out the door— give her back her mornings. This is a year…
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The Paycheck Was Never The Source
“You may say in your heart, ‘The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.’ But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth,” Deuteronomy 8:17–18 Even during the most productive years of your life, the real source of provision was never your job, your salary, or even your abilities. Those were the instruments. The power behind them came from God. When we live with open hands rather than clenched ones, we are acknowledging what Scripture teaches: God has always been the provider. Work, opportunity, and income have been the tools He used in certain seasons. The source…
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The Coupon Book for New Moms and Baby Showers
The ultimate gift for Mother’s Day is Time for Mom. Hey Mom, you need this little book. This isn’t just a small “token” that checks the box for Mother’s Day or a baby shower. This is a treasure of more than 52 weeks of self-care – one of the most important aspects of motherhood. Don’t make the mistake of taking self-care too lightly, even though you can think of more than a hundred reasons why you think you should. There’s the laundry, the diapers, the doctor’s appointments, the meals, the clean-up, the snacks. These tiny humans (and maybe big ones, too) who feel like they cannot function without you. You’re…
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I Broke All The Rules on Mother’s Day Gifts
The etiquette rule book says gifts for women should not come with a cord and should not require any effort on her part. But I showed up every Mother’s Day weekend at the garden center, walking through rows of vibrant colors and possibilities, picking out petunias and geraniums and trailing ivy, imagining the basket we’d build together in her backyard. I was not going to give my mom a gift that could be wrapped in tissue paper, dropped on the table, and left for days. I gave her something that required us both to get our hands deep in potting soil, smelling the earth, smelling the flowers, getting dirt under…
Susiej
Writer
