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The Loft Gives Thanks

November 24, 2024 By 2

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at The Loft!
This week, The Loft gives thanks!

The Loft is open, come on up!

 

The Loft: A weekly Hangout and Link Up for Christian bloggers
Graphic by Kerry Messer

 

This Week’s Mystery Topic is…. (drum roll)

Well, seeing it is Thanksgiving week, we want to actually GIVE THANKS. So this week, we are playing Thanksgiving Tag!

How to play:

We are taking to the social media streets this week, tagging people we are thankful for!

Pick one social media site (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc) and tag 5 bloggers or writers that you appreciate. Tell them why you are thankful for them. You can link back to this page if you’d like (so they know why and by whom they are getting tagged and to help spread the word about The Loft)… but a link back isn’t required. :)

Since we won’t be doing this week’s topic on our blogs, there won’t be a linky this week. The linky will be back up next week.

That’s it! We are thankful for YOU, for your contribution, for being part of this community, and we all wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Since we aren’t doing a link-up this week, I do want to share the writers and bloggers for whom I’m thankful.

First, the ladies who co-host each week - God’s done a special thing in bringing us all together. Thank you, Leah, Jen and Arabah! Walking through the past few months with you has been such a blessing to me!

The rest of this list is in no particular order - just writers who I enjoy reading and have been blessed by. You can click on their name/blog to get to their site.

Heather, at Going All In, has some exciting things going on at her newly-launched site. It’s such a blessing to see what God is doing through her! Thank you, Heather!

Rebecca, at Mom’s Mustard Seeds has been a source of hope in the midst of my own storm. God has used her to help me know that I can make it - the path I’m on isn’t a dead end; it’s a new beginning, by the grace of God. Thank you, Rebecca!

Carlie, at Managing Your Blessings has warmly opened her blog to many writers, and I have learned so much from this amazing group of women that God has put together through Carlie. I appreciate the opportunity to share at the site each month and to see what God does through MYB. Thank you, Carlie!

Jennifer Dukes Lee has written some truth that has strengthened me and has pointed me back to Jesus. Her beautiful stories provide a place of warmth and comfort for my heart to draw near to God’s truth. Thank you, Jennifer!

And finally, Ann Voskamp. Ann’s book, 1000 Gifts, has pointed me to gratitude and joy - deep, soul-nourishing joy that can only come from living in a place of thanksgiving for all that God has done.

I have linked to their blogs - you can find their social media pages through the blogs. I’ll be posting a thank-you on their Facebook pages as well. These women have been instrumental in my year, and I am so grateful to live in an era when we have easy access to the writings and contributions of so many others.

 

Next Week’s Topic: 2014 in Review (Time to get introspective. We look forward to hearing what you’ve learned in 2014.)

 

 

About #TheLoft

 

The Loft is the place for conversation, community, networking, and Christian growth.

Each week we provide a topic to start the conversation.

PLEASE NOTE: While there are many link and leave blog hops out there, we are different in that we ask that your link stick to the weekly topic. This fosters community and conversation. It also helps us practice “topic” writing as bloggers. Oh, and please mention The Loft in your post! Thank you so much!


Monday night, at 9pm Eastern, the linky goes live and all week you can link up your post on that week’s topic.

We’ll have fun topics, serious topics, practical, soul-ful, holiday, and so, so much more…we can’t wait to get started! This is not only a great way to connect with others, it’s also a fun and easy way to establish a writing habit. If you aren’t a blogger, you are welcome to join in by leaving your comments in the comment section.

So grab your coffee mug and come on up! Hang out for a bit. We betcha you’ll be glad you did.

To Participate:

1. Be creative. Feel free to use words, photos, video, audio, your family pet, whatever, to communicate on the weekly topic. But please stick to the weekly topic :)

2. Listen twice as much as you talk. If you leave one link, visit two. Trust us on this one~wink.

3. Be a community. Include #TheLoft graphic and/or link back in your post so we can find each other. Also, share the great stuff you find when you visit around…we’ll be doing the same.

 

The Loft Link Up

 

When you link up at The Loft, your link will appear on 4 blogs! We’d love for you to visit The Loft co-hosts and know who we are: Jen, Rebekah, Leah, Arabah

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

When Life is Short

November 22, 2024 By 2

I started to write a different post earlier today - maybe that one will be for another day. After today, though, this is my time to process my thoughts. You see, life is short and that reminder has been driven home in several ways the past few weeks. Tonight, though, I was reminded to love a little more, because you just never know when God will take you home.

When Life is Short - reflections on the questions we, as parents, don't want to have to answer || rebekahmhallberg.com

A few weeks ago, I was driving our son home from therapy. Out of the blue, he said, “If you die, I might have another mom.” I assured him that I would be his only mother - his birth mother. But I did agree that if something were to happen, his father was free to remarry, and he may, indeed have another lady who would take care of him, but that I would be his one and only mom.

Right after that… “But if you died, and Daddy died, and Grandma and Granddad died, then they would send us to an orphanage, or whatever you call those places where the kids go who have no parents.”

I was merging onto the highway. To this day, I don’t know how I got onto the highway because my breath caught, my heart skipped some beats and I felt like I’d been sucker-punched.

See, for our son, you have to choose how to answer so very carefully. His own special needs keep him filled with anxiety at times, and the wrong answer could do vastly more damage than any help a good answer could provide.

And in that moment, he said, “Isn’t that right? Isn’t that how it works?”

How do you explain a lifetime of helping friends understand his needs so that he knows he’d have a support system?
And how do you just matter-of-factly say, “Yes, we all might die, and you might be alone,” without falling apart?
And how do you even look that possibility in the face as you snuggle each morning and tuck them in each night?

Then, today happened.

A lady came into the place where I work. She needed help choosing a card and gift for the situation.

And then, this:

She was a special ed teacher who got a call that the mother of two of her students had died.

“If you die, I might have another mom.” I could hear my son’s words echo in my head.

It turns out the mother’s death was very unexpected and almost instantaneous.

And there, in the middle of the store, I found myself wiping my tears.

As much as I didn’t want to even consider my son’s questions, concerns and comments about a new mom, an orphanage, and everyone dying at once, the reality is, it could happen.

Just like the day we were driving home, I felt my breath catch.

The stories of young children who lose their parents are so sad - so very sad.

But for those kids, like mine, who understand life in a different way, the questions, the thoughts, the possibility of the tragedy becoming a reality are so hard to manage properly. You want to answer, but you don’t want to say too much. You want to give them enough information, but not overwhelm them. You want them to be safe, but the question he always comes back with, is, “But how do you know? You won’t be here.”

There aren’t answers in these situations. There really aren’t. There are best options, there are well-laid plans, there is love.

But at the end, all we can do is trust that God will hold us all in the palm of His hand.
That He would keep us until the appropriate time.
That He will protect, nurture, and care for those we love.

Even if we all die at the same time.

Tonight there are two sisters, mourning the sudden and unexpected loss of their mother. There is an aunt providing housing. There is a teacher providing support. But there is no mother anymore. And there are no words to take that pain for them.

Tonight I hurried home

To love a little more.

Because life is short.

 

photo source

Filed Under: having faith in God, parenting

Thanksgiving at The Loft

November 17, 2024 By 1

This week, we’re talking about anything related to Thanksgiving at The Loft.
Join us?
Come and link up, or come and just be encouraged!

The Loft is open, come on up!

 

The Loft: A weekly Hangout and Link Up for Christian bloggers
Graphic by Kerry Messer

 

This Week’s Topic: “Thanksgiving” (Food, traditions, an essay or video, or your own gratitude list. Maybe we will find some new ideas to incorporate into our celebration this year!)

Next Week’s Topic: Surprise! (Next week we have a little surprise planned! Be sure to stop by early~~smile, grin, beam!)

About #TheLoft

 

The Loft is the place for conversation, community, networking, and Christian growth.

Each week we provide a topic to start the conversation.

PLEASE NOTE: We want to foster community and transparent conversation with one another, just like we’d do if we were meeting in real life. So we ask that your link stick to the weekly topic and that you mention The Loft in your post. Thank you so much!

Monday night, at 9pm Eastern, the linky goes live and all week you can link up your post on that week’s topic.

We’ll have fun topics, serious topics, practical, soul-ful, holiday, and so, so much more…we can’t wait to get started! This is not only a great way to connect with others, it’s also a fun and easy way to establish a writing habit. If you aren’t a blogger, you are welcome to join in by leaving your comments in the comment section.

So grab your coffee mug and come on up! Hang out for a bit. We betcha you’ll be glad you did.

 

To Participate:

1. Be creative. Feel free to use words, photos, video, audio, your family pet, whatever, to communicate on the weekly topic. But please stick to the weekly topic :)

2. Listen twice as much as you talk. If you leave one link, visit two. Trust us on this one~wink.

3. Be a community. Include #TheLoft graphic and/or link back in your post so we can find each other. Also, share the great stuff you find when you visit around…we’ll be doing the same.

 

The Loft Link Up

 

When you link up at The Loft, your link will appear on 4 blogs! We’d love for you to visit The Loft co-hosts and know who we are: Jen, Rebekah, Leah, Arabah

 

 

Now it’s time to link up!

 

This Week’s Topic: “Thanksgiving”

 

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Filed Under: Uncategorized

3 Tips for Heartfelt Thanksgiving

November 16, 2024 By 11

Thanksgiving is upon us again - a beautiful time to reflect and consider all our many blessings. Thanksgiving is celebrated on just one day - one day that we also focus on family, food, football, and … pie. 😉 But if you’re like me, you’d like to make thanksgiving a way of the heart - a state of heart - not just a day on the calendar. This Thanksgiving could be the start of carrying the giving of thanks throughout the year. There are many ways to focus on transforming your heart to one of thankfulness. Here are 3 tips for heartfelt thanksgiving - and hopefully they will stay with you long after the “fourth Thursday feast” has ended.

3 Tips for Heartfelt Thanksgiving - how to turn a calendar day into a way of life || rebekahmhallberg.com

1. Be Thinking

A heart of thanksgiving does not just happen, at least not in my experience. When I’m thinking about my many blessings, I am able to enter into a place of deep thankfulness that seems to supercede any other feelings I may have.

Be intentional - grab pen and paper and make a list as blessings come to mind. When I tried to do this, I found that nearly all of my time could be taken up with considering my blessings, and while that’s a wonderful thing, God has called us all to even more than counting our blessings. So here’s a tip I’ve tried, and it’s worked for me. You might consider giving this a try. When a blessing comes to mind, simply say, “Thank you, God.” This helps you acknowledge the gift and the giver. If the blessing came to you through someone else’s hands, thank God for them.

2. Be Thankful

So this seems sort of like a no-brainer, but let me share a secret:

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it
is like
wrapping a present and not giving it.
-William Arthur Ward-

When we are remembering our blessings, we’re recalling a gift given to us. But when we thank the other person, we’re turning that first gift into a second gift - the gift of gratitude. One gift has become two gifts.

But really, one gift becomes three gifts. First, the actual received gift; second, the gift of returning thanks; third, the gift of thanksgiving in our hearts.

Saying “thank you” etches deep the feeling of gratitude.

So, practice giving thanks. (Preaching the good reminder to my heart, too!) Find a way to say or write a thank you to someone when they bless you. The more we work on giving thanks, the more thankful we will feel, deep in our hearts.

3. Be Thorough

Let’s start in this habit of thankfulness even before the “fourth Thursday feast” comes around. Let’s not need a calendar day to remind us to be thankful.

Over on the Facebook page, we’re working through the November Joy Dare and sharing 3 things we’re thankful for, based off a prompt. (The link for the full year of joy dares is in the final paragraph.) Have you joined us on Facebook? If not, would you consider stopping by and at least perusing the list of joy prompts?

When we’re thanking someone, let’s not just say thank you. Let’s say specifically what we’re thankful for. And let’s be sincere.

Let’s plan to continue the giving of thanks long past November, well into December, and by the time the new year comes along we’ll be into a habit of heartfelt thanksgiving.

You want to be thankful, but you’re really stuck on how to get started…


Let’s be honest - this thankfulness doesn’t always come easily.
Some days I can’t seem to find much to be thankful for, and on those days, I need a prompt.
Ann Voskamp has a year of joy dares, broken down into monthly segments.
You can find them here - Joy Dares - and I highly recommend checking them out.
There are just 3 each day, but they challenge me to dig so much deeper than just food, family, friends.
They have helped me to find joy in the hardest, darkest times.

Do you have any other tips on how to have a heartfelt thanksgiving, and a heartfelt giving of thanks? Please feel free to share them in the comments.

photo source

Filed Under: gratitude and appreciation

The Loft - Favorite Fall Recipes

November 10, 2024 By 0

 

The Loft is open, come on up!

 

The Loft: A weekly Hangout and Link Up for Christian bloggers
Graphic by Kerry Messer

 

This Week’s Topic: “Fall Recipes” (Yum!)

Get a running start on Next Week’s Topic: “Thanksgiving” (Food, traditions, an essay or video, or just your own gratitude list. Maybe we’ll find some new ideas to incorporate into our celebration this year!)

About #TheLoft

 

The Loft is the place for conversation, community, networking, and Christian growth.

Each week we provide a topic to start the conversation.

PLEASE NOTE: We want to foster community and transparent conversation with one another, just like we’d do if we were meeting in real life. So we ask that your link stick to the weekly topic and that you mention The Loft in your post. Thank you so much!

Monday night, at 9pm Eastern, the linky goes live and all week you can link up your post on that week’s topic.

We’ll have fun topics, serious topics, practical, soul-ful, holiday, and so, so much more…we can’t wait to get started! This is not only a great way to connect with others, it’s also a fun and easy way to establish a writing habit. If you aren’t a blogger, you are welcome to join in by leaving your comments in the comment section.

So grab your coffee mug and come on up! Hang out for a bit. We betcha you’ll be glad you did.

 

To Participate:

 

1. Be creative. Feel free to use words, photos, video, audio, your family pet, whatever, to communicate on the weekly topic. But please stick to the weekly topic :)

2. Listen twice as much as you talk. If you leave one link, visit two. Trust us on this one~wink.

3. Be a community. Include #TheLoft graphic and/or link back in your post so we can find each other. Also, share the great stuff you find when you visit around…we’ll be doing the same.

 

The Loft Link Up

 

When you link up at The Loft, your link will appear on 4 blogs! We’d love for you to visit The Loft co-hosts and know who we are: Jen, Rebekah, Leah, Arabah

 

 

Now it’s time to link up!

 

This Week’s Topic: “Fall Recipes”

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Filed Under: Uncategorized

A Year of Hope

November 9, 2024 By 5

A year or so ago, sometime between mid-October and mid-November of 2013, the Lord gave me a word. As the end of the calendar year was approaching, people were beginning to discuss their plans for Christmas and also their New Year’s resolutions. Knowing that I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, I wasn’t sure just why the Lord gave me that word. I had heard about the “one word” project, where people chose a word to focus on for the year. After some time in prayer, seeking what God was doing, I decided that the word He had given was to be my one word for the year. And so began my plans for the new year - a year of hope.

The word that the Lord gave me, just the one, small word, was hope.

My family had just gone through a major crisis, I was pretty sure that things were going to just keep falling apart (which, to some extent, they did), and I wasn’t sure which way was up…and God said, “Hope.”

It made no sense.

But God didn’t ask me to understand.

He asked me to be still, to watch what He was going to do. He reminded me time and again that all that happened was not about me.

My only choice in the matter was how I would continue from that moment forward.

And that’s where I needed hope…and Hope. Hope that was, and is, the very nature of God Himself at work.

I chose not to move. I made the decision that I would trust what I felt God was saying to me.
It was terrifying, and I questioned that decision many times over.
But I determined to stand, being confident that I would see God’s goodness at work.
(Psalm 27: 13)

And at some point this year, I came across Psalm 71 again, particularly verse 14:

As for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.

 

A Year of Hope

The dictionary defines hope as “to expect with confidence”.

When I determined to take hold of the one word God was giving to me, I wasn’t sure what I was hoping in. I couldn’t have explained it to you if I tried. I asked a few people if the decision I was making made any sense. No one could give me a definitive answer, except to say that I should trust what I felt God was telling me. Most people jumped in to support my decision in any way they could, not knowing what was ahead. In the tough spots in life, the ones who walk in when the world walks out are the ones you want to cling to. Like I’ve shared before, there was a lot of loss due to the situation. But God gave me hope.

I determined to stand my ground. I grasped on to Hope even more tenaciously.

There were times - there still are - when I felt like I was standing in the middle of a downpour while the world passed by draped in sunshine. All I could do was to put my chin down, close my eyes, and keep standing, knowing the downpour would pass. And other times it felt quite the opposite - that I was in the middle of a dry, thirsty desert, praying for some of that rain that had just poured down.

Yet, I stood.

Because in my heart, I firmly believed that while the main part of the journey truly did belong to someone else, my part was to stand in Hope and to trust God.

Many times, I reminded God of His promises to meet our needs, to never leave us or forsake us. My life looked and felt unconventional and I knew it. There were times when even I wondered what I was doing.

But when I stood, when I kept trying to listen to what I believed God wanted, Hope showed up, because God Himself is Hope.

When I went to a store, there would be a trinket or decoration with the word hope on it.
When we had to face the struggles, we were met with hope.
I found hope in random acts of kindness, knowing God had not forgotten me.
When a friend shared a verse that God placed on their heart, it was full of hope.
I saw hope in small acts of goodness from people who may never know the impact of their deeds.
When I didn’t know how to pray, I prayed for mercy and grace, expecting hope.
And expecting Hope.

Hope changed my life this year. Hope kept me going when I didn’t know if I could keep on.

And I believe that’s why God gave me the word hope for this year - because He knew I would need it.

Standing in the face of the unknown - and to keep standing - is difficult.

Maybe you find yourself in that same situation - wondering how you can keep going? Wondering why God is asking you to do a thing.

Dear friend, I do not have the answer. When I first started this journey, I wished someone could just give me the answer. All I wanted was to know why, and that things would improve.

I had a lot of people encouraging me to keep listening to God, but no one could give me the answer I wanted - the ultimate yes or no.

And that’s where the verse from Psalm 71 kept coming to my heart. It was as if God was reminding me to change my focus - to worship when I wanted to worry. When I filled my heart with praise, I found more hope. We can’t always determine what will happen to us in this life, but we can always determine how we respond. (And no, my praise, in this situation, was not to thank God for the mess I was in; rather it was to thank God that HE is the way through, and out of, the mess.)

This image below is what I started 2014 with:

hope for the new year

You see, I wasn’t assured of anything at the start of the year. Only Jesus, and only hope.

As I took Psalm 71:14 to heart and began to praise God in my troubles He began to fill my heart with hope, despite my circumstances.

This year, as I have stood the ground that God called me to stand - holy ground because God met me there - God began giving back some of the precious gifts that I thought I’d lost.

If you are struggling, if you find yourself feeling hopeless and that the world is crashing in around you, would you consider the words of Psalm 71:14? I don’t have much that I can offer you - I don’t have the yes or no you need.

But I can offer you hope - life-saving Hope.
The Hope that not only is in Jesus, but the Hope that is Jesus.

I don’t know if God will give me a word for the new year. I am praying He does as this year of hope has been such a blessing. I’m praying that He continues the work that He is doing in our circumstances, and that His name will be magnified in all we do.

If you have found yourself in a struggle of hopelessness lately, let me know?
You can comment on the post, you can use the icons at the top of the page to find me on social media,
you can use the page at the top to find contact information.
I would love to stand with you in prayer,
to encourage you and to share the hope that has grown in my heart.
Life can be messy at times, but there is Hope!

A Year of Hope - how just one word changed my life || rebekahmhallberg.com

photo source

Sharing at Tell His Story

Filed Under: having faith in God, Hope

The Loft - Intimacy With Jesus

November 3, 2024 By 1

I just want to share with you all that I’m always so blessed by those who are linking up. God’s always so faithful to share something special with me through those who link up. I’m particularly eager to read your thoughts on intimacy with Jesus, and abiding in Him.

If you don’t have a blog, I’dd love to read your thoughts in the comments. Please feel free to share that way - we all have so many beautiful stories to share. So - welcome!

The Loft is open, come on up!

 

The Loft: A weekly Hangout and Link Up for Christian bloggers
Graphic by Kerry Messer

 

This Week’s Topic: “Intimacy with Jesus” (What does that look like for you? How do you abide in the vine? What barriers do you face or victories you’ve discovered in maintaining intimacy with Jesus? Let’s encourage each other!)

Get a running start on Next Week’s Topic:”Fall Recipes” (Please do share your favorite fall recipes so we can enjoy too!)

About #TheLoft

 

The Loft is the place for conversation, community, networking, and Christian growth.

Each week we provide a topic to start the conversation.

PLEASE NOTE: We want to foster community and transparent conversation with one another, just like we’d do if we were meeting in real life. So we ask that your link stick to the weekly topic and that you mention The Loft in your post. Thank you so much!


Monday night, at 9pm Eastern, the linky goes live and all week you can link up your post on that week’s topic.

We’ll have fun topics, serious topics, practical, soul-ful, holiday, and so, so much more…we can’t wait to get started! This is not only a great way to connect with others, it’s also a fun and easy way to establish a writing habit. If you aren’t a blogger, you are welcome to join in by leaving your comments in the comment section.

So grab your coffee mug and come on up! Hang out for a bit. We betcha you’ll be glad you did.

 

To Participate:

 

1. Be creative. Feel free to use words, photos, video, audio, your family pet, whatever, to communicate on the weekly topic. But please stick to the weekly topic :)

2. Listen twice as much as you talk. If you leave one link, visit two. Trust us on this one~wink.

3. Be a community. Include #TheLoft graphic and/or link back in your post so we can find each other. Also, share the great stuff you find when you visit around…we’ll be doing the same.

 

The Loft Link Up

 

When you link up at The Loft, your link will appear on 4 blogs! We’d love for you to visit The Loft co-hosts and know who we are: Jen, Rebekah, Leah, and Arabah.

 

Now it’s time to link up!

 

This Week’s Topic: “Intimacy with Jesus” (What does that look like for you? How do you abide in the vine? What barriers do you face or victories you’ve discovered in maintaining intimacy with Jesus? Let’s encourage each other!)

 

 

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Filed Under: Uncategorized