I’m so excited to share with you my most popular blog posts from 2017. These are posts that got the most pageviews, the most comments, pins, or messages to my email box. It’s been fun looking through them and creating this list. And of course, it’s January, so as  I look back through 2017, I can’t help but look back at the things I wanted to accomplish but didn’t. That’s okay though. Those are simply new goals for 2018. Yay!

*By the way, this post has some affiliate links in it. That means that if you click on any of the links and make a purchase, that I receive a referral fee, although you still get the same low price. You can read the rest of my disclosures here.

BUT… I also can’t look back without acknowledging all the good things I was able to accomplish this past year.

#1. An Intimacy Challenge to Transform Your Marriage

Somewhere along the way, life happens, we just get busy, and stop being intentional with intimacy. Why? Because we take our focus off of God first, and then each other. Our spouses stop being the priority in my life. I displace it onto kids, work, life, friends, family, fun, and … me.

#2. Part 4: Finding Miracles in the Midst of Hopelessness

The anxiety overwhelmed me as I got ready for my ultrasound appointment. Just moments ago, I was standing on my bed yelling and pointing my finger at God, and now I was in a heightened state of worry as I got ready to go. I could not find peace anywhere, and believe me when I say, I was searching hard for it that day.

#3. Capture Insecurity and Live Your Life in Confidence

It comes in waves for me. Do you know what I mean? Sometimes it overwhelms me and I allow it to stop me in my tracks. Sometimes I’m able to put it aside and do what I need to do. Some days it attacks me in my parenting. Some days it overtakes me in my marriage or

#4: Part 1: Faith isn’t Always Easy

That day back in 1992, we learned, in my 16th week of pregnancy, that our first son had a heart condition, a spinal cord that was broken in two places, and kidneys that didn’t work. That scripture brought me no comfort, in that moment. We were devastated. I asked God what He was doing, what He was allowing, only to get no answer.

#5. Part 2: Trusting God When Life Feels Out of Control

At 20 years old, I understood that I was not promised a life of rainbows and butterflies. I didn’t expect everything to always be perfect but that day in 1992 that I learned the baby I was carrying inside of me was sick, was more than I could handle. Problems during my pregnancy defied my expectations.

#6: Part 3: Finding Hope When You are Angry at God

As I look back over the years, I tend to focus in on particular days. Meaningful days. It’s not that the other days didn’t mean anything. Of course, they did. But as I’m thinking through the story of my firstborn son, I have to focus in and string the most important moments together. I have come to realize that the day I got angry at God was a pivotal moment in this piece of my journey. It was the day my trust in Him had broken down and I was truly afraid.

#7. Part 5: Naming Our Baby Was an Act of Faith

This pregnancy was such a troubling time in our life, especially as a newly married, young couple, but it was also a time that produced such faith, trust, and growth in our own personal walks with God. When doctors are telling you left and right that your baby may not make it, deciding to name the baby is difficult enough, but it is truly an act of faith. It says that we are trusting God no matter the outcome.

#8. Love is a Choice and I Got to do Better

Every now and then, it’s good to remember what that word actually means and let’s just not toss it around like any other random word. It’s a verb. It requires action, on my part. When I say “I love you” then there are expectations. I take it seriously, and I would hope that you do too. Now, I know we aren’t perfect and sometimes I get in my own way. But it’s important that I hold myself accountable to what the Word of God says love is.

#9. Random Acts of Kindness Challenge

What if we were intentional every single day of the year? My heart is broken when I see the news these days. There is so much hurt, anger, and division all over the world. As I hear of mass shootings in churches, at concerts, and schools, or bank robberies, or car-jackings, or the bullying epidemic we have in our school system, it’s hard to turn a blind eye to any of it. How can we? People are hurting. Nobody is perfect. I get that. I probably fail at this concept more days than I excel at it. But the idea is that I could do better.

#10. Part 7: Finding Hope in the Midst of Heartache

Even though, this day was over twenty years ago, my heartache remains when I think on that time in my life … even knowing the outcome, God’s blessings, and hindsight. Just real stuff here. So here goes …

The days following Joshua’s birth were exhausting, to say the least. If you have ever had a child (or even someone you love) in the hospital, you could probably understand what I mean.

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