Faith, Hope, Courage, and New Beginnings
100 Devotional Writings
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
;Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)
As nature has its seasons, so do our lives. I look back on an earlier time in my life when I was raising my young children and it feels as though it were another lifetime. I’ve often wondered if other people feel that way as well. We take photographs and videos, keep journals, and reminisce with old friends as we come to terms with the reality that everything on this earth is for a season.
If we live long enough, most of us will remember relationships that had a beginning and an end. Maybe it was a time in your life when you were at a peak in your ministry or career. That, too, had a starting point and a transition or retirement. Sometimes this peak is viewed as a time when you felt more important or useful. Parents often view their empty nest as a life change that ended the season of feeling needed by their children.
We can get stuck, wistfully looking back over our shoulder, or we can be fully present in our current experiences, relationships, and challenges. When we invest our energy into making the present the best time of our lives, it prevents comparisons that lead to feelings of disappointment. By all means, be grateful for every past blessing and learn from any mistakes or failures from those early years. These all work together to make us who we are and form our sense of identity.
But don’t let any of those memories, positive or negative, overshadow what God has planned for your life now—new relationships to be nurtured, new challenges to meet, and new areas of work or ministry. It could even be a much-needed season of rest and relaxation for you to recreate yourself after a major life experience has left you drained. Whatever season it is, embrace it! It has beauty, and it has purpose!
May God help us as we maneuver through the many transitions of life. May He give us the wisdom to understand that “to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose.” May we fully trust Him as He leads us through all the seasons of our lives!
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About the Book
In Faith, Hope, Courage, and New Beginnings, the author shares her reflections on love, marriage, spiritual growth, and worship. She touches more specifically on the loss of a spouse through death, remarriage later in life, and how we are led to a closer walk with God in the midst of our brokenness. You will receive many nuggets of wisdom as she shares from her own experience and from the experiences of those she has counseled. Your heart will be encouraged as Stephanie shares how good and faithful God is in the midst of all that makes up our life on this earth. Your faith, hope, and courage will be renewed as you look forward to all the new beginnings God has for you!
About the Author
Stephanie Murphy offers encouragement to us as we maneuver the twists and turns of life, grieve our losses, and find our own new beginnings. She draws not only on her three decades of experience as a family therapist but also on her personal experiences. Stephanie also shares wisdom from God’s Word and from her own Christian faith.
She has a master’s degree in counseling and is a licensed marriage and family therapist. Stephanie is actively involved with her husband in his life’s work as a missionary to young people in Europe. Having survived the death of a spouse, she has learned to press into God during difficult circumstances and understands what it means to find renewed faith, hope, and courage for all of life’s new beginnings.
Stephanie is also the author of Strong and Courageous: Encouragement for Families Touched by Autism, WestBow Press, 2017.