Looking Up with Kathy and Carla

We read the "Beatitudes" in Matthew 5, where Jesus taught the crowds how they could be blessed by putting some attitudes and actions into practice that probably feel unnatural to the world. And being "blessed" isn't simply about happiness, but a quiet peace and joy - despite the circumstances we may be in - because of our relationship with the Lord. This week, we are talking about eight different ways women can be blessed, and some of them may feel unnatural, but we will be blessed in this life AND in the next if we put them into practice.

This episode was recorded live at the Equipped Workshop in Bowling Green, Kentucky! Each of us talked about things that we found intriguing and faith-building from the book of Genesis. We hope you'll enjoy this episode, because we certainly did!

Opportunities abound for spiritual growth! We are very blessed to live in a time and place where we have so many, many opportunities and resources to be able to grow in the grace and knowledge of God. When we take advantage of them, spiritual growth truly brings real joy. This week we are talking about just a few of the upcoming events that you can benefit from, and many of the great resources that are available. Come check out our Looking Up group on Facebook next week and we will share links, as well as asking for you to share the resources you find helpful!

We are so excited this week to have a special guest...a friend who will encourage you to look up and see the blessings even in hard things! We know you will love her just as we do when you hear what she has to say.Let us know what you think, and if you have questions for her!

Suspicion and distrust and cynicism aren't attractive traits in anyone...especially a Christian. It seems our human nature causes us to look upon almost everything with suspicion and assume the worst from every written and spoken word, when really the fact that we follow Christ should help us see others as He did. Join our discussion today as we try to look for ways to overcome this problem and shine like Christians should!

Life is tough. We endure many trials, struggles, and heartaches - and sometimes we may even feel like Paul, who was "so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself" (2 Corinthians 1:8). But the "God of all comfort" has made so many promises to his children that, if we lean into His word, will truly provide relief and reassurance. Join us this week as we talk about some of these faithful and reliable promises of God. We hope this episode will bring you comfort and help build your faith!

Christians are helpers. One of the blessings of our community is that we look out for one another. Practically speaking - we can all focus on being a lamp, a lifeboat or a ladder. The lamp illuminates the way for others and shines a light on their good ideas. The lifeboat brings people along with us and offers rescue from bad situations. The ladder helps people climb higher and lifts others up. All three work together. Which are you? Could you be all three? Join our discussion today and let us know what you think!

With our ability to gain access to instant news and a constant stream of social media, our opinions, ideas, and even our disagreements increase. We are more polarized than ever before, and it even seems like we use less self-control in communicating those thoughts and opinions! It is easy to become annoyed and even a little angry with our friends and acquaintances over our differences. But this is nothing new - and God gave us instructions for dealing with and even learning to love those with whom we disagree. We hope you'll join us in our discussion today and let us know what you think!

Doomscrolling: "the act of spending an excessive amount of time watching content or news, particularly negative news, on the web and social media"...are you guilty? Scrolling eats away our time and can sap our energy, leaving us wishing we hadn't gone down the rabbit hole! What are some ways we can be more mindful of how we spend time online? Join us for this discussion and let us know if you have figured out how to master this problem!

There are some decisions, attitudes, and mindsets that - if we'd make the effort to learn them - would make our lives so much simpler, better and more peaceful. We do ourselves (and everyone around us) a favor when we make up our minds ahead of time to put these in place. So do yourself a favor and join us this week as we talk about ways we can enhance our lives - personally, spiritually, emotionally, and biblically!