Are you going through a difficult time right now either in your own life or the life of someone you love? On this episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, I’m excited to have Sarah Forgrave with us to talk about connecting with God during those difficult times in our lives.

During hard times we have one of two choices: 1) We can go to God for help and grow closer to Him and more like Him, or 2) we can be a bit angry with God and distance ourselves from Him. Sarah Forgrave talks about connecting with God during hard times so that we’ll grow closer to Him and mature.

Sarah Forgrave is the author of Prayers of Hope for Caregivers and Prayers for Hope and Healing, prayer devotionals that connect readers to God during hard times. Familiar with the broken messes of life, Sarah loves encouraging others toward a deeper walk of faith. When she’s not writing or speaking, she loves to shop the aisles at Trader Joe’s or spend time with her entrepreneurial husband and two preteen children.

The post Connecting with God in Hard Times with Sarah Forgrave appeared first on Barb Raveling.

Do you ever find yourself working on a goal but secretly thinking, I’ll never be able to do this? In today’s episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, Dr. Melanie Wilson shares three mindset shifts that can help us accomplish goals.

Here are the three mindset shifts we’ll be discussing on today’s podcast:

Melanie also discusses what to do if you’re not sure whether or not God has called you to do something.

The post 3 Mindset Shifts That Can Help You Accomplish Your Important Goals appeared first on Barb Raveling.

Do you ever want to have a quiet time, but you can’t make yourself do it? That happened to me for ten or twenty years. Each year, I’d put “Have consistent quiet times” on my New Year’s goals list, and each year I would fail to meet my goal.

I wanted to meet with God, but I couldn’t make it happen. In time, I was afraid to put the goal on my list because I knew I wouldn’t be able to follow through with it.

If you struggle to have consistent quiet times, I hope today’s podcast will help. We’ll talk about 10 lies that make us not want to do our quiet times.

Here’s an example: Let’s say it’s 8:00 in the morning and I remember my quiet time commitment, but I have a long to-do list. The first thought that pops into my head is, “It’s not that important. I’ll just skip it today.”

At that point I have three options: 1) Skip the quiet time, 2) try to make myself do it with brute strength (which doesn’t usually work for me), or 3) truth journal so that I actually want to have a quiet time.

When I truth journal, I ask, “Is this belief true? What would God say?” And then I’ll write the truth down next to the belief. The truth will make me actually want to have my quiet time–and when we want to do something, we usually do it.

On today’s podcast, we’ll look at more lies we believe that keep us from having consistent quiet times. For each lie, we’ll look at the truth that will help us to actually want to have those quiet times.

If you’d like to renew your mind while listening to the podcast, just turn the podcast off after I introduce each lie and think about what you would say for the truth before I go ahead and say it.

Here are the lies we’ll be discussing:

The post Consistent Quiet Times: 10 Lies That Get In the Way appeared first on Barb Raveling.

Do you ever feel like weight loss is a battle? Not just a one and done but a back and forth lose/gain experience?  On today’s podcast, I visit with Sandy about the ups and downs of weight loss. Here’s a sampling of the topics we’ll be discussing.

I asked Sandy for an update to put on the blog and here’s the email she sent me: Though I have been struggling the last few months, I am not quitting.  God is still working on me and I am making progress internally and I know the external will follow.  When I start with the external/food plan, it isn’t sustainable for long because the root causes are not fixed.  Through a number of things God brings my way, I am slowly working through the spiritual and emotional part of eating, which will yield more permanent results.

Thanks for the update, Sandy!

The post The Ups and Downs of Weight Loss with Sandy appeared first on Barb Raveling.

Do you ever find yourself annoyed with your husband because of something he did--or didn't--do? Often we let those annoyances build up until we're super unhappy in our marriages. In today's episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, I'll explain how to use option charts to improve your chances of having a happy Christian marriage.