free devotional - Monica Ritchie

Cut Back

May 3, 2020 by Monica Ritchie

It’s spring here in Minnesota, which means that we’re all gardening! Part of preparing our landscaping is to cut back the previous years growth. We do this so that the plant can thrive in the new season. We cut the plant back to just the essentials. Recently, there has been an excessive amount of cut back in our own lives. The economy, jobs, our health and our social lives. It has been cut back, down to the essentials. Now, there is talk of things opening back up and pressing restart on it all has God’s word’s ringing in my ears. …

Perhaps you were created such a time as this

April 14, 2020 by Monica Ritchie

This kids and I have been reading the story of Esther this week. It is one of only two books in the Bible named after a female. The other is Ruth. If you’d like to learn more about the books of the bible, head HERE for an easy to follow chart. You’ll also see that Esther is a form of written Biblical history and presented to us as such. The Main Theme If you’re unfamiliar with the story of Esther the overarching message of the book is the truth that God is sovereign in his love and care for his …

Relationships

March 22, 2020 by Monica Ritchie

I had written this last fall after my grandma, my Gigi passed away. It has been a reminder to me that though she may be gone physically, she is still teaching me many lessons. If you’d like to read my tribute to my Gigi, you can find that HERE. My Gig, she was a woman of tenacity and grit no doubt. She didn’t necessarily own extravagant things, and in her lifetime she didn’t necessarily even travel to what one might consider extravagant places. But what she did have, what she did create were extravagant relationships. During this time of pandemic, …

Fear the Fear

March 9, 2020 by Monica Ritchie

“I’m scared” She whispered to the dark. “I know. I’m here” The dark seemed to whisper back. There is nowhere you can go, there is nowhere you can walk – that He has not already been. If God is for you, who can be against you. I’ve been in this scenario numerous times. Whispering to the dark as I grasp for solid ground in my mind. Fighting what we all fight from time to time – fear. We all struggle with fear on some level or another and it can ebb and flow in seasons. However, at the root of …

Blooming in God’s Timing

February 7, 2020 by Monica Ritchie

I’ve been saying “no” to a lot of opportunities lately. A lot of really great opportunities. I have also been hearing “no” or “not yet” on a lot as well. That feels hard, it feels like rejection. It feels stagnant in an ever evolving space. But God is reminding me, much like I cannot force open the petals of my peonies to bloom, I cannot force open His plans or His timing for me. ‘Bloom where you’re planted’ is a popular mantra and typically, I’m not one to gravitate towards such things, however, this one, I’m digging into. I’m called …