Articles
The Doors are Open! A Long-Awaited Answer to Prayer
After years of prayer, planning, perseverance, and faith, we are humbled and overjoyed to finally share this long-awaited news: the doors of Karis Home are officially open!
The Real Work: Where Faith and Wise Counsel Meet
As a therapist for a little over a decade, I have had the pleasure of working with many individuals, couples, and families. The results of these encounters have varied based on where, when, and how the sequencing of patterns have reached fertile hearts. I can objectively say that the moment I allowed my faith to infiltrate the room is the moment I began to see more healing in the lives of the people I counseled. As a result, I continue to speak about faith and belief in therapy due to the underlying spiritual struggle that presents itself with each encounter. To understand why, allow me to share some of my story.
I Did Not See that Coming
I thought I was prepared to speak to a group of teenage girls for our Youth Girls’ Friendsgiving. I mapped out and rehearsed exactly what I was going to say. However, the night before I was to speak, I was almost involved in a car accident. My mind immediately rushed back to the car crash I was in with my sister the year before. Due to that accident, we both acquired permanent injuries and conditions which continue to affect our everyday lives.
Léré's Barn: Awaken Our Plates and Our Hearts
Spring arrives like a gentle invitation. The days grow longer, the air softens, and something stirs within us as the heaviness of winter subsides. As warmer months arrive, we beg for small, sustainable shifts in how we eat and how we care for ourselves.
Finding Financial Peace God’s Way: Part 2
In the last issue of Living Real, I shared a shift in my thinking about financial peace. I used to view financial peace as an accumulation of wealth. But with each financial goal reached, I set another and another. As I found myself treating the accumulation of money as the source of my peace and not God, my mindset changed.
Take a Page from the Editor: Fall 2025
Suggested reading from the Editor's personal library.
Letter from the Editor: Fall 2025
Have you ever heard the phrase, “I’m living my best life”? Maybe it was said by someone who’s retired, traveling, living at the beach, or whose life responsibilities have greatly diminished. It could also be someone with a new home, job, spouse, or empty nesters. But, what do all of these “best lives” have in common?
Join the Resistance!
It’s easy to get an attitude these days.
Especially the American Christian. You know what I’m saying.
We’re so greatly misunderstood, misrepresented, mischaracterized, and mistaken for others posing as Jesus-followers that we’re becoming Gordian knots searching for some new label for our relationship with Jesus.
Christ at the Finish Line
My daughter recently started running and training for her first half marathon. At first, she struggled to find the right shoes. Despite trying several pairs, the pain persisted. After consulting with a professional, the cause of her pain was identified. The professional recommended the appropriate footwear which, thankfully, alleviated her discomfort.
How to Push Past the Bully of Distractions
I didn’t need an alarm. The howling wind outside made the early morning hours difficult to sleep. Throwing back the sheets, I begrudgingly rolled out of bed.
My morning routine felt as chaotic as the winds outside. Even my quiet time was harried. The demands on my calendar vied for my attention, and the weight of responsibilities taunted me like a schoolyard bully hiding in the shadows.
Introducing our new blog,"The Light" — Exposing the Truth, Empowering the Community
At Lighthouse for Life, we believe in the power of truth, hope, and education to transform lives. That’s why we’re excited to introduce The Light, a new blog dedicated to bringing awareness to the realities of sex trafficking and inspiring our community to stand together against it.
Never Stop Talking!
Did you marry your best friend, or do you just like to say you married your best friend?
It's very popular to declare some version of “My spouse is my best friend” or “I’m so blessed I got to marry my best friend.” I fully believe that those who claim it really think they mean it. But, for so many husbands and wives who want it to be true, it’s likely to be less of a reality than they may think.
The Power of Praying Moms
As the first day of school approached, I began seeing Facebook posts for an event called DayONE—a women’s prayer event for all Lexington One moms. This event was scheduled for the first day of school at a local church. I decided to take a step of faith and attend after I dropped off my kids.
That one hour of prayer changed my life.
Bridge the G.A.P.
Bridge the G.A.P.is a prayer initiative hosted by Living Real Magazine. At Living Real Magazine, we feel it’s imperative that we pray for the children — and for those who have influence over them — in our educational spaces.
Infertility's Invisible Ache
As each new JCPenney catalog arrived, I’d flip through the nursery bedding section to dog-ear the pages showing bears and balloons. Those were my favorites. Even though the designs I chose would change occasionally, my physical state didn’t.
Léré's Barn: Let’s Talk Liver Health
No crazy cleanses. No radical detoxes. Just real, everyday ways to support your liver.
I love this Scripture: I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. (Psalm 139:14, ESV). The Lord truly designed our bodies in the most remarkable way. One of the greatest examples of His handiwork is the liver—a vital organ which quietly serves us day and night.
Finding Financial Peace God’s Way: Part One
For most of my adult life, I believed financial peace would come when I finally accumulated “enough.”
Take a Page from the Editor: Spring 2025
Suggested reading from the Editor's personal library.
Letter From the Editor: Spring 2025
Faith is not some trendy church word used by Christ-followers, or a word to be tossed around in a casual manner. Isaiah 6:7b says, If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all. God takes our faith in Him very seriously and we should, too.