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Do You Need Faith That Moves Mountains?

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Do You Need Faith that Moves Mountains

I used to think this verse was just a metaphor. 

I've certainly never seen a mountain move and I'm surrounded by them on all sides. See that picture above, it was taken from my front yard this weekend. And I've never seen it move, no matter how little or how big my faith.

But I've learned our lives are full of mountains. Mountains can be many things, sometimes they're addiction, unsaved loved ones, scars, fresh wounds, miscarriages, infertility, broken relationships, or pride, just to name a few. 

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Dear Mother Who Doesn’t Home School Her Children

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I had a woman inform me that only home schooled children received the best education and were the most advanced, without exception. Her words stung me. While I do a lot of things the old fashioned way and at home, teaching my children the whole of their education isn't one of them.

A parent's success isn't determined by where their child attends school. www.MelissaKNorris.com

She didn't blink an eye when I told her my children were in the public school system. I left the conversation feeling inferior as a parent, wondering about my decisions, and a tad guilty.

I've read many articles on home schooling and statements made by home schooling parents. Whether or not to home school is a personal and family decision. As all decisions my husband and I make regarding our children, we give it serious thought and do what we think is best for all involved.

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Do You Use All 11 of These Tools?

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SurvivalToolBonus

Have you seen this nifty little 11 in 1 survival tool? It got me thinking about the most important survival tool we have. In fact, the only real survival tool we have.

What is that you ask? I'm so glad you did, because this has been on my mind for several days now.

The most important survival tool is our faith in Christ Jesus. I'm guessing you already knew that. But if you're like me, sometimes, you need those little nudge moments.

Here's 11 reasons why your faith is your most important survival tool.

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When Someone Says They Don’t Believe In Jesus

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When You Share the Story of Jesus and People Don't Believe www.melissaknorris.com

Have you ever had someone ask you questions about Jesus and salvation? I've had people who didn't know the story of Jesus ask me about Him. They had no idea about salvation, the cross, or the Savoir who died there for their sins.

The first time I had someone tell me they didn't know about Jesus I was shocked. I was in high school and assumed every one knew His story, even if they didn't live it, or accept it. Call me naive, but I thought the only people who didn't know about Jesus were in far off countries where we sent the missionaries. (Remember, I was young and still in high school) Since then, I've had others ask me questions and been able to give them a Bible and try to answer their questions.

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Why I’m Not Afraid of the Dark Anymore

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I have a confession to make. I used to be horribly afraid of the dark. Not just as a child, but as an adult into my twenties.

When I was little, I always wanted to sleep with a night light on. Blessedly, my mother didn't mind this and even kept a night light on in the bathroom.

When we fear the dark, we forget to shine Jesus's light. www.melissaknorris.com

I never wanted to go outside alone after dark. I hated looking out windows at night that didn't have blinds or curtains, especially when all I could see was my own reflection and not what was beyond the glass.

My bed was always laden down with stuffed animals. And every night I lined them up along the outside edge of the mattress. If anything tried to grab me, they'd get a stuffed animal first.

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Why This Should Be Your New Daily Prayer

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When I was in school, I hated group projects. Not because I didn't like working with others, I'm very social by nature, I start up conversations with strangers and my dad is fond of saying I'd argue talk with a fence post if it talked back.

Why This Should Be Your New Prayer www.MelissaKNorris.com

But when we were assigned a group project and our grade was determined by the entire group's effort, I instantly tensed up. Inevitably, there were always a few people in the group who didn't do their fair share of the work. It wasn't the extra work that bothered me, it was knowing my grade was in the hands of others.

Giving up control is something I struggle with. Slowly, God is working on me to surrender to Him. Bit by bit, person by person, situation by situation, I'm handing it over. I didn't begin to see my writing career take off until I finally surrendered it to Him.

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Is the Devil Behind GMO’s?

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Is the Devil Behind GMO's? www.melissaknorris.com

This may seem like an inflammatory title for this post, but with all the talk of GMO's, our bee population being decimated, and health problems abounding, I don't think this is such an eyebrow raising statement.

This weekend I was thinking about the book of Joseph and when he interrupted Pharaoh's dream. Genesis 41:17 God warned the people that there would be seven years of abundant crops, followed by seven years of severe famine. They were to put up food from the seven good years to feed themselves for the seven bad years.

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Never Stop Praying for the Prodigal

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God always hears our prayers and sees each of us.

God works in ways that I can't begin to understand. And while sometimes that frustrates me, most times, I'm incredibly grateful. I wouldn't want to follow and worship a god that I had completely figured out. 

I had one of those frustrating moments a few nights ago. One of those busy weeks, where things are off and more things than normal crammed into our schedule, a stressful phone call, and I was two breaths away from crying. I debated whether or not to attend my ladies Bible study. There were 3 loads of laundry, a counter full of dishes, articles due, and lot's of sticky things littering my floors.

But I decided to go anyways. We shared with each other things or situations that bothered us. With tears choking my voice, I said, “Sometimes I wonder why I pray for my brother. After all these years of asking God to bring him to sobriety, I feel like there's no point in continuing to pray, but I keep praying anyways.” (You can read the story of how God used my brother's addiction to convict me and the beginning of the story here)

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Have You Seen God Lately?

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Do you ever wish you could reach out and grab hold of God?

Have You Seen God Lately? www.melissaknorris.com

I know He's with me, that He never leaves our sides, but sometimes, I just wish I could reach out and thread my fingers through His.

This past week was a stressful one at my house. Our schedule was packed more than usual, I was preparing to teach for two days at an out of town writer's conference, and things kept spiraling out of control. Unexpected health issues complicated things even more. The day before I was supposed to leave, my husband found out he was scheduled to be at work, hindering my early morning departure.

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