Moms, on today– Mother’s Day– let’s purpose to be thankful for whatever we are given, however small. Frankly, any holiday can set us up to have unrealistic expectations. Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries… younger women are now even told to expect a “push present” for having birthed a baby. Again and again, we women are primed by our culture…
Category: Grow as a Woman
The Stew or The Cross?
You remember the story. Twin brothers– one with a penchant for cooking, the other a hunter. The cook (the younger of the two) had the favor of his mother. The hairy hunter was his father’s delight. In a moment of desperate hunger, focused on the immediate longing of his belly, the hunter traded his birthright—…
“He Makes Me Lie Down”
Psalm 23 has come up in various places in my life lately… you know how God does that? Sometimes He brings something to your face in various ways all at roughly the same time. Quick story: Last week, we thought we’d found a potential house for our family. It was an old church that had…
We Need What We Would Never Choose
Lately I’ve talked with some friends who are hurting. I should say, who are *also* hurting. From my tiredness, feeling like a towel that has been wrung, all I feel is twisted and dry. I feel very cautious about saying anything about the hurt. Though poets and celebrated authors have received acclaim and income from…
Feelings of Home
I exited Wal-Mart into the bright of day, still stunned by our conversation. The cashier and I had moved one another to tears: “I left L.A. years ago,” she told me. “Never thought I’d stay here. All my family’s there. I’ve only got my husband here in Texas.” Her smile was strained as she typed in…
8 Verses That Help Me Fight For Contentment
There have been so many different seasons of my life when I’ve had to *FIGHT* for contentment. 7-months-pregnant in a grimy, coal-heated, 80’s-era-floral-couched, bugged (not the insect kind) apartment in China Months later, when my husband got gravely sick, and we went YEARS with tons of investigation but no medical answers or reasons what had…
The Lie You’re Telling Yourself About Time
Pastor Matt Chandler says, “I would contend, no one has lied to you more than you have.” One of the biggest lies I think we tell ourselves, is, “I don’t have time for that.” We haul this whopper out whenever we hit something that we know would be beneficial but we aren’t actually doing it….
Welcome!
WELCOME to JessConnell.com! I am so excited to see you here! With a change in my writing habits and goals, it was time for a change. From 2006-2013, I blogged at a different place. I started writing novels (which are still unreleased and sitting on my hard drive), and so in Jan 2015, I started writing under…