You’ve lost so much. Time wasted in relationships that went nowhere. Years stolen by addiction or negative patterns of poor choices. Opportunities missed because of fear or betrayal. Dreams deferred by circumstances beyond your control. The devastation feels irreversible, and you wonder if you’ll ever recover what’s been taken from you. But God specializes in restoration. The principle of sevenfold restitution is found in Proverbs 6:31 where a thief caught stealing must repay seven times what they took. That’s a picture of how God operates. When the enemy steals from you through sin, suffering, or circumstance, God doesn’t just restore what was lost. He multiplies it. Author and theologian A.W. Tozer once wrote, “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.” The very losses you’ve experienced position you for a level of blessing you couldn’t have received otherwise. What Satan meant for destruction, God intends to use as the setup for your greatest comeback. Jeremiah 29:11 – Plans to Give You Hope and a Future For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Isaiah 40:31 – They Will Renew Their Strength But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Joel 2:25 – I Will Repay You for the Years the Locusts Have Eaten I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm—my great army that I sent among you. Job 42:10 – The Lord Gave Him Twice as Much After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.

God won’t fill a net you refuse to throw. In Luke 5, Peter was washing empty nets after an unproductive night. Tired. Frustrated. Ready to go home. Then Jesus said something unusual: “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets…” Peter had every reason to say no. He had experience. He had logic. Everything in him said, “This won’t work.” But he obeyed… and his empty nets nearly sank the boat. This is the Empty Net Principle: God fills effort, not excuses. Peter didn’t see a miracle until he moved. Your miracle is always tied to your motion. People pray for abundance while standing still with clean, unused nets. God blesses hustle. God rewards movement. God multiplies action. The deep is where the blessing is but the deep is uncomfortable. Jesus didn’t say, “Cast your net right here on the shore.” He said, “Launch out into the deep.” Deep places require: • risk • faith • obedience • leaving your comfort zone Shallow effort never produces deep blessings. Your obedience creates overflow for others. Peter’s net-breaking catch was so big he needed partners to help him pull it in. When you obey, your business becomes a blessing factory. Overflow is Heaven’s endorsement. God didn’t ask Peter if he felt ready He asked if he was willing. Readiness is a feeling. Willingness is a decision. Peter chose willingness… and stepped into abundance.

Getting older isn’t something to fear, it’s something to honor. It doesn’t take away your beauty, your worth, or your spark. If anything, it reveals who you truly are beneath all the noise. Each passing year doesn’t diminish you, it shapes you. It softens what needs softening, strengthens what needs strengthening, and teaches you to release the things that were never yours to hold, the need to impress, to fit in, to be everything for everyone. What remains is the truest version of you: a person built from lived experiences, quiet wisdom, compassion, and resilience. The lines on your face aren’t marks of aging — they’re stories of every smile, every tear, every moment that shaped your heart. The gray strands in your hair aren’t dull — they’re a shining crown, proof that you’ve lived fully and bravely. Growing older teaches you to love more deeply, to speak more honestly, to cherish what matters and let go of what doesn’t. It doesn’t make you less significant — it makes you richer, wiser, and more extraordinary. So welcome each new year with gratitude instead of fear, for the chance to expand, to evolve, and to continue becoming the most powerful version of yourself.

I once heard the saying, “No root, no fruit.” It’s true, especially where God is concerned. Dirt that lacks nutrients, whether natural earth or spiritual soil, stunts root growth. Here, we’ll look at the spiritual stuff. Jesus addressed spiritual seeds, sowers, and receivers in Matthew 13:19 and 18-23. The “seed” is an introduction to God’s kingdom made by a sower — e.g., teacher, evangelist, or disciple-maker; the soil is the recipient. Depending on the sower and receiver, the result can be spiritual fruit or fuel for the burn pile (John 15:4-6). In Matthew 13, Jesus offered examples of the different seed recipients and their conditions to illustrate growth opportunities and outcomes. I’ll present each scenario one at a time. Roadside (13:4 and 19) “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.” A lack of wisdom hides God’s kingdom; erroneous church leaders and teachers can be at fault. Flawed or incomplete evangelism, encouraging someone to enter a one-sided selfish relationship with God without understanding the terms and conditions, is also at fault. The cure? Find a mature Christ-follower and imitate what you see and hear. Rocks (13:5-6 and 20-21) “… this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary…” This person understands at least the appealing parts of Christianity and perhaps entered it emotionally. Once the feelings are gone, so is any motivation for growth. As with the roadside receiver, causes include bad teaching, inadequate evangelism and the absence of discipleship. Thorns (13:7 and 22) “… this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” This person probably understands the Kingdom but chooses self-centeredness, where the “lust of the flesh and eyes” rules over all else (1 John 2:15-17).

Every year around this time, this memory cracks me up all over again. 😂🤣Oh, the sweet moments we hold onto forever… It’s been 38 years since I divorced my children’s father on September 19, 1987 — and what I’m most grateful for is the life we lived during those formative years. Country living shaped my babies in ways a classroom never could. Because of those years… 🌾 My strong, multi-talented son, Michael, became the true “jack-of-all-trades Carpenter.” That boy can build a house from the ground up and do every single thing in between. 🌸 My beautiful daughter, Mishele, grew a green thumb so magical she can make anything bloom. Her knowledge of plants still blows me away. We chopped wood to heat our home — all five fireplaces of that big old antebellum house.We planted huge gardens, canned everything we grew (tomatoes, corn, green beans, salsa, jams — if it grew, we preserved it!).My husband and son hunted every season, and our freezer stayed stocked with venison and even squirrel. 💼 Small Town, Big Hustle During those years, we were living in the tiny farm town of Trenton, right outside my birthplace — Ft. Campbell, KY — near the border of Clarksville, TN. My husband had just lost his job when I noticed an empty Chevron gas station sitting right in the middle of that one-horse town. I called the Chevron jobber, he came to our home, interviewed us right there at our kitchen table… and the very next week, we were running a full-service gas station with a two-bay garage. My husband was in his element — he’d built his first car at 18 and had worked as a Ford Parts Manager and mechanic for years. He was either in the garage repairing vehicles or out on the farms fixing tractor tires and filling them with calcium. And me? Honey, I did EVERYTHING: ⛽ Pumped gas🧽 Cleaned windshields🔧 Checked oil & fluids📚 Did the books📦 Ordered all the parts The kids’ school was only one block away, so they’d walk over after school, do their homework, and help pump gas. We were open 7am–7pm, Monday through Saturday and closed only on Sundays.