Three Strands Ministries

02/20/2026

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02/20/2026

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Lent as God’s gentle invitation to honesty. A phrase used by .o.nica that I have co-opted for the next 40 days.

Today’s question to ponder with God:

✨what do I often want to hide, from God or from others?

Take a pause…
…breathe deeply
….sit quietly

Remember there are no “right” answers here. Just honest ones. 🩷

02/19/2026

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I read a description of Lent written by .o.nica that really resonated with me:

What if Lent could be God’s “small invitation toward honesty”?

Somehow it takes the pressure off.
The pressure to get things “right”.
The pressure to perform.
The pressure to be “spiritual” as a leader.

I’m making it a practice this Lent to be honest with ‘whatever is’ in the present moment.

I may post honest questions here…
(Then again, I’m not overly consistent and I may not… 🤭.)

And that’s ok.
God isn’t seeking my performance this Lent,
nor my piety.
God is simply seeking me… my heart 💗, my presence in the moments of this ordinary life.

If you have a moment to take a breath and take a pause, here is a simple, honest question to ponder with God:

✨What is true for you, right now in this present moment?

It could be anything; there are no “right answers” here… just honest ones. And God isn’t expecting a certain answer from you either.

01/30/2026

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Some mornings call for “slow”…
…for simply noticing…
…for celebrating the small and the mundane.

For knowing that God is at work even when we cannot see or sense it.

And for leaving the overwhelming, heavy, and hard things for a bit in God’s capable hands.

Rest in the Lord, my weary one.
Breathe in God’s Love.

With you in it,
Kristen

01/27/2026

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How does one navigate life when one unexpected and uninvited thing after another presents itself?

These days feel raw and hard.

I am not listening to the news as I drive in my car. Not for right now.

My soul craves quiet music, candles in the morning, walks in the brisk winter weather and when I begin to feel overwhelmed by what has come my way, I simply breathe.

A breath prayer I’m turning to these days:

I breathe in your peace…
I breathe out stress…
(or anxiety, or fear or anger or whatever is threatening to overwhelm me in the moment)

I cling to the only sure thing in this world:
Jesus Christ

And I look for the glimmers of light. ✨
They remind me of Jesus being the light in the darkness.

Friends, in whatever you hold, or whatever comes uninvited, I am with you, breathing in His peace today.
💗

01/25/2026

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My heart is broken. 💔💔💔
And I am angry.
To watch the immoral and unnecessary violence and murder of innocent civilians is too much. And to see leaders blatantly lie about it. Atrocious.

This morning I sit in the silence with my candles lit, feeling the heaviness of it.

From Psalm 11 with slight edits:

“For look, the wicked aim their guns,
they set their bullets in the chambers
to shoot from the shadows
at the upright in heart.

When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?

The Lord…observes the sons of men;
his eyes examine them.
The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked and those who love violence
his soul hates.

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01/13/2026

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“Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever….

But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge…”

Ps.73:23-26, 28

Sometimes grief just strips away everything else. And I’m left with my only desire and my only refuge: God.

01/06/2026

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Anyone else?

Perhaps due to a misunderstanding with a partner, or a friend.
Perhaps just being yourself in a harsh and judgmental world.
Perhaps missing loved ones who are far away.

Henri Nouwen was very familiar with the ache of loneliness. His words bring solace to me as I recognize the pain of my own loneliness.

And we see the promises of Jesus:

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you…I am in the Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”

What an incredible statement.

God is closer than we realize.
We are not left alone.

May the tender love of Jesus provide for all who feel the sting of loneliness today.

In it with you,

Kristen

01/06/2026

12/30/2025

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The angels’ song is still ringing in my heart, and the refrains of O Holy Night echo in my mind.

My favourite Nativity puzzle 🧩 has been disassembled for another year.

At the cusp of another new year, the candle 🕯️ is lit, the pages of the new year lie blank…

What will this new year hold?
How will God meet you in these coming months?
What will the puzzle pieces of life look like by the end of 2026?

It’s ok if you don’t know, if the plan eludes you, or if the bar seems too high.
It’s ok if you have arrived tired, uncertain, or sad.

One question to hold in your heart these days:

• what does my heart truly long for?

God is within the deep longings.
The Spirit is at work in those tender places.

You are deeply loved, no matter where you find yourself at the beginning of this new year.

💕

12/23/2025

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The fourth candle in Advent is Love.

It was love that motivated the King of kings to empty themself of everything, taking the very nature of a servant, in the likeness of a human being in order to join us here in the mess and the chaos of life on earth…

… as a tiny, dependent, vulnerable baby.

If you have some time over the next few days, I invite you to place yourself in your imagination beside the rough feeding trough containing the incarnate God. Spend some time there just being with the newborn Jesus.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God… This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1Jn.4:7,9,10

Be well, dearly loved one!

🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️