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Grace + Growth, Davenport, IA (2026)

04/05/2026

I woke up before the sun this morning. It felt like something inside of me was nudging me awake. The house was still quiet, but it felt different. The silence didn’t feel smothering like yesterday. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, listening.

All I could hear was the soft sound of breathing from my parents in the other room and I could see the faintest hint of morning beginning to stretch across the sky.

Then, I remembered the tomb. My chest tightened. I didn’t even stop to think. I slipped out of bed and hurried outside, the cool air brushing against my skin as I ran. I tried to remember what day it was. Didn’t He say something about the third day? I didn’t really know what he meant when He was talking about it but yes, this was the third day.

The streets were empty, the world was still half asleep. The sun was just beginning to rise, painting everything in shades of pinks and oranges. I reached the garden and……..skidded to a stop.

The stone was moved!

My heart started pounding so loud I could hear it. “No” I whispered, I stepped closer, slowly now, as if I moved too fast it might all disappear. The opening of the tomb stood wide, dark and waiting.

I felt it before I understood it. Something had changed. The air itself felt alive, like it was holding a secret too big to keep.

“Hello?” I called out, my voice echoing in the darkness. I stepped inside, it was cooler in here. I could see His grave cloths neatly folded in the corner, but He wasn’t there.

“Where did He go?” I whispered and for a moment, fear rushed in. Had someone stolen His body? Had we lost Him again?

Then, a voice, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?”

I turned so fast my heart jumped into my throat. I don’t even remember seeing where the voice came from, only how it felt. The closest I can come to describing it is, it was bright, as if light had learned how to speak.

“He is not here, He has risen.”

Risen? What? How? The word “risen” rose in my heart, like it had known all along that this was how the story would go.

I thought back to all the times He had looked at me, like He wasn’t afraid of anything, not even death. This was the flicker of hope I’d felt yesterday.

“He’s….alive?” I whispered, barely daring to say it out loud. Alive? Could it be true? Not gone, lost or defeated but alive.

Alive.

This changes everything!!!!!

Hope came rushing in where grief had settled into my heart. The story wasn’t over. I ran home as fast as my legs would carry me. I have to tell my Mom! She’s going to be so happy!

The sun was rising now, spilling gold across the sky like heaven itself was celebrating. I couldn’t stop smiling. I didn’t understand everything, but this I knew…..that huge stone, the grave and even death did not win.

Jesus did!

He is risen, yes indeed!
~Rachel

04/04/2026

Why is everyone whispering?

Yesterday had been so loud with crowds of people shouting, crying, chanting to kill Him. The sky itself had seemed to groan. But today?

Nothing, just this heavy, aching silence.

I stayed close to the adults, watching their tired faces, and their eyes red from weeping. No one had answers though. No one seem to have the words. I tugged on my mother’s sleeve.

“Where is He?”

“He’s…resting,” she said softly. I noticed she had been crying again.

Resting? That didn’t make any sense. Yesterday sure didn’t look like rest to me. I had seen Him. I wish I hadn’t, but I did. The blood, more blood than I had ever seen before, the way He could barely stand, the way everything felt wrong, and now they were saying He was resting?

When no one was watching, I slipped away and found myself standing in front of His tomb. The stone was so big, I had to tip my head back to see the top of it. It didn’t look like something that could ever be moved.

“Jesus?” I whispered, even though I didn’t think He could hear me.

Silence.

I placed my hand against the cold, unmoving stone. It was the opposite of the man I’d seen heal the sick and give to the poor.

“You said You’d always be with us…” the words came out quietly as though even they didn’t believe themselves and tears streamed down my face.

“Why didn’t You stop it?” slipped out of me with a sob.

I didn’t understand any of this, the searing pain or the deafening silence. Or why someone so kind and so good, would end up behind a stone like this. Was everything I believed a lie?

I slid down the stone and sat there for a while, hugging my knees, wondering if everything He told us, if everything we believed, had been buried in there too.

Deep in my heart though, beneath the ache and the confusion, there was something else. A flicker of hope on the darkest day of our lives.

It didn’t make any sense, He was dead and buried, but it felt like maybe this wasn’t the end of the story………

04/04/2026

I didn’t mean to follow Him. I was just a child, caught up in the middle of a crowd that felt too loud, too…..something I couldn’t put my finger on.

Then, I saw Him.

He was bent under the weight of something I didn’t understand. There was wood on His back, too big for Him to carry, and blood… more blood than I had ever seen before.

I remember thinking, Why is no one helping Him?

He stumbled. The wood hit the ground hard, and I jumped. I thought someone would run to help Him, but no one did. They just shouted louder. Then, He turned His head toward me.

For a moment, it felt like He looked right into my soul. Not angry nor afraid but kind. I couldn’t understand that. How could someone be suffering like that……and still look kind?

I wanted to run to Him. I wanted to say, “Stop, you’re hurting Him.” But I was just a child, no one would listen to me. So, I just followed. Step by labored step. He was breathing hard, blood kept flowing into His eyes from the thorns on His head and His steps were slow under the weight of it all.

I didn’t know what was happening. I couldn’t understand why He didn’t fight back. I had no idea how He kept going. I just knew that I had never seen someone hurt like that, and I had never seen someone with so much love in their eyes either.

***I am older now, and I finally understand. That cross I thought was too heavy for any man to carry, was not just wood. That cross was mine. Every sin, even the ones no one saw, He carried it all that day.

Step by step, bleeding, with labored breath yet He chose not to stop. He saw me that day. Not just the child in a crowd…..but the woman I would become, and He kept walking.

For me.

For you.

Those eyes I could never forget….I understand them better now. It wasn’t just kindness I saw in them that day, it was love and it was grace.

02/11/2026

Tonight’s supper started with a simple thought, “We’re kinda broke, but we have food in the house.” So, instead of seeing lack, I looked for possibility.

I found a big bag of fire roasted vegetables in the freezer. Chicken breasts, potatoes, a little butter, sour cream, garlic and Italian seasoning. Then, I found fresh rosemary and a couple lemons hiding in the fridge.

Suddenly, it didn’t feel like scraping by. It felt like stewardship. I laid the lemon slices under the chicken, sprinkled rosemary over the top, added garlic and seasoning, and let the oven do the work. The house now smells like something far more expensive than our budget allows this week.

There is something special about learning to create abundance from what is already in your home.

We live in a culture that constantly whispers, “You need more.” More money, resources and upgrades, but sometimes growth is not about adding. Sometimes it is about honoring what you already have.

Tonight, we will sit down to lemon rosemary chicken, roasted vegetables, and baked potatoes with butter and sour cream. It’s simple yet beautiful and maybe that’s the lesson.

Grace meets us in what is already in the pantry. Growth happens when we choose gratitude over scarcity.

You do not need more to begin. You need eyes to see what is already there.

Rachel 🩷
Grace Plus Growth, cultivating faith, creativity, and a wholehearted life.

02/11/2026

Some days feel crazy.

The news blares. Your calendar is full. The world spins dizzingly fast, and if I am honest, my thoughts can feel just as chaotic as the colors in this background.

Life is rarely one solid shade. It is layered, sometimes it bleeds, sometimes it surprises us. There are bright moments, sharp moments, tender ones, and places where everything swirls together and we can’t tell where one season ended and another began.

When I painted this heart, I didn’t try to calm the chaos around it. I let the colors stay bold and unpredictable, because that’s real life. Right in the center though, a heart appeared. Not perfect, smooth, or sterile. Just present.

Because here is what I am learning, over and over again. We don’t have to wait for the world to quiet down before we can rest. We don’t have to fix every swirling circumstance before we are safe.

We are still loved in the middle of the mess.

Like a child crawling into her Father’s lap while the room all around is noisy, our safety is not found in silence. It is found in His arms.

The words “You are loved” are not decoration. They are truth and an anchor. They are the steady whisper of Heaven over every woman who has ever wondered if she is too much, too broken, too messy, or too late.

The background may feel wild. Your story may be layered, and your heart may have scars but you are not alone.

You are loved.
You are held.
You are safe.

This is heart work. This is holy work.

Rachel 🩷
Grace Growth

This painting will soon be released as part of my new collection, Words and Paint. Heart Work, Holy Work, where messy hearts are welcome as we cultivate faith, creativity, and a wholehearted life together.

02/03/2026

Yesterday was the 29th day of our sugar fast and Wendy, the author of the book, 40 Day Sugar Fast, spoke about how the Bible tells us that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are sitting beside God the Father and interceding for us.

Wait…….if you skimmed over that, read it again.
That’s big ya’ll.

I’ve technically known this since I was a child but it never sank in until yesterday. They are praying for you, they are praying for me.🙏🏼

The thought that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are already in the presence of the Father, praying, agreeing together on my behalf, takes so much pressure off my shoulders. It reminds me that prayer is not a performance or a formula, it is participation.

Sunday morning at church we sang, “I will cast my crowns down at your feet. You are holy, so holy.” Scott Schaefer spoke for a minute before we started singing and reminded us that we are not alone in singing His praises, and this was not some kind of dress rehearsal for Heaven. No, we are joining the saints and angels who are currently in Heaven singing, “Holy, holy, holy.” To quote Scott, “If you don’t like repeating a verse or the chorus of a praise song, Heaven is going to be a real drag for you, man.”

Some days I have eloquent prayers, previously memorized Scripture is flowing, words tumbling out. Other days I am tired, emotionally spent, or unsure of what I even need. On those days, I find myself whispering, “Lord, I trust You more than I trust my own understanding. I believe that what You are praying for me is better than anything I could ask for myself, so…..ditto.”

There is something deeply comforting about knowing that when my prayers feel weak or incomplete, they are carried by perfect intercession. I am not praying alone, never have been.

You know, sometimes faith looks like eloquent prayers and open Bibles, and sometimes it looks like a bowed head and one small word.

“Ditto.”

I’m in agreement with Heaven today.

01/25/2026

Day 7 of what we can learn from Ruth

Loyalty & Led
Scripture: Proverbs 3:5–6

Over the past week, we have looked at kindness, perseverance, faithfulness, resilience, loyalty, and hope. Each one a beautiful quality of a woman named Ruth.

Ruth’s story was never about her strength in isolation. It was about her willingness to let God lead her loyalty. She stayed when God asked her to stay. She worked faithfully when the path was unclear. She waited when it was hard. And when the time came, she received what God had been preparing all along.

Loyalty without God’s leading becomes exhausting. Kindness without boundaries becomes self neglect. Perseverance without trust becomes striving. Even resilience can harden us if we let it, but when God leads, these same qualities become life giving instead of life draining.

Neuroscience reminds us that our nervous systems crave safety and direction. When we do not know what is coming next, our bodies often step in and try to control the outcome. Scripture invites us to handle it a little differently. To trust and surrender. Guidance that comes one step at a time.

Ruth did not have a map. What she had was a God who promised to go before her, and that was enough.

If you have walked through this week and recognized yourself in her story, please hear this truth. You were never meant to figure it all out. You were meant to be led. God does not rush you. He does not shame you. He delights in guiding faithful hearts who are willing to trust Him with both their staying and their releasing.

A question you may want to ask yourself today: What would it look like to place my loyalty fully in God’s hands and let Him lead the way?

01/24/2026

Day 6 of what we can learn from Ruth

Hope
Scripture: Romans 15:13

Hope is often misunderstood. It is not denial. It is not pretending everything is fine when it clearly is not. Biblical hope is not wishful thinking. It is expectation rooted in the character of God.

Ruth’s story is a reminder of this kind of hope. She had no guarantee that things would turn out well. No promise of an easy life. No clear picture of what was coming next, and yet, she kept showing up. She kept trusting that the God she followed was still writing her story, even when she couldn’t see the ending.

Hope, for Ruth, looked like obedience in uncertainty. It looked like gleaning fields without knowing if it would ever lead to more. It looked like believing that God was present in the ordinary, unseen moments.

Neuroscience tells us that hope actually helps regulate the nervous system. When we believe there is meaning ahead, that something good is still possible, our bodies begin to soften. Hope creates room for breath. It signals safety. It tells the soul, “You are not trapped. This is not the end.”

God knows this about us. That is why Scripture does not tell us to manufacture hope on our own. It tells us that God is the source of it. He fills us with joy and peace as we trust Him, not after everything is resolved, but in the middle of it.

If you are struggling to hope today, that does not mean you lack faith. It may simply mean you are tired. God is gentle with tired hearts. Sometimes hope begins as a whisper, a willingness to believe that God is still good and still near.

A question you may want to ask yourself today: Where might God be inviting me to hope again, even in a small way?

01/23/2026

Day 5 of what we can learn from Ruth

Resilience
Scripture: Psalm 66:10

Resilient women are often praised for being strong, but strength is rarely something we choose. Most of the time, resilience is forged in places we never wanted to be, through losses we never asked for, and seasons we would have skipped altogether if we could.

Our Scripture today tells us that God refines His people like silver. When silver is refined, it is placed in intense heat, not to destroy it, but to remove what does not belong. The refiner stays close, watching carefully, never leaving the fire unattended. He knows the silver is ready when he can see his own reflection in it.

Did you catch that? Just like someone refining silver, God does not abandon us in the fire. He stays near. He watches carefully and He knows when enough is enough. He knows we are ready when He can see His reflection in us

Neuroscience tells us that when we walk through prolonged hardship, our nervous systems learn how to adapt. We learn how to cope, how to function, how to keep going. That ability to adapt is not a flaw. It is resilience, but it can also leave us tired without realizing why.

Ruth did not pretend her losses didn’t matter. She grieved. She worked. She trusted. She allowed herself to be seen and helped. Resilience, in God’s hands, is not about being unbreakable. It is about being willing to keep trusting after being broken.

If you have been through things that changed you, please hear me, you were not being punished. You were being refined, and through it all, God was close enough in the fire to see His reflection forming in you.

A question you may want to ask yourself today: What has God been refining in me through hardship, and where might I be seeing His reflection now?

01/22/2026

Day 4 of what we can learn from Ruth

Faithfulness
Scripture: Luke 16:10

Most of the time, faithfulness looks like showing up when no one notices, doing the next right thing when there is no guarantee it will pay off, and trusting God in the middle of the mess where nothing seems to be changing.

Ruth lived this kind of faithfulness. She did not know how her story would turn out. She did not have a promise spelled out or a timeline laid out before her. She simply kept showing up. Day after day, she returned to the fields. She worked hard and honored God in the ordinary.

That kind of faithfulness can feel frustrating, especially in a world that celebrates quick results and big breakthroughs. We want clarity and answers. We want to know our obedience is “working” and we want all of it NOW.

Scripture reminds us that faithfulness in small things matters deeply to God. He is never distracted by the ordinary. He is never bored by consistency. He is always doing more behind the scenes than we can see in the moment.

Faithfulness is not about being perfect. It is about being present. It is choosing obedience even when the outcome is uncertain. It is trusting that God sees the work you do in quiet places and values it more than you realize.

If you feel unseen today, you are not forgotten. If your obedience feels small, it is not insignificant. God does His deepest work in the soil of faithfulness.

A question you may want to ask yourself today: Where am I being faithful in ways that no one else sees, and how might God be using that more than I know?

01/21/2026

Day 3 of what we can learn from Ruth

Perseverance
Scripture: Galatians 6:9

Let’s get real for a minute. I’m sure you’ve met women that persevere because they trust God. You may even be one of them. Then, there are some of us that keep going because we are terrified of letting someone down, disappointing people, or being seen as weak or too broken.

From the outside, those two kinds of perseverance can look exactly the same. You’ll see the same smile, same reliability. Same “I’ve got it handled” squared shoulders but on the inside, they feel very different.

Perseverance rooted in fear will eventually wear you out. Perseverance rooted in trust will carry you through.

Ruth shows us this distinction so clearly. After losing her husband, leaving her homeland, and stepping into an uncertain future, she did not quit. Conversely, she also did not rush ahead demanding answers. She persevered one faithful step at a time. She gleaned in the fields day after day, doing humble, unseen work, trusting that God was at work even when her future was uncertain.

Like Ruth, many of us learned early that quitting was not an option. We learned how to push through, and muscle our way forward, even when we were exhausted. Somewhere along the way, our nervous systems started to believe that rest was irresponsible and slowing down meant we were failing God or people or both.

Rest is not quitting. Rest is trust.

Ruth’s perseverance was steady, not frantic. She trusted God enough to keep showing up, and humble enough to wait for Him to move. When God is leading, perseverance feels grounded, even when it is hard. When fear is leading, perseverance feels heavy, pressured, and lonely.

So if you are tired today, that does not mean you are failing. It might mean that your soul is asking you a question. 🧐

A question you may want to ask yourself today: Am I persevering because God is leading me forward, or because I am afraid to stop?

01/20/2026

Day 2 of what we can learn from Ruth

Kindness
Scripture: Colossians 3:12

We can’t help but notice that Ruth was a kind woman. Kind women often learn early how to make themselves smaller so others feel comfortable. We smooth things over, keep the peace, and offer grace, even when grace is not offered back. Over time, kindness can turn into self neglect if we are not careful.

I was thinking recently about how often this shows up in motherhood. Many of us have walked through seasons where our parenting was questioned, criticized, or misunderstood, sometimes openly, sometimes subtly. Even when we are doing our very best, and even when our hearts are fully invested. We may feel the weight of other’s judgement and wonder to ourselves if we failed somehow.

We still show up though and we love fiercely. We extend grace to others, even when that same grace is not extended to us.

Neuroscience tells us that women are wired for empathy and connection. When we sense tension, criticism, or disapproval, our nervous system often responds by trying to restore peace. That can look like over explaining, self blaming, or carrying shame that does not belong to us. That is not weakness. It is a protective response learned over time, but kindness was never meant to cost you your confidence or your calling.

Jesus models this so beautifully. He was kind, compassionate, attentive, and loving, and He still withdrew to rest. He still said no. He did not explain Himself to everyone who misunderstood Him. He protected His time with the Father, and He trusted God with the opinions of others. Biblical kindness flows from identity, not obligation.

If you are a kind woman, and especially if you are a mother who has ever questioned herself because of someone else’s words, please listen to me. You are allowed to be kind without carrying shame. You are allowed to extend grace without absorbing criticism, and you are allowed to tend to your own heart while leaning on His everlasting arms.

A question you may want to ask yourself today: What would kindness toward myself look like today?

Grace + Growth

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