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Kristan Dooley
- Jan 15, 2019
- 6 min
The Tension of the Turn
It was mid December and I had just resigned from my job as one of the High School Pastors at a large church in Cincinnati. Finally, after ten months of preparation, I took the step and turned left. Standing at the bottom of this seemingly impossible hill I wondered what He was going to do now. Twelve years ago, He called me into ministry and I never looked back. I gave up my life as I knew it to follow Him only to now find myself here, off the beaten path, in one of the dark
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Kristan Dooley
- Dec 19, 2018
- 6 min
"Advent-ually" Planting in Hope
Hey guys! We are starting a 3 post Christmas series over at Renewal women tomorrow morning. I would love for you to following along. If you aren't currently waiting on God to start or finish something, then you will be, just wait long enough! Which is why, learning to wait well is worth your time in gold! I will share the Renewal blogs on my social media but I wanted to get you a preview. Feel free to jump over to Renewal and sign up for our emails so you can read more of th
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Kristan Dooley
- Nov 19, 2018
- 5 min
The Habit of Gratitude
Gratitude is not hard but it is a habit. If gratitude is a habit it's also safe to say ingratitude is also a habit. You will bend toward one or the other. Gratitude and ingratitude are muscles. The muscle you strengthen will be the one you grow and will ultimately become the muscle you lean to. The mindset of ingratitude comes very easily when we spend our time strengthening it. It's not hard to see what is wrong with everything around us. Things in the world are not as they
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Kristan Dooley
- Sep 29, 2018
- 8 min
Off the Beaten Path
Hungry for something Jesus hadn’t eaten for forty days when Satan first approached Him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread,” (Luke 4:3, niv.) The temptation was to reduce what He needed to mere physical substance. To believe the lie; I am what I have, instead of the truth; I have what I need. Had Jesus turned the stone to bread, He would have been operating out of the fear of not having enough, rather than trusting the truth, God is enough.
The desi
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Kristan Dooley
- May 1, 2018
- 12 min
Side streets and back alleys
Jesus was unpredictable. As soon as the disciples thought they had figured it out, He would do something completely opposite leaving them with their mouths wide open. Who was this man that followed no system or sequence? Where did He find the freedom to be fully present and yet completely connected somewhere else all at the same time? Why wasn't He swayed by the power of the people? How did He so radically love and let go? Following His baptism by John the Baptist, Jesus was
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Kristan Dooley
- Oct 5, 2017
- 7 min
Why healing often involves hard questions...
Rebuilding involves questions. You can't get to where you're going without recognizing where you've been. Our healing is not compartmentalized. It's not confined to space and time. This side of eternity, we do not have the capacity to know and understand it all, but we still have the invitation to seek and recognize what He has made available for us to see. We live in a world of answer givers. Not many listen to understand. Most listen to respond. We have all been guilty of a
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Kristan Dooley
- Sep 18, 2017
- 7 min
God never said that...
Have you ever had a conversation play over and over again in your head? Maybe in a brave moment, you met a friend for coffee and opened up with the storm that has steam rolled its way into your life. Authenticity feels good as the truth of what's really going on pours out of your mouth. Finally, the weight of keeping your struggle to yourself is lessened. Hopefully, your friend meets you with compassion and understanding, grace and truth, but regardless of her words, you undo
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Kristan Dooley
- Sep 1, 2017
- 4 min
Eye Contact...
I had a soccer coach who loved spending nine of the ten allotted half time minutes pointing out our missed opportunities. He often reminded us how the score on the score board was not reflective of the team he knew we were. He wasn't telling us anything we didn't already know. We knew our capacity to play soccer with the best teams in the league. We were as good, if not better than the best, but there were moments we struggled to show it. During the worst half times we hung
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Kristan Dooley
- Aug 3, 2017
- 5 min
What do we do when we don’t know what to do…
What do you do when you don’t know what to do? When the plan you thought you had turns out not to really be the plan? When the mission changes and the once narrowed focus seems broad, unfamiliar and uncharted? Honestly, the calling has always been so concrete in my head. Black and white – this is what God has gifted and called me to do. I could always picture it. It was always there. But, the further I get into following Jesus, the further I get away from the concrete plan I
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