HILARY HAMBLIN

I left the gym more frustrated than I had arrived. Instead of basking in the endorphins of a great workout, I stewed in the anger of having to use the worst bike in the class. On the surface, a bad bike really was the cause of my anger, but underneath, I knew the source went deeper. I'd started going to spin class a couple of years ago and had several friends in the class. People who chatted with me as we warmed up before the class began, moaned with me about how hard it was

I sat on the floor of my closet in the early morning hours in the days leading up to a writer's conference and poured out my heart to God. I started writing fiction in junior high -- a scant twenty-five years earlier. A small publisher had committed two of my books to print before it went out of business. Since then, my writing had stalled. In the thick of raising two small children, I had carved out little space to dedicate to my writing. A year earlier, at another writer's

My Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Cons: At 500+ pages, it pushes the limits of my ability to stick with a book. I agree with one reviewer who wrote that the book was overpopulated. i.e. the writer had too many characters. For my taste, it had a little too much prose. I prefer more dialogue and action. Pros: My friend loved the very vivid language. While the book has plenty of "villains in the moment," it lacks one true villain for the overall story. And you'll be left guessing what really

I read this week's verse last fall during a difficult time in my life. I repeated this verse to myself multiple times a day and studied the chapter where I'd found it. At that moment, I longed to know what my future held. God promised me He had it all under control. And He was everything I needed. I adopted the word ENOUGH as my Word of the Year for 2023. It stems from this verse. Whether I have all the trappings of this life or not, He is enough. He is my portion and my bles

Welcome to week two of the 2023 Bible verse memorization challenge! I've been reading through Isaiah and studying commentaries on this book since August. These scriptures flow back and forth between God condemning the Israelites to captivity for their sinfulness and His promises to restore them to their land. In the middle of it all, He offers glimpses of Christ, the new church, and future restoration. What rich words we've been given! This week's verse draws us back to the p

If you're reading this blog post, it's because you read about it in my email or social media pages. I'm so glad you followed up! As kids, we learned scripture as part of Bible Drills. When my children were in grade school, they participated in AWANAs which focused on scripture memorization. But as adults, few people talk about memorizing scripture. I'm not a huge fan of it, to be honest. I think my biggest hang up is that I'm a perfectionist. If I miss one "thou" or "and," I'