Dear Friends,
Easter Sunday has come and gone, but the resurrection we celebrate doesn’t fade with the last hymn. It keeps rolling the stone away. It keeps breathing life into places we thought were sealed shut forever.
This season has held both ache and wonder for our family. Many of you know my beloved sister Paula recently went home to be with Jesus. Your cards, prayers, texts, and unexpected gifts arrived when grief felt the heaviest. My sisters and I thank you for carrying us. We felt your love, and we are grateful beyond what words can hold.
Easter isn’t a single Sunday. It’s a way of living. This spring, with all its blossoms and songbirds and fresh mercy, feels like exactly the right moment to ask: How do we keep living in resurrection light? Here are five invitations I believe God is extending to each of us.
1. Receive the gift of God’s presence in every season.
Grief makes us feel utterly alone. But the same Jesus who said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25 ESV) also promised “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20 ESV). His presence isn’t reserved for the high moments; it meets us in hospital waiting rooms, long silences, and Tuesday mornings when we can barely get out of bed. Corrie ten Boom knew suffering few of us will ever face, and she said: “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.”
Action Step: Each morning this week, sit quietly and simply say, “Lord, I receive Your presence today.” You don’t have to have the right words. Just show up. He already has.
2. Rejoice—even when it’s hard.
Paul wrote from a prison cell: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4 ESV). He said it twice because he knew we’d need the reminder. Joy isn’t the absence of sorrow. It’s the stubborn, glorious decision to anchor ourselves to the One who conquered the grave, even on days when the grave feels very close.
Action Step: Start a “Joy List.” Each day this spring, write down three specific things, however small, that reflect God’s goodness. Joy grows where we water it with gratitude.
3. Risk something that requires courage.
Is there a conversation you’ve been avoiding? A dream tucked away because it felt too big? The angel at the empty tomb didn’t whisper; he said, “Do not be afraid” (Matthew 28:5 ESV). That’s a command wrapped in compassion. Elisabeth Elliot put it plainly: “Do the next thing.” Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s obedience in the presence of it.
Action Step: Identify one courageous “next thing” you believe God wants you to do this month. Write it down, tell a trusted friend, then take the first step, and watch what He does with your willingness.
4. Release what you’ve been holding too tightly.
God often nudges us with this question: What are you gripping so hard that it’s keeping you from fully trusting Me? Isaiah 43:19 (NIV) reminds us, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” We can’t receive the new thing with clenched fists.
Action Step: Find a quiet place, open your hands palm-side-up, and name before God what you need to release. Surrender is often a daily practice, not a one-time event.
5. Remember that your story is still being written.
The disciples thought the story was over on Friday. It wasn’t. Whatever chapter you’re living through right now, the hard one or the grief-soaked one, is not the final page. Romans 8:28 (ESV) promises a faithful Author, not easy chapters. My dear friend Sheila Walsh said something I’ve never forgotten: “You are not what happened to you. You are what Jesus says about you.”
Action Step: Write one-paragraph that you title, “Next Chapter,” not about what has happened to you, but about who God is calling you to become this spring. Read it aloud each morning for 30 days. Faith grows when we speak it.
The stone is still rolled away. The tomb is still empty. And the same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in you today, this Tuesday after Easter, in the middle of your ordinary and extraordinary life.
Receive. Rejoice. Risk. Release. Remember. May these five invitations carry you into the fullness of all God has for you this spring and beyond.
With so much love and deep gratitude for walking this journey with me,
Carol
Please leave a note in the comments to let me know that you’ll be praying for the female inmates who will attend the Women’s Conference at Rockville Correctional Institution and for me as I speak on April 17-19. To help with the purchase of a book for each inmate at the conference, click here. Then review the 5 points in the blog—Receive, Rejoice, Risk, Release, and Remember. Which one is hardest for you? I’d love to pray for you in a specific way this week.
To help Carol purchase a book for each female inmate when she speaks at Rockville Correctional Institution this month, make a tax-deductible gift here.
Thank you Carol for your well written commentary that I needed as such a time as this.
You are in my Prayers for your Women’s Prison Conference. You will be just what they needed!
God Bless You Always in a Mighty Way.
Nancy Giberson
Thank you for those prayers, Nancy. I’m praying for you right now. Have a blessed day!
Praying for every woman at Rockville Correctional Institute. Ask them to pray for us, too. The enemy has come for us all and we have all suffered in some way. The world would want us to believe we are separate, but we are one body. Halleluja! Bless our sisters and may many more hear His word and give their lives to Jesus.
Nicole, I’m so grateful that you are praying for every inmate at Rockville Correctional Institution. Your comment blessed me so much today.
Wow what a privilege! You are on my prayer list for sure. I think this is so wonderful and I know God is going to reach those women using you. Thank you !
Thank you so much for your powerful prayers!
Thank you for your 5 points. I will be praying for you as you share your story and encourage and challenge the women who are in prison. You inspire me to share the good, bad and ugly but the assurance that God is in it all.
I am preparing to speak and share my testimony at our Celebrate Recovery convention May 1. My son was just moved to another jail yesterday it has been a journey I could never have imagined. He is in jail for the murder of my mother while in a drug induced state. It has torn my family apart. I know that the story isn’t finished and God has always been there for me and family members if they look to Him.
Oh, Karen…I am praying for you as you prepare to speak at the Celebrate Recovery Convention. I know God will use your testimony in a powerful way. Your family has been through a lot of sorrow and I’ll continue to pray for you, your son, and your whole family.
I am privileged to pray for you. What a wonderful thing to do for the Lord. I feel an excitement for what the Lord is doing. May He really bless you. I continue to be encouraged when I read the e mails. Thank you.
Thank you for your ongoing prayers, Elizabeth. I’m so grateful. I’m preparing the handouts for the conference messages today and I’m so thankful that you’re praying for this event.
Carol, am praying for you and each of the women who attend. Am praying they receive Christ as their Savior and know they can be forgiven. I love to hear you speak and know you will have a powerful message from God as it comes from your heart. May God bless you and your ministry. Judith Gibson
Thank you for praying that inmates will say “Yes” to Jesus at this conference, Judith. I’m praying for that, too, and I will carefully and thoroughly explain the gospel.
Thank you Carol,
You will never realize the impact you have had on and in my life. Our journey is ours, your faith has been my constant friend and reminder. Helped me to grow even more.
Thank you is never enough, but Jesus knows and I know who holds me and my tomorrows!
Warm blessings,
Sandra
Sandra, your note blessed me and encouragement me today. Thank you. And yes, we definitely know who holds us and all of our tomorrows! Thanks for your note.
I will be praying could you please pray for my cousin Kathy and me we have degenerated eyes disease and I have a cataract
I’m praying for you and Kathy right now. Thanks for sharing, Debra.
Dear Carol, praying that each inmate at the conference will feel love and seen by God and that this conference will lead to total transformation and revival in this prison. May guards get radically saved to. Hugs to you, Gene and JP. I know Paula is cheering you on from heaven. Thanks for the powerful 5 steps too.
hugs,
LeAnn Weiss’Rpard.
Thank you for praying, my friend! I love the intentionally way you are praying for transformation and revival in this prison…and that God will touch the hearts of the guards who listen in. What a blessing you have been in my life. Thank you for your friendship over many years.
I am committed to praying for the women’s’ retreat at Rockville Correctional! May the Lord pour out His Spirit on that place & use you to win the lost & encourage the disheartened. Thank you to you & Gene for serving the Lord in this meaningful way.
Dear Jennie, thank you for your commitment to pray for the female inmates who will attend the conference at Rockville Correctional Institution. I am praying for women to come to Christ and I’m praying for the corrections officers who will be supervising this event, but also listening to the messages. Please pray that ears and hearts will be open as I share the gospel message.
I am so grateful for your faithfulness Carol. I had a son in prison and you have helped me go through those very difficult days as I often would listen to you or read how you nagavitated though your own horrific days. My son is now released and I now lead a prison ministry! Never in a million years would I have thought I would do this, but God works in amazing ways. We now go into the local county prison for Bible Studies with the ladies. We just met with another Chaplain that says we can go into an additional prison. I marvel at how God works in our small group and as I sit here to type this, tears flow for how God uses someone like me who often stumbles over words as I try to speak and share with the ladies. I can only give God the praise and glory for allowing me to be a part of something like this! I pray that God will continue to give you strength and wisdom as you continue on in the ministry God has for you and also for your son.
Flo, what a powerful testimony you have! Thank you for your uplifting note and for your faithfulness in ministry. I’m thrilled to hear that you are going into your local county prison to lead Bible Studies with the female inmates. I’m praying for you and your ministry right now.
Thank you for going to share hope with the women in prison. Praying for you, the women and the correction officers.
Thank you for sharing hope with me too!
Mendy, your comment encouraged me today. Thanks so much for your prayers as I prepare to minister to female inmates at the prison.
Carol, I am having surgery the 17th and having some “down time” in the days that follow. It will be a good time to spend being quiet before the Lord, and I will add you and those women to my prayers. Bless you for being His ambassador to so many people.
– Annie
Hi Ann…I’m praying you will have a successful surgery and a meaningful time of rest and recuperation. Thanks so much for praying for the inmates at Rockville as I speak to them next weekend. Please pray that hearts will to open to the gospel message and that my messages will be encouraging and helpful to the women. I appreciate you!