beencouraged 4 - Barbara Lynn Seibel

July 16, 2025July 16, 2025

Brief Time Away Needed

This is just a quick note to explain why I missed my usual posting last Sunday.

The week before, I needed to limit my screen time because of an intense headache and light sensitivity along with fatigue.

I spent one entire day in a dark room just resting.

People keep asking me if I get migraines.

I respond that I’ve never received an official diagnosis of migraines.

But I frequently get barometric pressure headaches. The worst headaches are when it threatens to rain but then it doesn’t.

Thus, I try to eat an anti-inflammatory diet most of the time. But I’m certainly not perfect at it.

This past Monday, I resumed working on a post hoping to get a study posted today.

But then that afternoon, an intense wave of grief shut me down again.

July 6, 2025July 4, 2025

A Study on Luke 5:1-11

Have you ever been fishing?

My first memory of fishing is with my dad.

He cast a line with a rod and reel, then handed it to me to hold.

A bit later, I felt a tug on the line. We tried to reel it in, convinced there was something big on the line.

Turns out it was a baby turtle that had chomped on the bait and then wound the fishing line into a tumbleweed under the water.

Not the catch we were expecting.

Interestingly, my dad never took me fishing again.

Simon Peter also had an unexpected fishing experience.

June 29, 2025June 27, 2025

Humble Attitudes Yield God’s Favor

Back in my high school days, I received the opportunity to be part of a state honor band.

Even though I knew I was running a fever, I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t want to miss the experience.

At the first rehearsal, I was playing a wrong note but didn’t realize it. The conductor eventually went one by one through the flute section to find the offending player.

I realized right before he got to me I was in the wrong, so I played the correct note instead of admitting my error. The conductor glared at me but said nothing at that moment.

Later in the rehearsal, when I was late on an entrance, the conductor stopped the rehearsal, pointed at me and said, “You are not a leader, and you never will be.”

What does this have to do with the fact that humble attitudes yield God’s favor?

I’ll explain more at the end of the post, but first join me in studying 1 Peter 5:1-10.

June 1, 2025June 1, 2025

Sometimes I Need to Rest

Rest.

Something we all need, but many of us struggle to do.

I certainly struggle to rest.

Sometimes it is an emotional rest that I need.

At other times, physical rest is critical.

Then there is also mental rest that is required.

And yes, sometimes we need spiritual rest, too.

Today I think I need all four areas to rest.

Why do I need rest?

May 25, 2025May 24, 2025

Called from Darkness to be Living Stones

Do you recognize the plant in the picture above?

It is a lithop.

I was thrilled when I first learned about these little succulent plants that look like stones or pebbles many years ago.

They even produce a flower.

When I first learned about them, it took a while to find a local plant nursery that had some for sale.

I do not have any right now, but after studying our passage for today, I might get me one or two again.

Why, you ask?

Our passage today talks about the ultimate living stone, and tending to some lithops could be a fun visual reminder of this passage.

May 11, 2025May 12, 2025

How Do We Know God Cares?

In September 2024, a hurricane affected the area where I live.

As I was watching the rain, I saw a tree fall that just barely missed hitting my balcony and fence in the back of my home.

Once the rain had cleared, I discovered that five trees had fallen, and another one was leaning against my neighbor’s home.

Given the amount of devastation that this hurricane caused throughout the area, it wasn’t until late April 2025 that the trees behind my and my neighbor’s homes were finally cleared.

This past week, as I was surveying the tree stumps that remain, I realized that the trees going down were a provision of God’s care for me in a way that I truly needed last fall.

And yes, it has something to do with the kittens in the picture above.

I’ll explain this as we study 1 Peter 1:3-9.

May 4, 2025May 3, 2025

Are You an Obedient Exile?

This question is not about physical exile per se.

Rather, it is a question of whether you are obedient to your faith when the stakes become higher than you expected.

Are you aware there are more martyrs for Christian faith today than at any other time in history?

If this startles you, it is probable that you live somewhere where Christianity or being a follower of Jesus is not under outright persecution.

It may also startle you if you are not someone who keeps informed about the state of God’s mission to redeem people from every group across the globe.

Today, we will study the opening two verses of 1 Peter from the New Testament.

I hope these two verses will encourage you to consider deeply what it truly means to be an obedient exile no matter where you live.

April 13, 2025April 13, 2025

Have You Ridden a Donkey?

I am sure I have been around a donkey or two at a zoo or other wildlife preserve.

But I have never ridden one. Nor have I had to lead one anywhere.

In the last year of my earthly father’s life, he shared a story with me I had never heard before about a time he handled two donkeys.

He shared he was responsible for getting these two donkeys from one location to where his father was waiting for him.

At one point, the donkey he was riding stopped and refused to move forward. The other donkey also stopped. My dad said he did everything he could think of to get those donkeys moving again.

Donkeys have a reputation for being stubborn, which my father experienced firsthand.

What does this have to do with Matthew 21:1-11?

April 6, 2025April 5, 2025

Experiencing God’s Support Through Others

On the last weekend of March 2025, I enjoyed spending some time with two childhood friends I had not seen in over thirty years.

Although connected via social media for several years, we had not been with each other until this weekend.

Losing my husband back in July 2024 prompted our decision to get together.

My friends wanted to support and encourage me even though one lived about two hours away and the other two days’ drive or a plane flight away.

We spent the time remembering experiences and people from our youth, laughing, crying, and laughing until we cried while exploring the sites, shopping and food near one of their homes.

What does this have to do with 2 Samuel 15:13-37?

March 30, 2025March 28, 2025