Proverbs 16 Haven, Dalton, OH (2026)

10/02/2026

When a wife walks away…
People are quick to judge and throw opinions.
So many say… she’s in the wrong, they are quick to wag their tongues…
What the “crowd” doesn’t see is the pain, the loneliness, the fear and the brokenness that lead to that place. No one sees behind the closed doors of that home and what was truly going on.
Not the nice guy version that most people saw when in public. Not the “fake happy” smiles.
The version inside the home is often the version that gets shoved under the carpet. No one wants to talk about it…
Why?
Because it’s uncomfortable. Hard conversations don’t “feel good”.
How many times do people run with the “gossip version” instead of taking time to do the uncomfortable and talk to the person directly.

If you hear of someone whose marriage is falling apart… do you take the time to truly care?
To truly look at the situation with honest lenses instead of just going off what others say?

Gossip looks easier to spread when there is deep pain inside yourself. When you aren’t even willing to be honest with yourself,
projecting that pain unto someone else by dragging their story through the mud and tying it up in a nice fancy bow that says, I’m sharing so you can pray for them…
Let’s just call that out as “FAKENESS” right away.

And let’s start looking at what might REALLY be going on… maybe their story is similar to yours but you aren’t willing to admit it yet. Maybe you have the same struggles but no one knows.
Maybe you want to be free, desperately to be free. But in the moment, fear overrides. So you share the latest gossip instead. Only to keep spiraling the same circle over and over and over again.

How can we start caring for people instead?
So many times people say… I would reach out but I don’t know what I would even say…
Caring goes a LONG way! Simply expressing to them that you care means more than you could imagine. And secondly STOP the GOSSIP. If you truly care, STOP the GOSSIP. The gossip train can stop by you. No need to farther share “concerns” or “opinions” ESPECIALLY to people you KNOW will keep spreading the lines.

Often the story is WAY different from the watered down narrative of OPINIONS.

What lenses are you choosing to look through?

07/31/2026

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

How many times do we lash out in a harsh word before thinking about how our response will make the other person feel?

It might not be a loud outspoken word or even raising your voice. Maybe it is a sarcastic remark in bitterness. Defensiveness or criticism.

It is so hard sometimes to be humble enough to answer gently instead of how the flesh wants to speak.

Speaking harshly to someone never brings them around to see your point of view.
Yet we tend to think that we have to prove a point.

I challenge myself to stop this week. Think of ways I can respond gently instead of with criticism or harshly.

07/21/2026

The people were criticizing Peter, and had already formed opinions. They didn’t even know the full story yet, they just ran with a little bit of the story and judged. (Acts 11)

However, when Peter took time to share with them the full story, they began to understand and change their perspective.

How many times are we quick to judge a situation or a person without the full story?

How often would our opinions change if we took the time to listen first, before judging. Or asked questions first, before forming opinions.

06/20/2026

We all have difficult times...

Sometimes it's hard to hold on to Bible verses through this time. Other times that Bible verse is the only thing getting you through it. Leaning on the truth of God.

I would love to hear what your verse is that has spoken deeply to you through a difficult season.

06/19/2026

So many times we try to be perfect instead of embracing the beauty in our broken story. Yes, our story may be messy. Yes, our life may be chaotic. But there is always some kind of beauty to find in the mix.

Today, choose to gaze upon that beauty instead of on the brokenness

06/14/2026

I want to be closer to God, I want to know him in a deeper way, I want to understand the Bible better… But where do I start? How do I get to that place?

First off I want to say… the fact that you want a close relationship with God is amazing!
And second I want to say… you don’t have to jump through all kinds of hoops and steps to be close to God. You don’t have to reach through pages and pages of the Bible each day.

We as humans tend to over complicate a lot of things.

I remember looking at some people and think, I wish I could hear God the way they do. Or I wish I could be as close to God as they are. They seem to have such a close relationship with him. But I didn’t believe I would ever be an “advanced” enough Christian for that…

Here is what I learned… God isn’t looking for a perfect me. He isn’t looking for me to try to work and work my way to him. He just wants me. The authentic real messy me. He wants my honesty. He wants my heart. He doesn’t need big fancy prayers. He just wants my honesty.

Yes he already knows all your thoughts and struggles. But he wants to hear you voice them. It can be as simple as praying, Lord I struggle to feel close to you, show me what step I can take today. And then quiet your heart long enough to listen to him. Listening to him can simply be closing your eyes, and allowing your mind to think about God as you let your mind start feeling calmer, and your body begins to relax more.
He may give you a quiet nudge with a Bible verse, a thought or simply his presence.
It doesn’t have to be some big mighty moment to feel his presence.

The best thing I found to help me understand the Bible in a new way is to simple take a short chapter or part of a chapter, reading it, and then journaling about it.
My church has a wonderful resource for this that I love so much. It’s simply a journal with the Bible reading prompting for the day. Each day you simply read the passage and then write down which verse or verses stood out the most to you. Or maybe a verse you simply have a question on. Followed with how you can apply that verse to your own life. Some days I simply ask myself questions around the verse. Followed with writing down a short prayer.
You can spend as much time on this as you want. It can be as simple as 15-20 min each day.

You don’t need a fancy journal. It can be a simple notebook. 📓

God isn’t looking for perfection, he is looking for your honesty 💗

04/22/2026

We stand in church and sing Holy Holy are you Lord God…

But what about when we leave. How do we live? How do we act? What do we say to those around us? How do we treat them? Do our actions show a Godly character? Do people see us living in Holiness? Or do we leave church and immediately let the flesh take over again?

It’s not enough to just be a Christian on Sundays.

What if we start being more authentic in our day to day living?

What if in the middle of the week we started being honest with ourselves and those around us?

We may lose some friends when we start being honest. But we will gain a stronger connection with the true friends we have, and the true friends that will come into our life.

Sometimes we hang onto our flesh so long. We are so wrapped up in our mind. Wrapped up with toxic friendships. Wrapped up with “performing”. We hang on so long, we miss the opportunity God has for us to receive more authentic friendships.

How different our circles would look if we got a little more honest with each other.

04/20/2026

We call on the name of the Lord when we are in trouble. When we have a need. When we need answers. When we need healing. When we need restoration.

But how often do we stop and thank him for what he has done?
How often do we receive an answer to a pray and we fail to pause in gratitude?

In Luke 17:11-19
There is a story of 10 men who were healed from leprosy. But only 1 came back to thank Jesus. Jesus asked, where are the other 9? Weren’t 10 healed? And only 1 has come back to thank God?

We can look at this story and think, oh I would have been grateful for such a wonderful miracle in my life. But are we? What about all the small blessings we receive each day?

The more we look for the blessings of God in our lives, the more blessings we find.
Suddenly our focus moves away from the overwhelming circumstances and towards his presence and grace. And in turn, our mind becomes clearer and less cluttered to face the challenge we are in.

04/15/2026

Have you ever thought to yourself, I wish I was as good a Christian as that person, or if only I could hear God as clearly as that person?

You think you’re failing once again and God must be judging you for this.

But God is not up there with a check list to mark off if you did your devotions that day.

He doesn’t need your time... but you need Him.
That part changed my life. He doesn't NEED me. He WANTS a relationship with me

He LOVES when His children recognize how much they need Him.

You are not doing your devotions for God, you are doing them for yourself.

You get to decide... how much do you WANT God?

Do you want to hear God more and experience complete freedom?

You get to start wanting those daily moments with God for YOU.
It doesn't have to look like anyone else's journey or routine. It gets to be YOUR journey.

It doesn't have to be any certain length of time. It gets to be the time that you create to feel God.

You get to truly want to deepen your relationship with Him.
Your spiritual life is as deep as you allow it to be.

04/13/2026

From my devotional book this morning…

Real friends are honest friends. While flattery feels good for a moment, a truth telling friend can be trusted for a lifetime.

Sometimes this means that a friend will tell you something you don't want to hear. We all need a Christ-following friend who is not afraid to tell us when we're straying into dangerous territory.

Yes, feelings may be hurt when she points out our negative attitude or tendency to judge, but we can trust that her words are for our own good.

With social media, people too often feel the freedom to criticize or judge others they barely know.

But the fact is that it takes time and face-to-face conversations to earn the right to speak into someone's life.

When someone has loved us, cried with us, and rejoiced with us, we can trust her words even when they hurt.

Prayer…
Give me the grace, Lord, to accept the faithful wounds of a friend. Grant me the love and boldness to be a truth-speaking friend when needed.

I love these words from my devotions. It can be so easy to get offended when a friend points something out in our life. But if it’s a friend we trust and know she did not say it to be mean. She said it because she cares deeply…we get to make a decision, will we hold a grudge against her in our heart, or will be truly take time to ponder over what she said and ask ourselves… does she see something in my actions that I don’t.

I love how it says above that these conversations require real face to face interaction. We don’t have to buy in to all the noise and words we hear on social media. We don’t have to trust the advice or concerns from those online that we barely know. But when a dear friend speaks up about a concern, it was most likely a thought out process that she took time to think about long before she brought up the concern to you.
If she’s a Godly friend in your life, it may be beneficial to take some time to think and pray on what she said, and truly ask yourself, is what she is saying true? Even if it hurts in the moment.

Proverbs 16 Haven

10/02/2026

07/31/2026

07/21/2026

06/20/2026

06/19/2026

06/14/2026

04/22/2026

04/20/2026

04/15/2026

04/13/2026

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