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![The Advent of a Savior [Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/D062F4C2-CBA0-4C02-B42A-374DBE58E9F4-scaled.jpeg)
The advent of a Savior was the ultimate gift on that very first Christmas morning. “The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul. Those who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come.”* Hope in the Advent “Hope has a name….
![The Believer’s Hope… [the TRUTH about Biblical Hope]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Pink-Minimalism-Quote-Instagram-Post.jpeg)
Truth #1: The Believer’s Hope is found in Jesus. Undoubtedly, the world disappoints us. Christ followers too will falter leaving us disillusioned at times. But our hope as maturing believers doesn’t rest on what is seen in this world, but rather on an unseen reality. No matter the circumstances in this fallen, not-so-perfect world, Jesus…
![How to Love Others [with the Heart of The Creator]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/435B6A2E-A5CF-43E1-A90D-C4A704094B14.png)
How to Love Others with God’s Heart My good friend, Michele, and I are reading/studying Bonhoeffer’s book, Life Together. And both of us agree this book will forever change our lives [and the way we greet and, subsequently, love our brothers and sisters in Christ]. Truth be told, we could walk away from reading the…
Bridging the Old & the New The message I heard over and over in 2024 was “Do not fear. Be strong and courageous.” You are LOVED! So do not be discouraged by these things happening to you. Keep trusting me… As I reflect on one of the hardest years of my life and look to…
![Perfecting God’s Love… [Our Life-Giving Gift]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/C369BD7D-F601-4BAA-809E-63D112B5DC3F.png)
Our Human-ness Brokenness became our human-ness when sin entered the world. Our perfectly axised world suddenly set un-straight was forever imperfectly tilted towards disobedience, enmity, and darkness. We’re called, as Christ followers, to peel back the darkness and live in the Light; becoming increasingly more like Him. We’re called to love like Jesus loved. And…
![The Best Kind of Friend… [and God’s Purpose in Suffering.]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/A4A34026-4B78-4E7D-BD8C-9D74E63CC826.png)
The best kind of friend is a praying friend. It’s no secret 2024 has been a hard year for the Rains’ household. Little by little, I’ve pulled back the curtains in this season of life and let friends in… I might’ve overshared a time or two. But the reality is when we share our “stuff,”…
![10 Years Ago…. [Looking Back and Pressing Onward]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/01D74DE5-F8AB-433A-B8A4-C030317343A1.jpeg)
10 years ago this summer, two incredible things happened… A New Calling… “See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” – Isaiah 43:19 10 years ago this summer, at the height of the Ice Bucket…
![Trusting God’s Goodness [in the Darkness]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/BDCBBCA2-D23A-4CF5-A600-E6D7F9623FFE.png)
If We’re Being Honest Neither the church nor our broken world needs more SHINY PEOPLE who hide behind the veneer of an audible “fine.” The world needs more Christians willing to process and wrestle publicly. Because when we are honest about the world’s brokenness and our struggles within it, we underscore the futility of our…
![Why Should I Choose a Word of the Year… [in 2024]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/47107FF7-42B3-4A6E-9818-FDBB276C8A28.png)
“The seeds of death are at work in us, but LOVE is stronger than death. Your death and mine are our final passage, our exodus to the full realization of our identity as God’s beloved children and to full communion with the God of Love. Jesus walked the path ahead of us to choose the…