Kelly Beckley Shank
About the Author

Kelly Beckley Shank found her passion serving in Guatemala. A writer, frequent flyer to Guatemala, and wannabe world traveler, Kelly encourages women to embrace their gifts and talents in the midst of motherhood. When not traveling, she enjoys farm life with her husband, 3 children, and their myriad of animals.

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. Thank you for your devotional today. I’m in a season of much change. Appreciate your sharing as I believe we must live out our convictions, unfortunately, I’m problem solving….in my home, not always aware of I’m gentle or kind. Yes, I have many medical reasons why I’m feeling stressed, but that doesn’t give me the right to be a grouch. I appreciate your prayers as my husband was hospitalized and diagnosed last year with a rare vasculitis disease and had 3 strokes a week later. By God’s grace he is still working and yet finances are very stretched.
    My oldest son just moved to college but we are still waiting on some funds to come in for him.
    God is good and we need to be encouraging to the ones near us, even when life is very difficult.
    My two other boys are in a new school that seems promising. I’m grateful for this opportunity and pray I can choose to be kind instead of right! Peace comes when we lay it down and allow God to work. May we lay our burdens down and be filled with His presences today
    May the Lord bless you as you reach out to this community.
    Blessings, B

    • Thank you so much for sharing Bren. I am so impressed by your courage and faith through these trials. Having the ability to see ways that God is present and you are able to still grow is a gift. Bless you during this time. I am excited for the ways God will use your story.

  2. Smiling over your dad’s breakfast of champions.
    Lord, deliver us from the tendency to make an idol of being “right.”
    Thank you, Kelly, for encouragement to carve out space for blessed disagreement!

    • Bless you Michele. You are right. All too often we desire to be right, or prove our rightness. Thanks for your reply. As a side note, I do believe my dad has finally changed to a more nutritious breakfast.

  3. Thank you for your devotional today. I’m in a season of much change.!! Appreciate your sharing as I believe we must live out our convictions, unfortunately, I’m problem solving….in my home, not always aware of The need to be gentle or kind. Yes, I have many medical reasons why I’m feeling stressed, but that doesn’t give me the right to be a grouch. I appreciate your prayers as my husband was hospitalized and diagnosed last year with a rare vasculitis disease and had 3 strokes a week later. By God’s grace he is still working and yet finances are very stretched.
    My oldest son just moved to college but we are still waiting on some funds to come in for him.
    God is good and we need to be encouraging to the ones near us, even when life is very difficult.
    My two other boys are in a new school that seems promising.
    My younger one has aspergers and trusting the Lord each moment. I’m grateful for this opportunity and pray I can choose to be kind instead of right!
    Children often do what we do! So having a panic frazZled mom won’t help them at all!
    I’ve committed to get in God’s Word every morning so I can put on my spiritual glasses each day!
    Peace will only come when we lay it down and allow God to work. May we lay our burdens down and be filled with His presence today
    May the Lord bless you as you reach out to this community.
    Blessings, B

  4. Dearest Kelly:

    Good morning – although you have been up for hours if you have those daily barn chores. Lol. I love your many perspectives littered throughout your devotional.

    It is interesting about how you view the news now – and almost conclude that people were “nicer when you were little”. I think that the respect and the gentle and especially, the complete research in presenting the news has been abandoned. Still, the best decision I made when my children were little was to turn off the N3 – what I referred to as the “nightly negative news”. I never turned away from that. As I did surmise that the news was just a daily delivery into destructive drudgery – only the telling of horrible and horrendous – and never balanced or highlighting any good. But there is good in the world. We know and see this and Christ invites our lives to be “hope of His glory”

    The daily news heightened fear and aroused a negative emotional experience. I tried to focus and direct to “good lovely wonderful amazing worthy”

    Now, as my children are teens, I find myself intentionally turning off TV sets put up in many public space and place – we are inundated with technology in what used to be quiet corridors of life…like restaurants, Doctor or hospital waiting rooms, even dentist chairs. I intentionally turn them off to disengage from negative news that causes daily fear or suspicion. I usually note that it is always the same station that gives a 10 minute looping overview of all the negative happenings everywhere and around the city. I am grateFULL that I hear God’s Spirit saying “turn your feet away from evil” – in order to turn our feet away, we have to turn our face away too. It is not ignorance but wise judgement when we know or realize that the news wants to report the chaos : and we examine what that does to our daily psyche.

    I really love what you said here:

    “In the middle of our very messy faith, we must leave room for the messy faith of others. The closer I get to Jesus, the less certain I feel about the ideals I once held firm. He challenges me to expand my view of His greatness and love, to see the world through compassion.”

    I realize more and more that life indeed is messy – and our kids are relating and functioning in the messy world where so many don’t have faith – or their faith is being contorted or compromised or polluted by others modifying it. It is a very challenging world in which to live out our faith vibrantly.

    But thankfully, we don’t have to succumb to any fears or shock or anger. We can bring that to Jesus and ask Him to trade clarity and mental peace or even a dose of healthy courage.

    As you were saying, we can be “compassionate and gentle” but of course, it requires a daily surrendering to the Spirit of God, abiding in Him so we can get clothed in the beautiful and loving relational garments He knows we will need for the exact situations we will face that day – which, again, He already knows.

    Surrendering daily (and some days minutes-by-minute) to the Spirit of God and trusting Him to guide and guard me in the messy relational realities of life…brings me Peace I cannot fathom. But I would definitely give up coffee if I knew I would lose this source of Power that I need that doesn’t come from my own ability.

    And I love coffee!!

    I am so grateFULL that this new surrendering that has brought forth surprising doses of relational strength. Living in the world but not being of it – and being surrounded and protected by and through to the Spirit of God.

    Where once there was angst and anxiety when relational discord rang a nasty tune, in its place, I am ever-experiencing a gentle whisper of Pervasice Peace that directs me toward acceptance or generosity of extending grace.

    It is true that “a mind governed by (and through) the Spirit brings life and Peace” . And it is the Peace that the world can definitely never give us – even if we watch a carefully crafted television piece that does bring joy, it is fleeting. That JOY is for a moment but our Living and Loving Lord gives us the lasting Perpetual Peace in abundance that surpasses understanding.

    What a gift we are given. What Grace.

    I will take a dose of that on any given day and wish you a slathering of that Gentle Peace (as we live in a harsh world with relational chaos) that we can only get from the Spirit guiding us on how to handle our particular and delicate life circumstances and atmosphere in …His Great Grace.

    So grateFULL that God, our Father is the Source – that leads us to mind and heart stillness – even in chaos.

    What a blessing to share with you on Saturday morning. And may the God of HOPE fill all reading here with “all JOY and PEACE in believing, that we will abound in Hope through the the Power of the Holy Spirit”.

    Love and blessings to all.

    • Janine, thank you so much for your thoughtful response. The way we choose to engage the world around us greatly affected by the perspective we use to fill ourselves. Choosing God and truth can definitely guide us best to engage the world effectively

  5. Civility is definitely on the decline, and I pray we find our way back so that our messaging does reflect the love of Jesus, the most important message of all!

  6. Beautifully written. I was recently challenged on my Facebook page for NOT being more willing to insult and degrade people with whom I disagree. Thank you for helping me understand and feel better about my choice.

  7. Kelly,

    You hit the nail on the head with this post!! This wold & the country has lost its civility. We find it easy to say “mean, ugly” words behind our phones or computers. We don’t care or realize the impact our words have on the receivers. The world watches our actions & listen to our words. Thus we are losing our witness. We aren’t shining God’s light & showing His love to this world as commanded by God. You asked how Jesus would respond to our world today? He wouldn’t care what you wore to church, but would be happy to have you there hearing the message. Jesus would spend time with the less fortunate & unloved. He would shower them all with His grace & mercy keeping his comments to Himself. He would speak love into this world-just what we desperately need. My prayer is that we would tame our tongues, think before speaking or writing & start showing civility & love to this world.

    Blessings 🙂

    • Beth, I will join you in the prayer that we tame our tongues and strengthen our witness. Too many times, I need to say this prayer for myself before I damage my witness. Bless you.

  8. Miss Kelly!

    Thank you for sharing your heart and letting GOD use you! This encourages me to remain steadfast in constantly trying to steer my heart to be more like His. I am walking away from this post with a new and better understanding of “walking in a manner worthy of what I have been called to.” Oh man that one hit me… thank You God for Your unending grace and another day to do better. He is so good! I pray you have a blessed day. (:

    This side of Heaven,
    Summer