God, Me, and a Cup of Coffee: 30 Days to a Closer Walk with God, the Busy Woman’s Devotional

By Melanie J. McGinnis

Life is chaotic. For Melanie J. McGinnis, a wife, mom, employee, business owner, runner, artist and volunteer, this is an understatement. We’ve all felt overwhelmed. There’s little time to clean, let alone relax, or find any time to spend with God especially in our hectic mornings. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to make life smoother and more peaceful, despite the chaos happening around us? God, Me, and a Cup of Coffee is designed to do exactly that.

This daily devotional is a way to start your day that will bring you peace, organization, and direction with the help of God. It’s easy to claim there is no time for a morning devotional, but Melanie shows you how to find a few minutes to build a closer relationship with our Lord and Savior.

What do you have to lose by making space for this special time? You could let go of stress, worry, anxiety, and fear. Meanwhile, you have everything to gain: peace, love, vision, guidance, and more. There’s no better time to start than now. Draw closer to God in just minutes a day. In doing this, you not only gain a stronger relationship with God. You will also find peace in the chaos, as God will always bless the time you give Him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664283343

Melanie J. McGinnis

Melanie J. McGinnis is a dedicated wife and mother. She graduated from Bible College which led her to minister as a missionary in Mexico, Sweden, Norway and Holland. She has led many positions in church; youth group, bible study, worship team and back stage manager. She has a career in commercial property management. Melanie is also a freedom coach for women who seek to get unstuck from what is holding them back in living their God given purpose. She is an artist, a runner, singer and has had a loving relationship with God her entire life. This is her first book.

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Copyright © 2022 Melanie J. McGinnis.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

All Scripture marked with the designation GW is taken from GOD’S WORD®. © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

• Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-8335-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-8336-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-8334-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022920919

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/12/2022

CONTENTS

PRIORITIES

DON’T LOOK BACK

NEVER GIVE UP!

A SERVANT’S HEART

IMPOSTER SYNDROME

THE WORLD IS FALLING APART

FORGIVENESS

UNANSWERED PRAYERS

HEART OF GRATITUDE

GOD’S PERFECT TIMING

THE WHAT IFS

STRUGGLES, TRIALS, AND HARDSHIPS

WE NEED EACH OTHER

FEELING STUCK?

COURAGE AND BRAVERY

INSECURITY

HEART’S CONDITION

ABUNDANCE

WHO’S IN CONTROL?

WHERE’S YOUR FOCUS?

SLOW DOWN

NEVER ALONE

THE GOD OF MIRACLES

AN AUDIENCE WITH GOD

PATIENCE IS SUCH A BIG WORD

TIME WITH GOD

AM I ENOUGH?

THE INTENTIONAL LIFE

I WAS MADE FOR WORSHIP

GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU

BONUS DAYS

REFLECTION

LIAR, LIAR!

THE ABUNDANT LIFE

YOU ARE LOVED

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But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength: They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

—ISAIAH 40:31 (NIV)

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35809.png    INTRODUCTION

Has life got you feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or frustrated, or maybe you feel like just giving up? I know that as a Christian, you love God with all your heart. You go to church, maybe sing in the choir, or even volunteer to help in the nursery. You might have participated in devotional studies in the past, maybe with your church’s women’s group. However, when it comes to being disciplined on a daily basis, you just don’t have the time, energy, or ability to do it. You would like to spend time with God but don’t see how you can fit it into your busy schedule, because to be super spiritual and godly, you need at least an hour or two each day, right?

Girlfriend, you are not alone. I’ve been there too! For years, I wished I was more spiritual. If I were godly enough, then it would be easy to spend hours with God and get caught up in His presence. Then I would feel worthy enough to be used by Him to reach others. However, I would rationalize that I do not have time to be that spiritual. After all, I’m a wife to an amazing man for over twenty years, a mom of two children—a son who is nineteen and a daughter who is thirteen—three fur babies—two dogs and a cat—and one very large fish. I work full time, commuting at least an hour each way to and from work. I volunteer in my church as backstage manager and leading worship; I also volunteer with other organizations. I’m a runner and have completed many races. I am an artist (painter) which I submit paintings to Stations of the Cross each year. Did I mention that I’m also putting together more side businesses? I am creating freedom coaching courses all while writing this devotional along with my transformational story book. Talk about being busy—whew, I’m tired just typing this.

Here’s the thing: excuses are like belly buttons: we all have them. The bottom line is that most of us do not have hours each day to spend with God so we can build a closer relationship with Him. I know that I certainly do not.

I have good news, my friend.