Afternoons with Sonny

You've probably heard the saying that kids are like sponges, and it's true. They consume information and learn things so quickly. But it's not because of something they have, it's actually something they lack: The fear of failing. Over time, we just develop this fear of looking silly or being bad at something, and in turn, we miss out on so many cool new opportunities. I think we'd be wise to reca...

Gratitude is good for us. Actually, that’s not strong enough. Gratitude is GREAT for us. But did you know that being grateful can literally change you mind? Research shows gratitude benefits us psychologically, physically, and interpersonally. In this study, one group of people were to keep a journal where daily they would jot down thing they we're grateful for and the other group didn't. After th...

You may have heard me mention something call "The 5 O'Clock Refresh" and you may just be thinking, what is it? That's a great question! It happens every weekday at 5pm and it's an hour full of worship music, encouragement, and refreshment. At the end of a long day, it helps to just set aside the stress and refresh your mind and attitude before you make your way to whatever is next! For me it's bee...

Whatever you are doing in this moment, whether you are at home or at work or somewhere else, is incredibly important. Whatever you're doing is a key piece in the big puzzle that God is putting together using us to get stuff done. Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from...

Words are very important. I think we would all agree with that. God SPOKE the world into existence so we know that words can be powerful. Chances are, our words will never have that much power but what we say matters especially when we have to have those tough conversations. Our words have the power to lift someone up or break them down. When my kids were little, we had this 3 question rule that w...

I know you know this, but forgiveness is a choice and when you make the choice to forgive that person in your life, the relief is almost instant.

Adding this thing into your routine 3 times a week can reduce your risk of dementia in a drastic way. Listen to find out how!

You are probably in change of packing something up in the morning, whether that school lunches for the kids or maybe your bag that help you get out the door on time. For me now that my kids are grown, it's the backpack I take to work with me. Well this morning I noticed that for some reason, my backpack felt so incredibly heavy. Not only was I carrying the things I knew I needed for today, but bes...

If there is one thing I can tell you with confidence right now, it's that our control is an illusion. This past weekend, I got caught up in that travel mess over the weekend that took me an extra day and several flights to get back home. I tried to do everything in my power to make it home on time, but it just wasn't in my control. So today, I encourage you to join me in leaning heavily on Proverb...

"I need you now." Those are the words the Holy Spirit can take and interpret for your good even if you don't have the strength to get them out. He knows exactly what you mean.

There was this big survey that went out that asked kids what class they wished was being taught right now in school and one answer blew me away with how it stood out from the rest. The #1 class that kids wish they could take is how to be a YouTube/Social Media influencer. I may be alone in this, but I don't this it's because they want instantaneous fame. I think it ultimately boils down to them wa...

When we lift our hands or open our hands in worship, there's something really beautiful that happens inside of us. I remember back to walking with my late husband through his cancer battle and just holding onto a lot stress over things I couldn't control. One day I met with an old friend who could tell that stress was really weighing on me, not just by my demeanor, but by the way my hands were. My...

God made us to love others but for all of us, there is probably one person who we struggle to love most: ourselves. I was just talking to a friend about this exact topic this morning and she made a really valid point: For a lot of us, most days, we have a hard time even liking ourselves so it's pretty hard to wrap our brains around the idea of the creator of the universe, who know all things beaut...

You may not feel alright right now, and you know what? That's okay. Back in 2015, I had a couple of personal losses back to back: my husband passed away in January and then a couple months later, I lost my dad. As you can imagine there were some really low moments in the following months. Moments of just clinging on as time continued to pass. But now looking back on the other side of those moments...

You may be looking for evidence of just a little bit of good amongst the chaos. I want you to take a listen to this 3 minute story from a man named Neil that might just restore your faith in people.

There are obviously so many prayers needs at this moment so today we are focusing on a different prayer need each hour. Pathway To Victory's Dr. Robert Jeffress leads us in praying for situations that, in one way or another, seem to be affecting all of us including COVID, what's taking place in Afghanistan, the destruction as a result of the earthquake in Haiti and more. This is an opportunity to...

A story from pastor Andy Stanley that really lifted my spirits today. "Sometimes I just want it to stop. Talk of COVID, looting, brutality. I lose my way. I become convinced that this "new normal" is real life. Then I meet an 87-year-old who talks of living through polio, diphtheria, Vietnam protests and yet is still enchanted with life. He seemed surprised when I said that 2020 must be especially...

As a dad of now 4 grown children I can totally relate to the feeling of missing hearing from your kids since they now have lives of their own. Maybe you have grown children of your own who you haven't heard from in a while, I think I've got a quick fix for you. Change the Netflix password. Guarantee you they call soon. Maybe immediately.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but so often as I'm going about my day, I forget God. Though the ebbs and flows of every day life I'd be lying if I said I was always thinking about God. Maybe I'm not alone in this. But here's what I'm totally humbled and encouraged by: because Jesus died on the cross for you and me, God will never forget us.

Have you ever wondered how valuable your soul is? The answer lies within this quote from Charles Spurgeon: "Consider how precious a soul must be, when both God and the devil are after it."

A huge part of KCBI Artist Big Daddy Weave is Jay Weaver and people around the world have been praying for Jay as he spent some time in the ICU this past week. Good news, Jay Weaver is back home! Jay was admitted to the ICU last week due to some complications with his dialysis treatments. The band and their families are thanking everyone for praying through a statement from Jay's wife, Emily: Big...

I have to own something I do in my life, maybe I'm not alone in this. When God shows up in a situation in my life, I'll just assume that he's going to fix my problems. It doesn't take much life being lived to figure out that's not really how it works. We always have God has never promised to just show up and take away all the hard stuff from our circumstances. But here's what God will do: instead...

There's a wonderful article on the 1517.org today from a pastor named Scott Davis. He says, "We are all familiar with the story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” In this famous tale from Aesop’s Fables, a shepherd boy repeatedly lies to the townspeople. He tells them that a wolf is attacking the village sheep. But when the townspeople investigate, they learn that there never was a wolf. The boy was “so...

Today I thought I'd go straight to scripture to pass along encouragement to you today! Isaiah 40:8 "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” His love, his word, his mercy. God is forever.

I've been reading this book from one of my absolute favorite bible scholars Chad Bird and he created this really awesome mental picture about God's grace in one quote. He said "List all of the things that you think can separate you from the love of God and then add them all up as if they had numerical value. Take that number and multiply it by God's merciful zero. Here's what you get: All of your...