Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Let yourself remember the sweetest day of your life. You were wandering the wrong way and broken down by sin, but Jesus encountered you. You were striving to save yourself, but then He stepped in, received you, and set you apart as
I met a friend for lunch in December. Before we parted in the parking lot, she handed me a gift bag out of the trunk of her car and invited me to open my Christmas present at a later time. When I got home, I carefully reached into the bag
My stepdaughter loves to tell the story of how her dad told her not to worry about the ongoing pain in her arm after she had experienced a fall during a high school soccer game. He assured her she was just bruised up and would feel better in a few
Joy is meant to be shared. I love it when I receive great news from a friend. “Mr. Right popped the question, and the Lord is joining us together as man and wife.” “I landed the job of my dreams, and God has opened the door for me to use my
I love a good God story. Don’t you? Acts 9 gives us a glimpse of one of the most powerful redemption stories in history: A hard-hearted man bent on destroying Christianity meets Jesus, and his life is forever transformed. Paul turned from his pride and fully surrendered to the Savior.
I sat in the sanctuary trembling. The man standing at the pulpit reading the Word was not my pastor. My pastor had fallen into sin, and now all around me people wept. As a church family, we collectively lifted our broken hearts to our holy God and held fast to
At least once a week, a frownie faced toddler looks me in the eye and declares, “You’re not my best friend.” Little man does not like it when he does not get his way, and he communicates his displeasure loudly. I always lean down and plant a big, sloppy kiss
I turned around to face the sink as my husband brushed by me into the garage. I wanted to discuss when we would sit down for dinner, but he was busy working on a project. His curt response cut me to the quick. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll fend for
Every few months I find myself tempted to delete all of my social media accounts. The negative energy overwhelms me. Facebook starts to suck my joy away, and I grow tired of scrolling through superficial Instagram selfies and beat myself up for not having a Pinterest perfect life. Social media
The average person considers between 12,000 and 70,000 thoughts in one day, and psychologists estimate that over 70% of what clutters our mind is negative. Dark thoughts can derail us. Some days, I feel like I am riding a crazy train loaded with the wrong words propelling me down a