Ruth made an incredibly powerful dedication to her mother-in-law Naomi after her husband died. She pledged to leave her home and religion and people behind and committed to following Naomi and devoting herself to Naomi’s people and her God. And she did all this without any promise of what the
“We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed, always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also
Are you bad at remembering names? My mom is. She totally blanks on people’s names. I do something much more embarrassing: I think I know people’s names, but instead I call them the wrong name. Remembering a name means a great deal to someone. A name is how
At bedtime each night, my husband and I take turns reading a short devotional to our daughter from one of the various age-appropriate Bible storybooks on her bookshelf. Over the years the stories have gotten more complex, the topics more relevant to her current 9-year-old stage of life, and I’ve
Today’s verses bring me both comfort and conviction. This segment of Genesis details how God brought Jacob and his family to the land of Egypt. It allows us to connect back to Genesis 15 when God told Jacob’s grandfather, Abram (Abraham), “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers
My mum was a quiet lady; she was gentle and kind and wise. Growing up, I always remember her using the expression, “Actions speak louder than words.” She used it to teach me the value of showing that I meant something was more authentic than just saying the words and
“I can do it myself. Don’t worry about me.” These words have set the tone for more of my days than I’d care to admit. I like to consider myself a strong, independent woman. And although there is nothing wrong with this mindset, these thoughts of determined independence can bleed
Praise the Lord, for it is good to sing praises to our God. Yes, praise is pleasant and appropriate. —Psalm 147:1 I just read the whole of Psalm 147 and I can literally feel joy and sweetness in my heart. I am making a commitment to myself now that anytime
I have found my decision making skills are poorer when I am hungry. I am obviously not alone, as research has found that grocery shopping when you are hungry leads people to buy more high-calorie foods than usual. Esau seems to have had this problem too as he made a
When I first graduated from college and moved to a new city, Sundays were my loneliest days. Sitting alone in a church pew and awkwardly lurking around the coffee bar hoping to strike up a conversation with someone was bad enough, but it was after church that I most missed