I like instant. I like brewed coffee in a minute or less. I like microwaved leftovers in 45 seconds or less. I like instant text, instant on-line shopping, and instant movies at the click of a button.
I’m not a fan of process but would rather have immediate results. One of my favorite words in the New Testament is “immediately.”
She has a name. But in my house, she’s referred to as The-girl-who-doesn’t-like-me-and-I-don’t- know-why.
Do you have anyone in your life like that? In social situations, she steers clear of you and refuses to make eye contact. When trying to reach out, you draw back an emotional nub of rejection. You rack your brain trying to figure out what you did to make her dislike you but come up blank. Read more…
Have you ever faced a tough circumstance and wondered, God, where are you? Maybe you’re in one of those situations right now. I’ve had them too.
That was the situation with many of Jesus’ followers after He was crucified and buried. They had lost their hopes and dreams and didn’t know where to turn. Let’s take a look at one story. Read more…
I was so tired. I felt so empty.
Ministering had worn me out.
We’re all ministering to someone: toddlers, teens, parents, friends, co-workers, and the list goes on. On this day I was traveling to teach a group of women in another state, wondering if I had anything left to give.
Have you ever felt that way? Read more…
My son was about seven years old when we took him up to the mountains of North Carolina to go snow skiing for the first time. For hours I instructed him in my best teacher voice how to stand up, ski down, and get up once he fell. After several hours, it appeared he was not getting the hang of it at all. Read more…
My husband, Steve, and I sat anxiously in our seats. I wondered if I was going to be able to endure the ride, especially knowing my propensity for motion sickness. But we began nonetheless.
The guide strapped all passengers into the tiny boats and gave last minute instructions. Of course there were life preservers, but what good would they do in the fierce rapids that threatened to suck its prey below the surface? Read more…
For forty years, every weekday morning, my husband’s alarm clock went off at 5:30. He got up, showered, shaved, brushed his teeth, got dressed, and placed his jingling keys in his pocket. He cleared his throat, blew his nose, and, well, did other noisy things. When he opened and closed the door leading to the garage, the alarm in the bedroom beeped three times…loudly. Read more…
I was so disappointed. I had worked really hard on a project, and to be honest, it was a flop. It seemed that not as many people loved it as much as I did. And it made me just want to pitch a tent in the land of disappointment and quit! Never write another word.
I think the women on Jesus’s ministry team must have felt the same way. Read more…
I love Romans 8:28.
Now, let me be honest…sometimes I don’t.
When I am going through a dark time of loss or disappointment, and someone throws a sloppy coat of Romans 8:28 on my open wound, I just want to scream.
There. I said it.
Paul wrote: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, Read more…
We had a lot of prayer happening in the comment section of last week’s devotion. So today, let me share a story about the power of prayer in one family’s life.
Allan was a tough man. Raised by a single mom with five siblings, he learned how to scrap his way through life and climb to the top of humanity’s heap through sheer determination and grit. Read more…
