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…
I was in the restroom touching up my makeup before speaking to several hundred women. When I looked in the mirror, thoughts began swirling in my mind. What am I doing here? What do I possibly have to say to these women that could make any difference in their lives? I am not capable of walking to that podium tonight. Read more…
My son, Steven, was three years old when he contracted a severe case of the flu. His slumped body snuggled listlessly in my lap like a worn-out rag doll. When I carried him into the medical clinic, the doctor took one look at my boy and sent us straight to the hospital. Steven was dehydrated and needed fluids immediately.
My heart ripped wide when the nurses taped a support board to Steven’s little arm and inserted the needle for the IV. Read more…
I was wandering around the tourist area of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Shelves with tacky little statues, snow globes with leaning towers, and $10 T-shirts crowded small booths for tourists.
Shifty men with cases of “genuine fake” watches swarmed like bees. Rolex, Cartier, and Infinity—all for fifty bucks or less. Flashing fake gold and flaunting fake brands; Read more…
