God doesn’t always say what I want to hear. He often begins our dialog with the state of my heart rather than the solution to my problem. The Joseph of multi-colored-coat fame knew this well. When recounting Joseph’s life, the Psalmist points out, “Until the time that His Word came to pass, the Word of the Lord tested him ” (Psalm 105:19). Tested him? Yes, …
Riding in the back of a Taiwanese ambulance is not for the faint of heart. Especially if it lasts for three hours. Only the night before, my 17-year-old daughter experienced her first ambulance ride from an accident site to the small, rural hospital in Kenting. She and her friend, Kristen, had been in a scooter incident on the streets of this village resort …
“No words can aptly describe your heart being torn apart. The pain, the sobbing, the gasping for air. Grieving the loss of something never to be regained. Lost dreams. Lost confidence. And a lost me —drowning in the deluge of betrayal, anguish, and woundedness without a seeming breath of hope.” (personal journal entry 2021) Perpetual sadness and the lure of bitterness hold their …
It had been one of those days. Even after crawling into bed, I could still smell the vomit. The day started at 5 a.m. with heaves from our five-year-old’s bedroom—stomach flu. When I hadn’t been mopping a floor or a brow, I’d been sanitizing to keep everyone else well. To top it off, the three-year-old felt a little too good, …
Hopelessness is the new pandemic. It builds within us as we watch society crumble around us. Culture no longer espouses the values of generations past, and few share a Biblical worldview. Even those strongest in faith find themselves saying, “I have lost control over everything, even the places in my head” (Paula Hawkins). As believers, we are urged to “fight the …
By: Paige Allen Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (NIV) It was an ordinary Monday as I looked at my schedule and all that awaited me that day. It started with waking my two girls from their slumber and trying to get them out the door for school. There were lunches to pack, teeth …
I stood at the edge of the precipice, afraid to look down. Stepping as far as I dared, my knees trembled, and my heart palpitated wildly. I was here by choice, knowing that remaining in safety wouldn’t do. Before me lay the proof of the waters I’d heard. Tumbling freight train loud and hurricane strong, the falls poured straight down from an unknown source …
O Father, I come, not knowing how to pray but depending upon Your faithfulness to discern my ramblings. You knew that I would find myself faltering and stammering. So, You sent Your Spirit into my heart to resurrect my lifeless petitions and lift them on my behalf into Your Presence (Romans 8:26-27). Thank You. Because of virtual and unsupervised education, …
I remember the first day He spoke to me, so clearly, I can see the house as if it were still standing and its windows still streamed with light through bubbled windowpanes. I can envision sitting cross-legged on the “good” sofa and a red Open Bible on my knees. I was 16-years-old and recently home from youth camp in the …
O Jesus, Thank You that our relationship deepens as You and I walk through shadows together. Ours is no longer a simple stroll along a grassy riverbank but a fusion of spirit and soul. H.D.M. Spence once testified, “Divine shepherding means more than green pastures and still waters; it sometimes means ‘the valley of the shadow of death.’” During our …
