red lighted candle

Emmanuel in my “Already and Not Yet” this Christmas

As God’s people waited for Messiah after Malachi’s prophecies, they heard no new words from God…for about 400 years. They thought God’s blessing would come after they’d restored the temple, but it didn’t come for many generations.  Had He abandoned them into darkness? Were their prayers falling on deaf ears?  Read more

woman and child walking on beach

Lord, I Praise You Like a Child

Every time I visit with our little grandchildren, I consider the “childlike faith” that Jesus describes. It’s a dependence for our very lives, fully trusting in someone else. Little ones don’t consider what’s coming. They simply play, learn, and grow…in the moment. They offer much wonder, curiosity, and love as Read more

withered leaves photo

Yet, I will rejoice in the LORD

My suffering appeared hopeless. Every circumstance pointed to endless hardship, permanent challenges, a life of tribulation. It felt Job-like, impacting health, finances, family, work and home tasks, relationships. My husband and I were now walking through years of long-suffering affliction and endless pain. And now my soul is poured out Read more

gray concrete triumphal arch surrounded by flowers

Sing of God’s kingdom plan to battle today’s fears

I was afraid of what might happen. My tiny human mind couldn’t figure out how the situation could possibly resolve. Like the songwriters of the Psalms, I needed to battle today’s fears about the future. I needed to battle the enemy’s made-up lies by singing truths of God’s Word, as Read more

old castle on rocky cliff

Battle Fear with Praise to God

David’s Psalm 56 song lyrics resonate with me when I battle serious illness symptoms and have fearful thoughts of “what if.” David was afraid of what might happen because, practically based on his human understanding, his enemies would likely kill him (1 Sam. 21).  David’s lyrics acknowledge our very real Read more

gray concrete triumphal arch surrounded by flowers

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms in Crisis

Crisis screams. A phone call that shatters, symptoms that destroy, an emergency that swirls into chaos. If you’re like me, you grasp for control and try to hold things together as you pray, “Help me, help me” or just “God,” until you finally breathe and melt. In the siren lights Read more

pathway between green grass field

God’s song in the night, a song of joy

Joy? How can we possibly find any joy right now? How can we find joy when anger, pain, fear, and personal troubles seem to escalate weekly?  My heart has wearied this week, yet He beckons me through this Scripture. God’s song in the night You shall have a song as Read more

selective focus photo of bottle with cork lid

Loving Jesus In Our Suffering

Mary was about to lose our beloved Jesus to the cross. What did she do in the midst of this sad and stressful time? She broke her precious possession, an alabaster flask of expensive perfumed ointment, pouring it over Jesus’s feet (Jn. 12:3).  She has done what she could; she Read more

ocean water

Take heart, I have overcome the world

I wonder what they were singing. They’d been attacked by the crowds, stripped naked, beaten, thrown into prison, and fastened into stocks.  About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them (Acts 16:25).  Which hymns? What were the lyrics? Did Read more

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