Posts by Katy McCown
Today’s Truth
He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love (Ephesians 4:16 NLT).
Friend to Friend
I passed her as I exited the room. She retracted a little as I walked by, then darted into the room I had just left.
Armed with a can of disinfectant, she sprayed the room I had occupied minutes before. Long before the days when we knew of a term called COVID-19, I had come to work sick, and there was no hiding it.
My face told the story. Sunken eyes, a pale complexion, and probably a red-tinted nose … and if that weren’t enough, I carried a box of tissues with me everywhere I went.
No one wanted to approach me. Whether they had their own health in mind or something else, my sniffles and cough were enough to send
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Today’s Truth
In the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another (Romans 12:5 CSB).
Friend to Friend
They lined up one by one, no questions asked.
They didn’t come begrudgingly. They came with an eagerness you could see on their faces. They were ready. They were excited. And they were together.
The front lawn of our local elementary school was the stage for the epic tug-of-war championship between two fourth grade classes … while some may call tug-of-war a game, I feel confident the fourth graders holding the rope approached this as anything but a game.
Mrs. Johnston’s class formed a line down one half of the rope, while the opposing class took their places on the other half. Because I had a daughter in the class, I had heard the stories of disagreements and misunderstandings. I knew
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Today’s Truth
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6:31 NIV).
Friend to Friend
Like clockwork, it happened every night.
For weeks, under a pitch-black canopy and hum of the fan, a guest would appear. One night I even felt fingers crawling up my arm. I jolted up out of my sleep to see my daughter, nose to nose with me, looking for a place to lay her head.
Most nights she came alone, sometimes she brought her brother with her. But every night, whoever showed up in my bedroom wanted the same thing—the coveted spot in the bed between Mom and Dad.
Now, I know many parenting books would scorn me and tell me to take the child back to bed. I’m not winning any Mom-of-the-year awards here. Nor am I encouraging you to mimic
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Today’s Truth
As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it (1 Samuel 17:23 NIV).
Friend to Friend
I crouched behind a wall in my living room, peeking out only for a few seconds at a time. I didn’t really want to keep watching, but for some reason I couldn’t stop.
A real-life tightrope walker dared to cross a gorge near the Grand Canyon on live television. I didn’t know this man from Adam, but my fear for him and his potential plummet to the bottom of the canyon was real. With each step he took I prayed, please God let him make it across!
The wind blew so hard at times he stopped and crouched down on the rope to lower himself beneath the gusts. He would pause and pray then stand up and continue across.
Yet quite
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Today’s Truth
A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies (Proverbs 31:10 NIV)
Friend to Friend
It’s as though the worn-out piece of wood can tell the future. Years of use have literally left their mark on the old stick, and each time it appears, anticipation swirls in the hearts of my little people.
During the days of my husband’s youth, as he and his siblings grew in age and size, Luke’s mom took a wooden board and made it a measuring stick. Year after year, Luke and his brothers and sister would scoot their heels all the way to the wall, stretch their necks, and wait anxiously to see the new line that marked how much they had grown.
Now, decades later, my children like to measure themselves on this same old piece of wood.
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Today’s Truth
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you (Isaiah 43:2 NLT)
Friend to Friend
“I’m not doing this again,” I proclaimed, and I meant it with all my heart.
Just a few days before, I spent a dark, rainy weekend packing our lives into boxes and then unloading them into a new place in a new city.
Though the bulk of the work was behind me, I felt exhausted and unsatisfied. I didn’t look forward to new memories and planting roots, because this new place had no more certainty than the last one. I feared another weekend much like the one I’d just experienced was all too close.
So, I announced I wasn’t doing it again … but my husband’s career required us to relocate often. Although I knew I couldn’t cling to the
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