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).


 


 


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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).


 


 


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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).


 


 


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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).


 


 


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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)


 


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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)


 


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“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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Today’s Truth

Do everything without grumbling or arguing (Philippians 2:14 NIV).


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I heard the crackle under my foot and knew what had just transpired.


I shut my eyes and felt sure my ears must be turning red. I didn’t know whether to cry or scream.


With six little ones under my feet, dinner to be made, and another practice to get ready for, the chip on the floor threatened to make everything fall apart … especially when I stepped on it.


While enjoying an after-school snack, a chip slipped through some little fingers and fell to the kitchen floor — the same kitchen floor my hurried feet shuffled through and consequently crushed the forgotten chip into a million tiny pieces.


With my emotions already on the edge of irritable, this chip created

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Today’s Truth

The people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them (Jonah 3:5 ESV).

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I knew that sound too well. It had etched its way into my mind the first time I heard it and now it was unmistakable.


A few years ago, doctors diagnosed my daughter with asthma. From that moment forward, any warning of the asthma-induced cough sent me into action. I grabbed medicine, called doctors and asked her to stop any strenuous activity. I knew her life depended on it.


Like me with my daughter, we’re usually quick to respond to physical warnings. When we have a fever we call a doctor. When we have a headache we take medicine. We go for yearly check-ups and do at-home examinations.


Why don’t we treat our spiritual health the same way?


Today’s Truth details

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Today’s Truth

“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands” (Psalm 138:8 ESV).

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I couldn’t believe my eyes. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined it would turn out this beautiful. I stared in amazement and kept coming back for another look. A tear may have even formed in the corner of my eye.


What I viewed seemed like a masterpiece to me.


This masterpiece was a family picture. Only a few weeks before, I had given birth to our baby girl. We positioned a small, white sofa in the middle of a field of green grass. We brushed our hair and dressed in coordinating colors. Reds, blues and creams brushed across the autumn background of our very first photo as a family of eight.


That alone was enough to make

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Today’s Truth

“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13 NIV).

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A few years ago, my family and I teamed up with our local church family and went out into our community for a week-long event complete with bounce houses, food, music and God’s Word. We’d never attempted anything like this before.


For months we prepared. We hung signs about the event and held training sessions for our workers. When the week of our community block party finally arrived, I scurried about with my clipboard making sure everything went as planned … What I did not do was clean my car.


As the week went on, my car accumulated trash, crumbs and anything else I didn’t feel like dragging into the house. (Let’s be honest – it wasn’t all that different from what I do

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Today’s Truth

Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers (2 Chronicles 13:18 ESV).

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It’s possible I had never searched the internet more in my entire life.


My dad had become ill and despite the seriousness of his condition, no one seemed to have an answer for what was happening. I felt sure that with the right combination of symptoms and information, I would land on the answer to what was causing the problems. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not come up with a concrete answer. My search proved more frustrating than freeing, and I finished more confused than comforted.


2 Chronicles 13:18 tells us about a king that chose to rely on the Lord in a time of crisis, “Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that

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Today’s Truth

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26 ESV)

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We couldn’t decide what to name him. We knew, however, that he needed a name.


He was a beautiful and determined red bird who seemed to want to become a part of our family. Every day for weeks, this cardinal would come to the windows around our house; and when I say windows, I mean every single window around our house.


He visited the windows in the kitchen and in the family room. He perched outside my bedroom windows and the ones in my daughters’ bedroom. He even stopped by the window in the bathroom once.


But he didn’t just visit. He hung around. It was as though he wanted to be a part of our conversations. If we had

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Today’s Truth

“And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay” (Revelation 10:5-6 ESV).

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We dreaded this moment every year.


As summer ended, my husband, Luke, packed his bag to leave for NFL training camp. After a decade of doing this year after year, I still teared up as I walked him to his truck and gave him one last kiss good-bye.


On the calendar we penciled in the day we expected training camp to end, usually with several exclamation points included! But ultimately, we knew the coach would make the final call. If he wanted to break camp early, he would. If he wanted to keep the team a few days longer, he would.


As we longed for Luke’s return, the kids and I kept ourselves busy. If we stayed productive, it eased

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Today’s Truth

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV).

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Some days, before my feet ever touch the floor, I say a one-sentence prayer.


The origins of this one-sentence prayer came during the first few days of quarantine as the world grappled with the uncertainty of the pandemic. Only a few weeks before the country shut down, my mom, my sister and I had said our final goodbyes to my dad.


By God’s grace, we were able to be with my dad during his last days on earth and, in the days that followed his passing, mourn together with others who loved him. The shutdown, however, brought unique challenges. Busyness can sometimes help us move on, but there was no busyness to be found.


My mom, in particular, found herself

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Today’s Truth

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter (Exodus 13:17 NIV).

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I looked at my husband in disbelief. My mouth might have actually been open.


After only a few weeks at his current position, he came home from work with the news he had been demoted. After working tirelessly for nearly a year to earn this position, it had been taken from him without warning and without reason.


In the days that followed my husband, Luke, and I wondered what could have possibly gone wrong. In our prayers we asked God, “Why?” It felt like God’s plan for us had taken an unexpected detour, and we couldn’t imagine how this could be good for us.


A few days later, however, at a routine doctor’s appointment with our newborn son, we began

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Today’s Truth

“Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Proverbs 26:12 ESV).

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People called her confident, independent and sure of herself. She was quick to offer her opinion on just about anything, and she refused to lose. While she never actually participated in the debate team at school, people told her she should—because she could win any war of words.


I remember her so well, because she was me.


My sister eventually gave up arguing with me, because she knew I would never quit. I would push my opinion into any situation and voice it until everyone else agreed with me.


And while the world may see assertions like these as strength and even something to be praised, Today’s Truth gives us another perspective, “Do you see a man who is wise

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Today’s Truth

Strength and dignity are her clothing, And she smiles at the future (Proverbs 31:25 NASB).

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I needed help. That was not a question.


With three little boys and a baby girl soon to be born, there were things I couldn’t do anymore. So when my sweet husband came home from a long day at work, he formed a habit of taking care of the things that were now difficult for me.


He helped me bathe the kids, feed the dogs, put away towels and just about anything else that required bending or reaching.


I was so very thankful for his willing heart and helping hands; but one day as he sat down next to me, I realized something. While I loved all of the things Luke was doing for me, I wouldn’t want him to

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Today’s Truth

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged (1 Corinthians 13:4-5 NLT).

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Too often I think the month of December can feel like a race to the finish line. We plan, shop, and arrange experiences trying to soak up the joy of the season, yet we stumble into Christmas morning exhausted and depleted.


This year, let’s do it differently. Instead of focusing on a list of things to be done, let’s shift our perspective to the love of God through the gift of His Son, Jesus. Today’s Truth tells us more about love, “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5)


With

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Today’s Truth

My soul will feast and be satisfied, and I will sing glad songs of praise to you (Psalm 63:5 GNT).

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I stood near the sink with my chin tucked tightly to my chest. I was supposed to be happy. This is a time of celebration, I told myself; but though the holidays were upon us, I didn’t feel the fullness that all of the television shows and commercials portrayed.


My table wasn’t perfectly decorated. In fact, it wasn’t decorated at all. My kitchen didn’t overflow with the smells of a turkey cooked just right. No one was coming to gather around my table, and my life circumstances left me feeling alone and empty.


Thanksgiving feasts have taken all shapes and sizes in my family. For many years we lived thousands of miles from home, so for a holiday feast

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Today’s Truth

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16 ESV).

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We crowded around the kitchen table with an important decision to make.


Just a few days before, my husband and I had given a Christmas gift to our children — 2 new puppies! Naming the first puppy was easy. The puppies joined our family on Christmas Eve, so we all agreed to name one puppy, Eve. The other girl, however, still needed a name.


Everyone at the table cast a vote. We started with eight names and narrowed it to four. After one more round of voting we landed on the name, Grace. At the time I didn’t know how much I’d learn from this sweet girl and her name.


Grace likes to be near me and the family. One

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"We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well…" 1 Thessalonians 2:8