Getting Spiritually Unstuck

by Barb Roose | | 5 comments

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On his way home from school, a young Russian boy noticed a lamb trapped head down in a drainage ditch. He went home and asked his mother to come back and help him get the stranded animal free. Azieva Radima went back to the trench with her son. As he worked to free the lamb, she pulled out her camera to capture the ordeal. It was a pretty good size lamb and the young man managed to pull the animal out of the narrow opening. Then, the freed lamb hopped away.

But three hops later, it dove headfirst right back into the ditch.

Millions of people around the world have laughed at Radima’s viral video about the lamb that immediately

Be Gentle with Yourself

by Suzie Eller | | 1 comment

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It was a big holiday. A little one had spent a lot of time in the car, traveling from one event to the next. His sleep schedule was thrown off. He was overstimulated. He had held it together until he couldn’t anymore. I remember thinking that this little guy just needed some quiet, his routine, and a nap. I wanted to scoop him up and let him know that it was going to be okay, and that he had done a really good job for a long time.

Later that same night I found myself cranky. We had driven two hours that day and would drive two hours home that night. All day I was surrounded by laughter and

Serving Someone When You Don’t Really Feel Like It

by Sharon Jaynes | | 1 comment

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Carley and Dan are a couple who have gone the extra mile…not to go the extra mile. They constantly keep score as to who put a new bar of soap in the shower last or who replaced the toilet paper roll last or who opened a new tube of toothpaste last.

“It’s sort of a contest to see who can use the smallest sliver of soap or use the last drop of toothpaste,” Carley boasted. The contest, as silly as it may seem, boils down to who is going to serve the other. Imagine how adored Dan would feel if Carley began to get out a new bar of soap before the sliver war began or replenished the toilet

Are You Being Intentional?

by Gwen Smith | | 1 comment

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When I was growing up, ours was on the doorframe between the kitchen and the hall with the red carpet. A vertical trail of penciled dashes and dates that marked the growth of my siblings and I – that eventually got painted over. An archive of ages and heights that proved physical progress was really happening in the Eisaman household.

And boy did I want my growth to show.

Each time my dad lined us up to draw lines just above our highest hairs, I would stretch my spine to the sky. (It’s even possible that I might’ve lifted my heels occasionally. Possible. Just throwing it out there. Don’t judge me. Dad always bumped us back down.)

I loved seeing the

In Search of the Wounded Ones

by Mary Southerland | | 2 comments

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Hamburgers are a regular item on the Southerland summer menu … for several reasons. Hamburgers are inexpensive, easy to prepare, and scrumptious.

On one particularly hot summer night, I was craving hamburgers. So, I fired up the grill on our deck and began to prepare the hamburger patties.

I didn’t want to be in the scorching heat one minute longer than I had to be, so I quickly seasoned the hamburger patties, slapped them on the grill, and headed back inside.

Our daughter met me at the door with our grandson who was looking for his Mimi. That’s me.

When Justus saw me, he smiled and stretched out his chubby little arms for me to hold him. I grabbed him and promptly

Be Where Your Feet Are

by Kathi Lipp | | 4 comments

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I am what some people might call a prepper.

We live in the mountains of Northern California on 33 acres of forested land. We only “go into town” once a week for essentials like groceries (and Starbucks.)

There is a lot that can go wrong up here on the mountain.

We get snowed in regularly, and usually lose power when we do, so we have to stockpile food, fuel our generator, and charge our flashlights, emergency lantern, and backup power bricks.

After last year’s huge storm, when a tree fell on our house, not only did we lose power but also our backup generator failed. We are fortunate that our neighbors, Paul and Julie, were here to help my husband dig us

Finding a Holy Balance

by Mary Southerland | | 10 comments

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I had a list of things to get done – even though my back was killing me. When my husband walked in from work, I gave him a quick hug and resumed my almost frantic pace.

“What are you doing, honey?” Dan asked.

With one of my famous sighs, I responded, “I just need to get a few things done.”

“How’s your back?” Dan persisted.

With growing irritation, I answered, “It hurts!”

Dan quietly watched me for a few minutes. “You don’t know how to sit down, do you?” he finally said.

My first response was irritation – which quickly escalated into anger – until I heard the unmistakable prompting of the Holy Spirit affirming the truth Dan had spoken. I needed to learn

Adding Life to Your Years

by Gwen Smith | | 14 comments

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I wanted to hurl my screaming alarm clock into an abyss. The warmth of my cozy covers and the safety of sleep beckoned my heart to stay, linger and forget what lay ahead of me that day. On that afternoon, I would sing for the funeral of a precious eighteen year-old family friend who had died in a tragic car accident.

Her name was Macie.

She was a girl who enjoyed life.

She babysat my kids when they were small and would often catch a ride home from church with us. She always had a spring in her step, a hug for a child, a kind word on her lips, and a sweet smile on her face. To know Macie was

Praying for Your Husband from Head to Toe

by Sharon Jaynes | | 43 comments

Note from Sharon: I know that devotions on marriage are difficult for many who are not married and perhaps would like to be. That’s why we usually keep the marriage devotions that minister to thousands of women in the month of February. Whether you are married or single, please join us at GiG in praying for marriages all around the world.

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I can still remember being sequestered in the “Bride’s Room” of our church just moments before the organist began to play for the early arrivals. As I sat in front of an oversized gilded mirror trying not to wrinkle my dress, I daydreamed about the man who would become my husband in just a few moments. He

You are Worth It

by Suzie Eller | | 4 comments

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As I recovered from surgery, I was ordered to be still. That meant sitting in a recliner for a month. No heavy lifting. No driving. Though I have a “Mary” heart, I evidently possess a “Martha” brain. I struggled with this. I wanted to fill that time with something productive. 

Maybe I needed to seek God in my down time and have a spiritual epiphany.

Maybe I should read deep and profound books, so I could grow and learn. 

Maybe I could fold laundry, if nothing else.

In my struggle, I discounted an important truth: Healing is hard work.

I wasn’t idle. Not at all. My body was recovering from major surgery. My bones and sinew needed stillness to reconnect, restore, and thrive. My heart and spirit