A Plan for Anger Management Part 2

by Mary Southerland | | 1 comment

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The people around us want to see what happens when life pushes our buttons and anger puts the squeeze on our emotions. While God created us with the capacity for strong emotions, it is our responsibility to control them instead of allowing them to control us. Yesterday, we looked at four ways to manage anger. Here are four more:

Be focused.  

Psalm 37:8 “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath.”

I have witnessed the utter strength and beauty of our daughter and daughter-in-law as they gave birth to our beautiful grandchildren. The pain was excruciating, but both worked through each contraction by doing two things: controlling their breathing and choosing a focus point. We need to do the same when

A Plan for Anger Management Part 1

by Mary Southerland | | 2 comments

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We live in a very angry world. Road rage … suicide bombings … random shootings … bullies terrorize their victims online and in schools … acts of violence fill the news every day. The reality is that everyone has to deal with anger. The challenge is to deal with anger in the right way. Anger is powerful – an emotional warning that something is wrong. We have been hurt or rejected. Something has changed, and we don’t like it!

Anger itself is not sin. We just have to learn to express anger in the right way. Mishandled anger is destructive, but anger that is handled correctly can become a tool for good. God’s Word is filled with tips for

Big Goals, Big Life

by Arlene Pellicane | | 8 comments

We hope you are enjoying the Girlfriends in God daily devotions. We (Mary, Sharon, and Gwen) would like to introduce you to some of our special friends. From time-to-time, the Friday devotions will be written by one of our friends in ministry. We call them our “Friday Friends.” So grab your Bible and a fresh cup of coffee and drink in the words from our “Friday Friend,” Arlene Pellicane.

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Every year, I attend a personal growth conference with some truly inspirational people. Speakers have included greats such as Neil Armstrong, Zig Ziglar, Lou Holtz, Andy Andrews, and Jim Rohn. I know being exposed to this caliber of professionals has pushed me to become a better person, wife, and mom.

Some may wonder about

Making God Smile

by Mary Southerland | | 1 comment

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I have several roles in life. I am a wife, a mother, an author, a speaker … the list is really quite impressive. But being Mimi to our six grandchildren hovers around the top of that list. So when the phone rang, and I heard the sweet voice of our grandson Justus ask, “Mimi, can you and Papa come to my school for Grandparent’s Day?” I did not even have to look at my calendar. Whatever appointments I might have had could be moved in a heartbeat. “We would love to, buddy!” I replied.

When Dan and I arrived, Justus’ teacher, Mrs. Fox, greeted us and told us to look around. Since I taught elementary school for several years

What Does Your Handwriting Say About God?

by Gwen Smith | | no comments

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My son Hunter had been home from school for days on end following the concussion he sustained in a high school basketball game. In an effort to occupy his time productively, he picked up an old interest one afternoon and invited me to join in.

The interest? Graphology.

Yep. I was pretty excited too. Wait … no. No, I wasn’t. Not really. But I strapped on my mama smile and obliged him by doing what he asked: write three random sentences on a blank sheet of paper.

He left the room with my sentences and spent well over an hour doing a thorough analysis of my handwriting. He evaluated, measured, and contrasted the angles of each letter. He observed the way

Mission Impossible

by Mary Southerland | | no comments

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Most people recognize the familiar line from every Mission Impossible movie,  “Your mission…  should you choose to accept it …”

God asks us the same question. We have a God-given mission. We are called by God to be a blessing in the world where we live, work, and play. But we choose to accept or reject that mission every single day.

Sometimes the call of God seems to make no sense … almost ridiculous. Gideon felt that way when God called him.

Gideon was a farmer, a family man just trying to earn a living and put food on the table. He felt inadequate to carry out God’s plan for his life.

But God saw what Gideon could be … not just

You’re More Than a One-Talent Girl

by Sharon Jaynes | | no comments

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In my last devotion, we looked at the parable of the talents, or rather the parable of the three choices. We saw a landowner that gave one servant five talents, another servant two talents, and another servant one talent.

As you read that devotion, (and if you didn’t, please click on www.girlfriendsinGod.com and read it first) I wonder if you saw yourself as a one-talent girl. Perhaps you’re thinking that God hasn’t given you much to work with. He did, after all, entrust the servants with talents “according to their ability.” You look at what other folks are doing for God with their five talents and think that yours doesn’t really matter much anyway. Nothing could be further from

How Hiding Keeps You From Seeking

by Gwen Smith | | 2 comments

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In John 4, we see a tired Jesus who stopped to rest at Jacob’s well where He begins a conversation with a Samaritan woman, ignoring the cultural, racial, and social norms of that day. (Jews did not associate with Samaritans and often tried to avoid Samaria all together on their journeys. In addition to that, respectable Jewish men did not talk women whom they didn’t know.) But Jesus was not concerned with public opinion. He was on a mission of mercy.

The woman’s name is never mentioned, but He knew it.

He knew not only her name, but also her insecurities, her reputation, her fears, her failures, and her needs.

Jesus asked this unnamed woman for a drink, then engaged her

Choices Determine Destinies

by Sharon Jaynes | | no comments

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One day Jesus told a parable to a group of listeners. We’ve come to know it as the Parable of the Talents, but it is really more the Parable of the Three Choices. Jesus was explaining what the kingdom of heaven would be like in common terms.

For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. In the same manner

The Picture of Repentance

by Mary Southerland | | 1 comment

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It had been a rough afternoon for Hudson, our four-year-old grandson. Dan and I were keeping him and his brother Justus for a few days while our daughter and son-in-law were out of town. I know. It’s a rough job, but somebody has to do it.

I had spent a week getting ready for their visit. The checklist was complete!

The refrigerator, pantry, and snack drawer were filled with their favorite foods.

The toys were assembled and ready for action.

The bed in our guestroom was piled high with extra pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals waiting to be hugged.

Favorite books were stacked beside their bed for naps and bedtime imaginations.

Now all we needed were the boys! When we went to pick them