God’s Hands Are Not In His Pockets

by Gwen Smith | | 5 comments

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My hubs and I were obsessed with the TV show Person of Interest. The plot is fast-paced and features two main characters: a former CIA agent, and a mysterious, tech-savvy billionaire. The duo prevents crimes using technology and vigilante justice.

Each episode features complicated characters in critical situations. Life and death situations. Tensions are always heightened, and people often look over their shoulders to see who might be after them. As you’d imagine, what I didn’t see while watching Person of Interest was people in danger, casually hanging out with their hands in their pockets.

When we have our hands in our pockets, it means we’re relaxed… that our guard is down… that we’re neutral – not on the offense

I Don’t Like My Lot

by Kelly Balarie | | 4 comments

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I hopped on social media to check out my friends’ feeds. One social media friend was changing the world through missions in Africa. Now she was being publicly acclaimed. Another social media friend was hanging out with the very group that excluded me a couple weeks ago. They looked so happy. My old friend from high school was now building a whole basketball sports complex in her backyard. Her family, of course, looks picture-perfect. The girl I remember from my kid’s preschool smiles in bliss with her husband in Bermuda, her body is picture-perfect.

Me?

I am sitting like a blob on the couch, hair in messy bun, dirty dishes stacked high in the sink, while filthy toilets are calling my

Shame Off You!

by Sharon Jaynes | | 17 comments

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I remember as a little girl, hiding under the covers of my bed, trying to shut out my parents’ yelling and screaming in the next room. I heard bad words. I didn’t know what some of them meant, but I did know how they made me feel. Dirty. The next morning, I awoke to the aftermath of the night’s tirade—Mom’s black eye, Dad’s crying remorse, furniture tossed and broken—and those bad words bouncing around my little-girl head.

Nevertheless, I was expected to put on my school clothes, brush my hair, eat my cereal, brush my teeth, and sit in class with my little friends as if nothing had happened the night before. The shame of what I’d seen and

Breaking Up With Fake

by Gwen Smith | | 6 comments

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When a skilled jeweler places a diamond under a microscope, he is able to authenticate and determine its value based upon the color, cut, clarity and carat weight of the stone. Flaws are visible in the testing, and any jeweler worth his salt can easily see the difference between a man-made cubic zirconia and a real diamond that’s been forged in pressure over time.

I like to think I can spot fake from a mile away too. It’s everywhere: the lashes, spray tans, hair color, eyebrows, puffy lips, and high cheekbones. Beyond the substitute beauty efforts, there are a million other ways humanity serves up fake… Passing off that gossip as a prayer request. Praying from our lips, but

The Slippery Slope of Pride

by Mary Southerland | | 3 comments

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A famous explorer in South America was once forced to abandon his journey by an almost invisible enemy. He was equipped to meet leopards, serpents, and crocodiles. They proved to be no threat, but what he had failed to consider were the tiny insects called chiggers. Someone composed this poem about these tiny invaders:

Here’s to the chigger, the bug that’s no bigger

Than the end of a very small pin.

But the itch that he raises simply amazes,

And that’s where the rub comes in!

Pride and chiggers have a lot in common. Pride comes in little ways, unseen actions, subtle thoughts, or inconspicuous comments. Unguarded attitudes and random thoughts are prime breeding grounds for pride. We must take charge of those

When I’m Afraid

by Suzie Eller | | 20 comments

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Audrey pulled the cover over her eyes.

“Check for bears,” she begged.

I checked one more time. I held up a dust bunny and we laughed because that certainly wasn’t a bear. Yet her fears remained. Finally, I climbed in the bed with her until she fell asleep, her tiny form pressed against mine.

Have you ever struggled with fear? We all have. In John 20, a group of disciples are gripped with anxious thoughts. They had witnessed Jesus’ arrest and death on the cross. They had heard the rumors that authorities were searching for followers of Jesus. So, they hid.

When a group of women rushed through the door to tell them the tomb was empty, they left their hiding place

Check Your Spiritual Radar

by Mary Southerland | | 2 comments

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I recently received an email from a friend who told me the story of a private school in Washington that faced an unusual problem. Some of the 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would gather around the mirrors in the bathroom to compare shades.

The girls thought it was cute to press their lips to the bathroom mirrors, leaving dozens of lip prints. The maintenance man did not think it was cute because he had to clean the mirrors – and you know how icky lipstick on a mirror can be.

Every night the maintenance man would remove the lipstick prints only to find that the girls put them back the next day.

The principal finally decided that something

Counterfeit Comforts

by Melissa Spoelstra | | 5 comments

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I left the Zoom meeting and raced out of the house hoping to stop at Target to pick up a gift to bring to my lunch appointment. As I sped into the store, I got a call from my caseworker. She wanted to discuss some concerns regarding our foster son. I talked with her while quickly getting what I needed and driving downtown. My mind was still processing all the issues with our teenage foster son as I found parking and realized the meter required me to download an app on my phone and enter payment information. Whatever happened to good old quarters in a meter?

I hurriedly completed the task, slammed the car door, and began walking

One Day It Will All Make Sense

by Sharon Jaynes | | 16 comments

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I sat on the floor playing a card game with my young son. It was shaping up to be one of the best summers ever. Steven was savoring every minute of the long hot days, our Golden Retriever, Ginger, had delivered seven adorable puppies, and after years of negative pregnancy tests and doctor visits, I had a new life growing in my womb.

In the middle of enjoying the moment with Steven, I felt a warm, sticky sensation that made my world stand still. A trip to the bathroom confirmed my greatest fear.

Later that day, as I sat in the doctor’s office listening to his condolences for the loss of this much-prayed-for child, all I could think of was

You’re Stronger than You Know

by Holley Gerth | | 9 comments

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I got the text early one morning. “It’s bad,” my Dad said, “Your Mom has 95 percent blockage in two of her arteries.” Within twenty-four hours we would be on a plane and she would be on an operating table.

This is how life unfolds sometimes. We’re microwaving dinner or strolling into a meeting, picking up the kids from school or turning off the light next to the bed and suddenly our whole world tilts on its axis.

My mom made it through surgery okay but what should have been a week-long stay in the hospital turned into an extended journey full of complications. She, a brave woman, fought fluid around her heart and in her lungs, internal bleeding, reactions