When Grief Runs Deep

by Gwen Smith | | 4 comments

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I read the text in horror and disbelief.

How could he be gone? He was the picture of potential. So much going for him. He had been through so many challenges and had come so far. Achieved so many accolades. How could his world have crumbled so low that taking his life became the answer he turned to?

Shockwaves ripple through the core of my heart. A landslide of sorrow.

All who knew and loved him grieved. In our homes. On social media. In our conversations. In our prayers. In our hearts.

We grieved deep with a pain that stings fierce.

We grieved for his family, for the empty seat at their dinner table, and the empty gape in their hearts and home. We

The Architect of My Life

by Mary Southerland | | 3 comments

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Our son was born to be a builder. From the time he could hold a plastic red hammer in his toddler-sized hands, Jered began hammering imaginary nails into the coffee table, fixing everything that was broken in our house. No wooden surface in our home was safe from Jered’s scrutiny or design.

Since my husband enjoyed woodworking, he decided to build Jered a miniature workbench beside his own. Several nights each week, Dan and Jered headed to the garage to pound and hammer and do what they called “man stuff.” I thought it was cute – a philosophy that would drastically change in the years to come.

When he was in middle school, Jered built a clubhouse inside our garage.

Overthinking Ministry

by Logan Wolfram | | 3 comments

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I joined a gym this Fall.

In all fairness perhaps I should back up and disclose that I actually joined the Y several months before. I walked through those doors armed with so many good intention that if intent was all it took to be fit, I’d have been on the cover of Shape Magazine by now.

I went twice.

It felt lonely and I had to park far away (you know, to walk into the GYM) and it wasn’t like Cheers where everybody knows you name. Apparently it was just all too much and my ENFP personality just couldn’t handle it.

Maybe if I’d done a class I’d have made a friend and gone more than twice. But I never can get

What Redemption Requires

by Gwen Smith | | 3 comments

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God’s grace can restore any life.
In the beginning, the moment that rebellion collided with perfection and invaded the hearts of humanity, God set in motion a plan of redemption. His plan was Jesus – the one who gives beauty for ashes, comfort for mourning, and freedom to the shackled.

Scripture introduces us to a guy who experienced God’s redemption in deep ways. His name was Job. Job was a good man. I mean a really good man. No joke – the Bible says so! This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. (Job 1:1b) He lived life the right way. He honored God, loved his family and was both faithful and patient. Good man.

You’d think

When God Throws a Little Bit of “All Things” in Your Life

by Sharon Jaynes | | 7 comments

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I love Romans 8:28.

Now, let me be honest…sometimes I don’t.

When I am going through a dark time of loss or disappointment, and someone throws a sloppy coat of Romans 8:28 on my open wound, I just want to scream.

There. I said it.

What does God mean by “all things” anyway? I looked it up in my Greek dictionary and guess what it means—it means “all things.” I was hoping for something a little different.

“All things” includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. In every dark circumstance of life, there is a hidden treasure waiting to be discovered. However, for that to happen, we must get out of the dirt, push it aside, and look beneath the surface.

Is it

My Bitter – Sweet Life

by Mary Southerland | | 43 comments

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I hate depression. It is an all-too-familiar foe in my life. I know. I am a grounded Christian and have walked with God for many years. I am a pastor’s wife … a Christian author and speaker. According to many people, I shouldn’t struggle with depression, but I do. It keeps me on my face before God. It keeps me broken and desperate for Him.

Thousands – seriously – thousands of people have prayed for me to be delivered and set free from this battle.

I continually search my heart, mind, and soul for some un-confessed sin.

I have sifted through my past and dealt with every painful memory God has brought to mind.

I have tried dozens of nutritional cures and

The Trumpet Game

by Gwen Smith | | 2 comments

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My friend Brad has a little girl named Elizabeth. When Elizabeth was one year old, Brad and his wife taught her some sign language. For the word please, they chose to have her rub her chest. So, as Brad and Jamie taught Elizabeth to say please, they rubbed their own chests and said “please.” Simple enough.

Elizabeth had a favorite toy. It’s a plastic knobby toy that holds colorful rings. You know the one with the yellow pole and white base that, without the rings, loosegig thursly resembles a trumpet. (C’mon, use your imagination!) So, being the fun, creative parents that Brad and Jamie are, they would dump off the rings and playfully hold up Elizabeth’s toy and make

Follow Through

by Lisa Morrone | | no comments

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In sports training, whether it’s the swing of a bat, a golf club, or a tennis racquet, the follow through of your swing is what imparts the full force, and gives the ultimate trajectory to the ball.

In our spiritual lives, our follow through—or lack thereof—can markedly impact the power with which we live and the course of direction our lives take.

Today’s Bible passage, while possibly unfamiliar, is taken from a well-known account: the nation of Israel is just about to be ushered into the long-awaited Promised Land, west of the Jordan River.

Moses had previously led the people of God out of Egypt where they had been living in slavery for generations. But because of Israel’s subsequent rebellion, what

Not a Fan of Closed Doors?

by Mary Southerland | | 2 comments

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As a grandmother, I can testify to the importance of gates. Shortly after our grandson Hudson’s first birthday, he started to walk. He had been a champion crawler for several months – and he loved stairs. We just happened to live in a townhouse that had three flights of stairs, much to Hudson’s delight. Oh, we bought him toys, but they were nothing more than momentary distractions from his favorite toy – the stairs.

When Hudson first learned to climb up the stairs, we bought a gate to keep him from falling down those same stairs. I wondered how he would react to his new confinement. It didn’t take long to find out. When our daughter dropped him off

So You Have a Past

by Gwen Smith | | 4 comments

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The New Testament begins with the book of Matthew and showcases more drama than a Hallmark movie. The book starts off with a genealogy trail that leads from Abraham to the birth of Jesus. This list of names might make you yawn, but it’s actually really important – and even exciting. (Yes. You read that right!) It’s fascinating because it gives evidence to a family line that shows Jesus was a descendant of both Abraham and King David, thus fulfilling what the Old Testament predicted about the lineage of the Messiah.

Scandal steps onto the page in verse three of Matthew chapter one when a woman’s name shows up. (Traditionally, only the names of men appeared in these family