Gratitude and Grace: Two Peas in a Pod

by Sharon Jaynes | | 3 comments

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When I turned forty, all of a sudden small letters and numbers got smaller. A trip to the ophthalmologist proved that I needed reading glasses. But I had a hard time keeping up with them, so the doctor fitted me with mono-vision contact lenses. In my left eye I wear a contact lens for close up and in my right eye I wear a contact lens for distance. And somehow, my brain figures all that out and I can see perfectly.

That is how I view gratitude and grace. With gratitude in one eye and grace in the other, I can see God more clearly. If there is one thing that should cause gratitude to bubble up and spill

Princess Problems

by Gwen Smith | | 2 comments

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My friend Ellen is a preschool teacher who regularly contends with entitled toddlers and privileged preschoolers who know how to major on some minors and throw down some serious tantrums.

I want the red crayon, but Tommy has it!

I’m not eating this because it has white cheese. I only like yellow cheese.

I want to go first!

I’m allowed. You’re not my boss.

Miss Ellen calls these little escapades “princess problems,” and she does her best to lovingly redirect the heart of each young complainer toward the reality of his or her blessings and toward the virtue of patience, selflessness, kindness, sharing, etc..

Hardly a day goes by that the kingdom of her kiddie classroom isn’t inundated with princess problems. The outbursts are

This is Real Love

by Elisa Pulliam | | 6 comments

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Would you say you truly understand the real love of God?

When I gave my life to the Lord in that London dorm room 25 years ago, I wasn’t actually interested in being loved by God nor even loving Him in return. I was simply desperate for the promise of eternity. It was my escape route from a life of hurt filled with relationships marked by dysfunction, abuse, and betrayal.

The promise of heaven gave me hope that one day all would be well, so I chose to believe in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It never dawned on me that love could be part of the equation – at least not the kind of love I could

No Way! That Makes Me Feel Nervous

by Gwen Smith | | 1 comment

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Growing up we played silly games. Fun games that connected strands of strangers and tethered them to a specific time and place with a memory. One of those was the cookie jar game.

It’s probably more of a chanty thing. You remember.

Crowd: “Amy stole the cookie from the cookie jar!”

Amy: “Who me?”

Crowd: “Yeah, you!”

Amy: “Couldn’t be!”

Crowd: “Then who?”

Amy: “Elise!”

Crowd {redirected}: “Elise stole the cookie from the cookie jar!” … and the game went on to never really gather the cookies that were stolen. Who thinks these things up? Why can’t we just pass around the cookies and eat them with milk instead? I hear your “Amen.”

Sometimes I think that those of us who are Jesus lovers play the cookie

The Art of Confrontation

by Mary Southerland | | 3 comments

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Dan and I just celebrated 42 years of marriage. And every single day has been filled with peace, marital bliss, more peace … and I need to stop right there before a bolt of lightning strikes me dead!

Dan and I have a great marriage – most of the time. Honestly, there have been days when I have thought about getting in the car and driving away. I am sure there have been more days when Dan has had the same thought. We have weathered some severe storms in our marriage, and it is only by the grace of God that we still love and respect each other after all these years. We are best friends – flawed and

Practice Makes Progress

by Gwen Smith | | 5 comments

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I’ve always been an athlete. As an adult, I enjoy power walking and keeping fit. Growing up, I played on different sports teams all year round, but volleyball has always been my jam.

I played volleyball in college and now I help coach my daughter’s high school team. I’ve been around this game for more than thirty years and I’ve spent more time on the court, on the sand, and on the grass playing and practicing than most people ever will.

You’d think that after all the hours invested I’d have the game perfected by now, right?

Not hardly.

There are still times when I shank a pass and have spike attempts that send the ball into the net instead of over

Serving Your Husband When You Don’t Really Feel Like It

by Sharon Jaynes | | 3 comments

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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

Why His Strength is Our Victory

by Kelly Balarie | | 2 comments

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There are two ways champion athletes act. Consider the game of football. The guy who runs the winning touchdown either kneels on the ground, pounds his fists against his chest, and yells, “I’m Da’ Man!” or he runs to the 10-yard line, points up to God, and says, “All due credit goes to You, Jesus.”

May we do all things to the glory of God.

A girl can hope, right? Sometimes I misplace due-glory. It’s not that I don’t want to thank, praise or give credit to God. I do. It is just that I get busy, distracted, and focused on all that I need to do. All the people who need me. All the happenings around me.

Are you at all like

I Need Help!

by Mary Southerland | | 3 comments

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Hudson is only three years old, but he is already beginning to grasp the concept of accountability. Somewhere in his little heart, Hudson understands the truth that he needs someone to help him do the right thing. He knows he is weak. He wants to make the right choice, but sometimes he just can’t. And in those moments of weakness, he needs someone to take the decision out of his hands. Hudson has chosen his six-year-old brother Justus to be that someone in his life.

Justus and Hudson love the television show Paw Patrol which is a preschool action series about seven heroic puppies, Chase, Marshall, Rocky, Zuma, Rubble, Skye, and Everest, led by a tech-savvy boy named Ryder.

Wavering Between Two Opinions

by Melissa Spoelstra | | 2 comments

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My daughter Rachel is limping right now. Her knee likely hurts from all the jumps and back handsprings she does as a cheerleader. The pain in her knee affects the way she walks, and limping is no fun. It calls attention to a weakness or flaw. I have stubbed my toe, banged up my shins, and had sciatic nerve pain that left me hobbling like a person twice my age. Elijah uttered the words in today’s truth just before he challenged the people of Israel to a contest on Mt. Carmel. He asked them, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions?” It seems the nation of Israel suffered from a limp of their own.

In