Don’t Stop Too Soon

by Sharon Jaynes | | 30 comments

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Can I make a confession? Sometimes I quit too soon. I’ve quit when what I really needed to do was to press on and press through. Sometimes I’ve gotten tired of trying. Sometimes I’ve gotten tired of the struggle. And you know what? I’ve missed many blessings because I got tired of the battle. I don’t want to do that any longer. I’m taking my cues from Joshua.

The battle plan to take the Promised Land was as simple as it was strange. March around the city of Jericho with all the armed men. Do this in silence, once a day for six days. Then on the seventh day, walk around seven times with the priests blowing the trumpets.

Green with Envy

by Mary Southerland | | 2 comments

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We all know what it is like to be green with envy. We all struggle with jealousy at some point in life. Let’s be honest. How often do we look at another person and covet their success? How many of us are not content to serve God with the gifts He has given us while whining about the fact that others have the gifts we want. We convince ourselves that our longing for a bigger platform is to further the Kingdom when, in reality, that longing is for self-promotion, fame and recognition. Ugly, isn’t it? Jealousy is one of the most dangerous emotions because it is one of the most destructive.

“Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a

The Deep Relief That Comes From Seeking Him First

by Jessica Smartt | | 10 comments

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Two weeks ago, I accidentally stepped on a wooden toothpick that was lying on my bathroom floor. (Don’t ask me what a wooden toothpick was doing there in the first place.) Oh my goodness, did that ever hurt! I knelt down to find the toothpick…missing the wooden tip. Yes, I now had a chunk of a toothpick lodged in the side of my foot. I spent hours trying to squeeze, tweeze, poke, pluck the splinter out. It nagged and hurt and throbbed. This little piece of wood was a no more than a centimeter, but I thought about it so much! It affected so much of my day-to-day: what shoes I wore, the activities I could do, what

Are You Playing This Game?

by Gwen Smith | | 2 comments

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In my spare time I help coach our high school volleyball team. Let me rephrase that, because I do not have spare time. Three months a year I choose to invest daily in the lives of young female athletes who play volleyball at the high school where my children attend.

One of the games we play in practice is called Queen of the Court, the goal of which is simple: gain and keep the lead. Dominate. Be the best and protect your turf at all costs. Serve more aggressively, pass more accurately, set more strategically, and hit harder than your opponents. It is a fast-paced drill of skill where only the strong survive.

My life sometimes feels like a game

An Integrated Life

by Mary Southerland | | 5 comments

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Flying home from a speaking event, I was thumbing through a magazine someone left behind when the title of an article caught my eye. “Image is everything” the author declared. For a few seconds, I found myself mentally agreeing with the author’s statement until I recognized the subtle lie hidden in the seemingly-benign words.

As followers of Christ, we sometimes focus on developing and presenting the right image while neglecting the spiritual discipline of integrity. Our public lives are only as authentic as our private lives. Image is who and what people think we are while integrity is who and what we really are. Billy Graham once said, “Integrity is the glue that holds our way of life together.

How Christmas Brings Healing

by Gwen Smith | | 6 comments

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My son Hunter had been having pain in his left elbow. He mentioned it to my husband and I casually, but didn’t make a big deal about it initially. He’s a teenager, so we thought it might just be growing pains. Months later, when the pain continued to increase, he brought it up to us again.

Off to the doctor we went, not knowing what to think about the mysterious, lingering pain. After a brief physical evaluation, the doctor ordered that x-rays be taken. Soon after, he peeked his head back in the exam room and gave me the “come with me” finger-wag.

Eew. Okay.

I followed him out to the light board that illuminated Hunter’s new bone pictures. Dr. Joe

Leaving the Land of Disappointment

by Sharon Jaynes | | 15 comments

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Sometimes you expect you’re getting a Rachel and you wake up with a Leah. Okay, I know that example might connect better with a guy, but you get the point.

Let me try that again. What do you do after you’ve crossed the Red Sea of obstacles, only to be dying of thirst at Marah three days later? How do you keep your dancing from turning into disappointment? One thing is for sure; you don’t drive down your tent pegs by the disappointing waters of Marah and camp out there. You move on.

I think of the women on Jesus’s ministry team. They had committed their lives to the Messiah and believed that He would restore Israel. Mary Magdalene and

Looking For Light in Days of Grey

by Michele Cushatt | | 6 comments

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A glance out the window revealed the day would be another gloomy one. Three in a row, maybe four. I wearied of it. I scanned east to west, and noted a thick band of grey rain clouds covered every bit of Colorado’s typical blue sky, eclipsing any hope of warmth yet again. Although only mid-October, the sweet days of summer felt a million miles away. Already I missed the afternoons spent lounging on the porch with a book or my laptop as well as the occasional nap in the sun. Only a long stretch of winter lay ahead.

After living in Colorado for nearly twenty-two years, I’ve grown accustomed to sunshine more often than not. Rarely does weather

I’m Tired

by Mary Southerland | | 8 comments

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I’m tired.

Tired of waking up each morning to face more trials – more noise – more chaos.

I’m tired of trying to “fix” people and circumstances.

I’m tired of dealing with angry people everywhere I turn.

I’m tired of senseless violence and the horrendous loss of life at the hands of broken people.

I’m tired of the incessant dealing with physical pain and constantly battling the darkness of depression.

I’m tired of Satan attacking my husband, my children, and my grandchildren!

What I want to do is quit. I want to give up. I want to take my computer and my cell phone and toss them in a garbage dump, cutting off my connections to so many people in the world I have carefully

The Only Way to Get Rid of Darkness Is to Add More Light

by Holley Gerth | | 8 comments

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The news drifts in from the other room as I sit at my desk and try to write. Heartbreaking headlines. Scary statistics. Pessimistic predictions. It seems peace is nowhere to be found on this planet and the night is anything but silent. Feeling overwhelmed and helpless I silently ask, “Lord, what do you want me to do about all of this?” And it seems I hear a quiet whisper within my heart: “The only way to get rid of darkness is to add more light.”

As much as we’d like to, we can’t go after darkness directly. We can only crowd it out with something better and brighter. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew