Making My List and Checking It Twice

by Mary Southerland | | 4 comments

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Every year, I make a Christmas list comprised of every person for whom I am buying a gift. Beside each name, I write a dollar amount – a limit for how much money I will spend on that gift – and whole-heartedly declare not to spend one penny more.

Somehow, the amount I actually spend rarely coincides with the amount I intended to spend, but I digress.

With every purchase, I then draw a beautiful red line through that name.

Done!

I carry that list everywhere I go because there are evil people lurking in my home who will go to any lengths to find that list. Why? Because I am the Queen of Christmas Surprise! I have to guard the Secret

From the Cradle to the Cross

by Gwen Smith | | 2 comments

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The story of Christmas is familiar. Many of us can recite verses and sing choruses that recap the holy day without so much as a second thought. It is said that familiarity breeds contempt – so I wonder.

I wonder and I search my heart.

When I sit and search long enough to listen to God’s still small voice, I grapple with the familiar and I groan for the fresh… and I wonder. Have I shopped, cleaned, and baked away the season without bending a knee to worship the Savior? Have I decorated my home, but failed to focus my heart?

The story of Christmas is the ultimate story of life, of hope, of freedom. The beautiful and mysterious intersection

Long Walk Part of Gift

by Sharon Jaynes | | 3 comments

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An African boy listened carefully as his teacher explained why Christians give presents to each other on Christmas day. “The gift is an expression of our joy over the birth of Jesus and our friendship for each other,” she said.

When Christmas day came, the boy brought to the teacher a seashell of lustrous beauty. “Where did you ever find such a beautiful shell?” the teacher asked as she gently fingered the gift.

The youth told her that there was only one spot where such extraordinary shells could be found. When he named the place, a certain bay several miles away, the teacher was left speechless.

“Why…why, it’s gorgeous…wonderful, but you shouldn’t have gone all that way to get a gift

Christmas Depression and Christmas Cookies

by Wendy Speake | | 3 comments

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I love holiday traditions. Each year my family dresses up and goes out together to a special Christmas concert in the days leading up to December 25th. Whether it’s at our local church or the theatre downtown, we get dolled up for Jesus. Okay, let’s be honest: my husband and children do it for me. And every year I hope and pray for one really good family picture of us together, with the boys wearing argyle sweater vests, and their hair combed back. Not a dozen pictures, mind you, just one special keepsake of a treasure where we all look happy. Happy is the goal.

I struggle with happy sometimes—especially around the holidays. Which feels ridiculous because we’re all

Answered Prayer in A Shoebox

by Mary Southerland | | 5 comments

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My sister loves socks. One day, we were shopping and happened to walk into a department store where neither one of us could afford to buy a single thing. We were just passing through, on our way to find the bargains we could afford. With a sigh and a wistful look on her face, Betty said, “I wish I could afford to shop in this store.” When I asked her what she would buy, she immediately replied with a smile, “Socks! I want a big box of socks. I would wear a different pair every day.” I could think of several things I would have liked to buy in that store and socks was not one of them.

The Power of One Word From You

by Sharon Jaynes | | 2 comments

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I was wandering around the tourist area of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Shelves with tacky little statues, snow globes with leaning towers, and $10 T-shirts crowed small booths for tourists.

Shifty men with cases of “genuine fake” watches swarmed like bees. Rolex, Cartier, and Infinity—all for fifty bucks or less. Flashing fake gold and flaunting fake brands; their swift feet were ready to run if the authorities were to show up.

“No thank you, no thank you, no thank you,” I sang as I swam through the men hocking their wares.

Then I spotted her. She sat on a bench with colorful scarves for purchase draped over her arm. A blue, yellow and red headdress wound around her head, and

Help For a Heart That Worries

by Gwen Smith | | 3 comments

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The prophet Isaiah said, “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor is his ear to dull to hear.” (Isaiah 59:1) Though I know in my heart this is true, I still sometimes go back and forth between doubt and worry as if God’s arms are short and his ears are dull. My friend Erica does too.

She came to my door with a package to deliver and a story to share. I signed for the package and we began to catch up. Her kids are grown. Mine are teens. Her daughter just got married. My oldest just went to college. Mama to mama we shared and cared.

“My daughter and her new husband might

Wanted, Loved, and Chosen

by Mary Southerland | | 6 comments

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“You will never be able to have biological children,” the doctor said. After years of painful tests, expensive treatments, frustrating procedures and desperate pleas and prayers, our hopes of having children were shattered by his harsh diagnosis. “Then we will adopt,” my husband immediately replied. I wasn’t so sure. Could I love another woman’s baby as much as a child I would give birth to? I just didn’t know.

Months later, God called Dan to be the Youth Pastor of a church where we met a Christian attorney. “We’d like to talk with you about adoption,” Dan told the attorney. His response wasn’t encouraging. “I rarely do adoptions but come by my office and fill out the papers –

To The One Who Feels Unfinished

by Gwen Smith | | 5 comments

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It took four years of fresco painting for the Italian Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, and poet Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, to finish the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Commonly known as Michelangelo, his

\time painting was mostly spent alone, on his back, lying on scaffolding. (How painful!)

The painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is one of the most remarkable in the history of Western art. One thing is for sure: the process that altered a ceiling from plain to fabulous required a lot of time, great discipline, and the hand of a master artist. The same is true for us. The journey from broken into beautiful is a lifelong transformation that requires time, discipline, and a

Are You Missing Girlfriends in God Devotions?

by Gwen Smith | | 2 comments

Have you missed Girlfriends in God devotions arriving daily in your inbox?

We sure have missed you.

As you recall, after much prayer, the team decided to end this 17 year season of Girlfriends in God. We ran our last devotion June 30, 2023. However, Sharon, Mary, and Gwen are still sending out weekly devotions from their individual sites. While it may look different, the encouraging biblical content will be the same.

Many of you have already signed up to receive our weekly devotions, but if you haven’t, the encouragement is just a click away.

Click here to continue receiving devotions from SHARON JAYNES on Tuesdays.

Click here to continue receiving devotions from MARY SOUTHERLAND on Wednesdays.

Click here to continue receiving devotions from GWEN SMITH