Making the Most of Every Opportunity

by Wendy Speake | | no comments

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When my children were young, most mornings I walked them across the street to our local neighborhood park. Sometimes we returned in the afternoon for one more push on the swing. With a preschooler, a toddler, and a baby in diapers I had my hands full. Though I had a flip phone shoved into my overloaded diaper bag, I never heard it ring. It was a point of contention in our marriage. “Why do you even have a phone?” my husband asked. “You never answer it.” The simple answer was that I didn’t have a free hand. And I didn’t keep it in my pocket because I didn’t want to be distracted. The needs around me were too

The Truth About God’s Love for You

by Gwen Smith | | 4 comments

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My friend Brad has a daughter 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, loosely resembles a trumpet. (C’mon, use your imagination!) So, being the fun, creative parents that Brad and Jamie are, they’d often dump off the rings and playfully hold up Elizabeth’s toy and make a trumpet

When You Want to Feel Closer to God

by Sharon Jaynes | | 6 comments

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Most of us come to Christ with a certain “inloveness”—a stirring of emotion mixed with an inexplicable knowing that we’ve discovered our reason for being. But some years into our spiritual journey, the wonder that swelled during the early years ebbs into routine religion laced with busyness. And we secretly question the point of it all.

There has to be more than this, we muse. What am I missing? What’s wrong with me? I’m doing all the right things, but God seems so far away. I’m trying as hard as I can, but it never seems to be enough. What does God really want from me anyway?

For decades, as I have had the privilege of ministering to women, I

The Game You’ll Never Win

by Gwen Smith | | 2 comments

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When I coached high school volleyball, one of the games we played in practice was called Queen of the Court, the goal of which is simple: gain and keep the lead. Dominate. Serve more aggressively, pass more accurately, set more strategically, and hit harder than your opponents.

My life sometimes feels like a game of Queen of the Court.

I strive, set goals, create a game plan, and execute the strategy. I long to be my best (a good thing), but at times my goal changes from wanting to experience all of God’s best for me to wanting to be THE best (not so good). Look at me, everyone! Check out my people, my position, my possessions, my trophies-of-greatness…

I have

Time After Time

by Melissa Spoelstra | | 1 comment

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My mind stared at the blank index card. A Bible study leader handed one to every person to write down a prayer request. Sounds easy, but on that particular day, my mind and heart felt so jumbled. I thought about my kids and some of their concerns but knew I needed to write down the two words that come up almost every week for me: time management. I struggle with managing my time wisely and also feeling guilty when I don’t. Too often my mind seems occupied with the next thing on my schedule.

You may be in a season when you have a lot of time on your hands. Maybe you’re a stay-at-home mom and your kids

Set Your Sails for Joy

by Mary Southerland | | 4 comments

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Jesus lived and died so we can experience abundant life, a life exuding joy, and a life so full that others crave to know the source of that fullness.

Jesus did not come so we can merely survive life. Pagans can survive life. Jesus came to be our joy.

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10, NKJV).

Someone once said, “Joy is the flag that flies above the castle of our hearts indicating that the King reigns within.” If those words are true, why are so many women living lives with little or no joy? Maybe we have bought the lies of the enemy, allowing him to steal our joy.

Discouragement,

What Our Hearts Need When We Mess Up

by Holley Gerth | | 9 comments

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I sit across from a friend who knows me well. We’ve walked together for more than a decade. My eyes are tear-filled as I look at her and say, “I messed up.” I tell her of how I have failed in an area that has been an off-and-on battle in my life for years.

We all have one, don’t we? I call it our “Signature Struggle.” It’s the choice or habit or escape we go back to even though we know better. We swear we’ll never do that again—eat the whole pan of brownies or snap at the kids or drain the drink. But then we’re tired or stressed or overwhelmed and, suddenly, we do. No, sister, it isn’t

When you Need a Little G-r-a-c-e

by Sharon Jaynes | | 1 comment

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There it was.

Carved in wood.

The evidence could not be denied.

My niece, Anna, dropped her kids off at school and then went home to clean up a bit. She removed a hairbrush, school papers, and yesterday’s jewelry from her dresser. And there it was. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

A nail.

And a name.

L-i-l-l-i-a-n…carved into the top of her dresser’s walnut surface.

Seven-year-old L-i-l-l-i-a-n didn’t even bother to hide the weapon used to commit the crime. The nail lay just where she found it, right on the dresser by her name.

It was a tough six hours as Anna waited for her 44-inch, 49-pound lump of love to get off the school bus. This was not a good day.

“Come with me,” Anna said to

Keep Doing Good

by Arlene Pellicane | | 8 comments

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Sometimes I wonder if my work makes any difference. Have you been there before?

I have a friend Marlene who coordinates a moms support group at my church. I had donated some books for her to use as giveaways because who doesn’t love free stuff right?

The next day, I found this email from Marlene in my inbox:

I want to share something with you. I was getting anxious about my group having low attendance. This is should not have been surprising in the midst of the pandemic.  I had been praying for guidance. God blessed me at that time with your books. I know it sounds like a little detail, but for me, it’s like God was letting me know that He was working.

Boomerang Blessings

by Gwen Smith | | 2 comments

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I pretty much have a black thumb. Charcoal, even.

I like plants and genuinely try to keep them healthy and thriving but fail at it a lot more than I succeed. So, when my BFF brought me a baby aloe plant, my heart was torn between girlfriend-gratitude and feelings of sorrow for the innocent little aloe.
A few weeks after she gave me the plant gift, my bestie told me a story. She confessed that she struggles to share things and said that she had two aloe plants for a long time. One day she felt a heart-nudge to give one of them to me and she decided that she would give me the small aloe baby. (Bless her heart! She obviously