Have you ever lived through the water-rationing, dead plants, and discouragement of a drought? Brandt was a farmer who had labored three years into a devastating drought. The lack of rain meant that crops weren’t growing, and yet year after year, Brandt kept sowing...
Words are powerful and that goes for the words we say to ourselves all the time. Do an online search for "affirmations" and in 30 seconds, you'll have 245 million results. We have ourselves convinced that speaking positive words to ourselves or over ourselves will...
How often do you find yourself saying "I can't wait until…" I can't wait until I graduate. I can't wait until I get married. I can't wait until I get a raise! Anticipating the future and looking forward to achieving goals is exciting. But, constantly pinning all our...
Who hasn't tried to cover up a mistake? A woman once reached for her favorite teapot to prepare some tea. But was she ever surprised, when the teapot fell to pieces in her hand! The person who had last handled it had obviously dropped it, but carefully arranged all...
Does God have fun…or is He only concerned with weighty matters? It was the trip of a lifetime. For her 60th birthday, Cookie's husband took her to a resort on a tropical isle, complete with over-the-water cottages. They lounged, laughed, ate, and snorkeled in the...
Many people say religion is something you believe. Jesus says it's something you live. In a small Bible college, a class on helping those in need explored the story Jesus told of the Good Samaritan. Samaritans were people of mixed race and part Jewish ancestry. The...
Life is not without its burdens. At 27, Margaret is already feeling the effects of carrying hers. Every other day Margaret, a mother of four, makes a 10-hour trek to collect water for her family, carrying a jerrycan on her back that weighs 44 pounds when filled....
It's a waste of time but do we ever spend a lot of time doing it. A poet once admitted, "I worried a lot." "Will the garden grow, will the rivers flow in the right direction, will the earth turn as it was taught, and if not how shall I correct it?” The poem gives us a...
Music, poetry, movies…all spread the lie that love should be easy. In reality, relationships are hard. Relationships are hard because love is difficult. Love might seem easy over a candlelight dinner or when first holding your newborn child, but we quickly learn how...
Is there a nagging need in your life that, it seems, will never get met? Marc runs a small business that's growing but always running on tight finances. Every role on his team is integral, and he desperately needed to hire three additional people. He prayed, asking...