WINDOW WITH A VIEW
November 20, 2024 by Cynthia Ruchti
Filed under Daily Devotions, Humorous
By Cynthia Ruchti
Just beyond our bathroom window, Adam and Eve Barnswallow built a nest on top of a wooden shutter. As the season progressed, we watched the parents tend the nest and warm their eggs. Eventually little fluff-heads attached to massive, always-open beaks peeked over the edge of the nest.
When my then five-year-old granddaughter Grace was at our house one day, I took her by the hand to show her the incredible sight. Six now-adolescent barn swallow babies were crammed into a tiny mud-and-fiber nest. Grace took such delight in watching the mom fly back and forth with nubbins of insects for her children. We mocked their bird voices as we watched the beaks open and close.
Our Weakness, His Strength
November 19, 2024 by Keisha Bass
Filed under For Her
By Keisha Bass
It’s my belief that there is no way you can kick any addiction without the help of the almighty God. He knows exactly what you need and exactly when you need it. We may take ourselves through a great deal of unnecessary stress and worry behind our current situations, but we must keep our eyes on Him. (Matthew 6:33, NIV) We must also remember that He is forgiving, loving, and merciful. Whether it be drugs or alcohol, cigarettes, food, shopping, self-pity, and the list could go on and on AND on. He helps us through ALL things.
I am a recovering drug addict and in my weakest moments, I called out to God. It was like I had tried everything else, and I had to really get broken down to fall on my knees and cry out for Him. I pray that you don’t have to experience “rock bottom” to get set free, but sometimes it’s the only thing that can open your eyes. God is made strong in our weakness. He broke me down, so He could build me up. And just as He did for me, He will be there to pick you up and dust you off. But then you must do your best to turn from those ways. The struggle is just that, a struggle, but lean on God and He will see you through.
Clean Air, Clean Water…Clean Lives?
November 18, 2024 by Gina Stinson
Filed under Daily Devotions, Life Topics
By Gina Stinson
A friend recently said, “People today want clean water, clean air, but don’t necessarily want clean lives.” Isn’t that the truth?
Before we go pointing the proverbial finger, we Christians have to take a look at ourselves. It’s easy to say we want to live a life after God, but how often do we get caught up in the world? The muck and mire of our earthly walk stains our spiritual skin. We say on Sunday “I surrender all,” but by Tuesday we are singing a different tune.
Dedicating ourselves to clean living is a life process. We aren’t programmed for clean living, so it means we have to reprogram the way we think, talk, act, and walk. Instead of complaining and gossiping, we have to reprogram ourselves to be thankful and encouraging. Instead of doing our own thing, we have to reprogram ourselves to think of others…and the contrast could go on forever.
Quality Decisions and Skateboards
November 17, 2024 by Lane Johnson
Filed under For Him
By Lane R Johnson
I sat glued to the television. On the screen a 17 year old male, bare headed and determined, was perched on the ridge of a two-story roof overlooking a lower slope covering the first floor. He seemed focused, which was probably the right mindset, because he was standing on a skateboard.
Before I could gasp my incredulity, he had begun his rocket ride to the ground. The second floor slope went fast but successfully and he even negotiated the jump to the lower level, but somewhere about halfway to the end, he and the skateboard parted company and the balance of the ride concluded with him crashing abruptly onto the pavement below. The good news is that he survived this heroic feat and eventually was able to discuss it coherently with the interviewer that had hosted his moment in the sun.
A Spring In Your Step
By Rhonda Rhea
My kids keep asking me if I’ll bounce on the new trampoline with them. I keep telling them that I can bounce without the trampoline, thank you very much. Besides I could get hurt on that thing. Not just the average compound-fracture-when-you-splatter-on-the-ground kind of injury. No, I’m telling you. Women over 40 do not want to sass gravity.
For instance, a younger woman can see a friend across the yard and give a big, friendly wave. Not so we of the over 40 crowd. If I were to give one of those big waves at this stage in my life, the hand/wrist part of the wave would be long over before that fluttery stuff between my elbow and shoulder stopped waving. No one wants to be that friendly.
