The joy of the Lord is your strength. We see this phrase on cute trinkets, plaques, or Pinterest boards. But what does it mean? How can joy be our strength? The phrase comes from the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament. The Israelites had begun to return to Jerusalem after being in exile in…
Are we nearing the end of the world? It’s a fair question ~ and one I’ve frequently heard, or seen on social media, over the last year and a half. And no wonder. Conspiracy theorists and some religious leaders have linked the COVID pandemic, political unrest, natural disasters, and economic upheaval to various Biblical prophecies…
Will we ever return to normal? It’s a question we hear a lot lately. Personally, I’ve begun to categorize my life’s experiences as pre-COVID or post-COVID. Pre-COVID days felt less stressful, less uncertain, and definitely more hopeful. I know COVID will always be with us. But just as we seem to figure out how to…
Early in the morning, the unrelenting pings from my phone begged for my attention. Sighing, I looked at the text messages. As I read through them, this old adage came to mind: When it rains, it pours. The message thread alerted me to yet another problem needing to be solved. It had been a difficult…
As I made my way to the self-check register, I paused to examine a bag of popcorn. Turning back toward the register, I noticed a young woman had stepped in front of me. Startled, I hadn’t realized pausing in line meant I stepped out of it. As I stood there, a bit dumbfounded, I caught…
Sighing, I bit my lip and turned my face toward the window. This always happens. Just when I think I’ve finally overcome a weakness, something like this hits me. When will I ever be free of this struggle? We all have natural inclinations toward certain sins. Mine is a sharp tongue which yields harsh words….
Grinning in joyful expectation, I joined the crowd and began cheering for the Medieval Jousters. Full of good-natured dramatics and artful choreography, the horses and actors performed with expert showmanship. But suddenly they introduced a startling plot twist. The evil knight powerfully defeated the noble one. And the crowd around me let out a delighted…
“Oh, No!” The collective roar from the passengers around me grabbed my attention. Pulling out my earphones, I asked the man sitting next to me what had happened. He shrugged, “We have to get off the plane.” Imagining all kinds of horrific scenarios, I gathered my possessions and followed the others off of the plane….
According to a recent survey, eighty-six percent of people ages thirteen to thirty-eight want to be an influencer. By definition, an influencer makes money by promoting products and services on their social media accounts. As this trend has grown, we now identify four levels of influencers based on the number of their followers: Nano Influencers…
