Hope is a buoyancy word. It takes a tsunami-like surge to keep it submerged. It’s difficult, I know, to hold on to the life preserver of hope when storms rage in your life, but let me encourage you to tighten your grip. Perhaps this poem, “When Hope Returns”, will help. Despair, oh despair, you’ve taken […]
Read MoreCategory Archives: Encouragement & Healing
The Source of Hope and Strength
What happens when the bottom drops out of your life? When you experience a great calamity like the loss of your home through a fire or a flood? Or suffer through an unwanted divorce, or worse, the death of a loved one who meant the world to you? What happens when you must undergo lingering, […]
Read MoreDepression: Part of the Journey
How many of you feel comfortable talking about depression? Better yet, do you share your convictions when someone else is vulnerable about being depressed? Let me start off by stating that depression can be a severe struggle for parents raising special-needs children. Depression can be indescribable, grievous, and debilitating. It’s not easy to talk about! […]
Read MoreGod’s Wonderful Work When We Are Weak
A Prayer Lord, do You ever feel worn out at the end of Your day? I know as truth that You’re not limited by space, time, or power. I also know my human capacity for endurance is weak. Lord, I need to know You are with me in everything. Jon’s struggles ebb and flow like […]
Read MoreThat Subtle Sin
Do you know which sin is the subtle enemy of simple faith? Materialism and greed? Anger? Lust? Hypocrisy? No. All of these sins are certainly our enemies, but none of them qualify as subtle enemies. Stop and think. Once you decide to trust God in simple faith and allow Him complete freedom to carry out […]
Read MoreFor the Sake of the Children
Ripples of shock and outrage course through the hearts of readers who can’t put down Wess Stafford’s book, Too Small to Ignore: Why the Least of These Matters Most. In addition to championing the cause of children worldwide, the book includes his story of childhood abuse and deliverance in a West Africa boarding school. How […]
Read MoreWhen the Unimaginable Happens
An Interview with Chuck Swindoll and Dave Carder Sexual abuse is an extremely difficult and damaging experience. In the vast majority of child sexual abuse cases, the child not only knows but trusts the person who committed the abuse. This is why children often don’t tell anyone about it. At other times, children remain silent […]
Read MoreThe Dos and Don’ts of Dealing with Sexual Abuse of a Loved One
Sexual abuse probably comes closer to your life than you might think. Even if you were not a victim yourself (though many certainly have been), there is a good chance that a sibling, a child, or a good friend of yours has experienced the horrors of sexual abuse. No one expects to discover that anyone, […]
Read More“Believe”: Sometimes Found in Stars over the Porch
My close friend just found out her son was sexually assaulted. In the last 10 years, her son has been diagnosed with the following: intellectual disability; developmental disorders; severe Tourette’s syndrome; learning, behavior, and life skill disorders; and the accompanying challenges related to anxiety and emotions. Believing in God’s goodness was tough for her. Adding […]
Read MoreUnquenchable Hope
One of the first weddings I performed as a young pastor had all the promise you could hope for in a marriage. Both in their mid-twenties, both believers, he was a medical student, she was a nurse. It should have been a model marriage filled with peace and joy. Struggles would come, of course, but […]
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