We ended last week with the double gift of faith and persecution. Though we found that there truly is encouragement to be found in suffering for…

Yesterday we saw that Paul calls us to regard our heavenly citizenship in Christ as our first and highest allegiance. This isn’t to say that our…

Up until this point in his letter to the Philippian believers, Paul has been giving them an update of his own activities and welfare. But he’s not simply…

What do you eagerly aspire to? I don’t need to think very long or hard to bring to mind several of my own hopes, dreams, and goals. We moved…

When the world came to a halt last year and the lockdowns and quarantines began, how did you expect to spend your time? Did you see an opportunity…

We’ve all been there. The question coming unexpectedly: “How can I pray for you?” I don’t know about you, but I need to prepare to answer…

Joyful remembrance. Longing for those we love. Separation from our family. After a year of enforced separation from loved ones…

I can’t hear these words without remembering a long-ago Vacation Bible School for teens. Every evening for a week our youth group met. Our leader, an older…

There are a number of days and seasons throughout the year when I intentionally open my figurative chest of memories, select…

I’ve been known to gasp over a post-Christmas credit card bill or cringe when writing my annual property tax check, but this may have been a first – tears filled my…

Watching my hand heal from carpal tunnel surgery several years ago provided daily reinforcement of the truth of Psalm 139:14: we are…

Another April 19th was drawing to a close. Like all the others since my husband Ray’s sudden death in 1997, it had been a day…

So many unpleasant, unfamiliar decisions accompany the sudden death of a beloved spouse. The first few days after…

Like most people, I’ve experienced numerous life-changing moments. But one, in a windowless hospital room with my 7- and 10-year-old daughters by my…

Twenty—three years ago, Patsy Kuipers, our Guest Writer this week, lost her thirty-nine year old husband Ray. His death was sudden and…