Did you know that when Jesus forgave you and came into your heart, He brought His DNA? That the Scripture actually uses the word “sperma” in…
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The woman’s face twisted in agony and her sobbing moans made her words hard to understand. She had just learned that a man she considered a faithful friend was regularly molesting her daughter. What does life-giving encouragement for this woman look like…
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Encouragement comes naturally to some people. Their personalities and gift mix uniquely equip them to walk into a broken person’s life and know just what to do…
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The day after surgery for breast cancer I sat on the edge of the hospital bed, looking out over a brilliantly sunny July day. I had cancer but did not know how far it had progressed. I was thirty-nine years old with four children to raise. Our youngest, Mark, was ten years old…
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The Hebrew Christians were scared and weary. They had started their walk with Jesus, filled with hope and a passion for reflecting His compassion to one another. Their faith compelled them to offer practical help to one another…
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How many times have you witnessed grief that seems impossible to comfort? Your experience might not include helping a friend whose grief threatens to drive her to the brink of despair. Instead, it could be your teenage son or daughter whose heart is breaking because…
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The topic of encouragement is dear to me because encouragers helped turn my heart toward the Lord after the fatal car accident that took the lives of our son Mark and his friend Kelly. When God seemed far away, He sent His people as..
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The heart of a life-giver is focused on glorifying God, but when our identity is wrapped up in our roles, our children, family, achievements, beauty, career, friends, financial security, good works, health, money…
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Several years ago, God turned my world upside down and put me on a pathway that forced me to learn how to be a spiritual life-giver when my instinct was to be a life- taker. If you had asked me if I was a life-giver, though I was unfamiliar with the term, I would have answered…
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Remember Eve, whose name means life-giver? She seemed to take credit for creating life when she gave birth to her first son. Well, actually, she implies that God and she partnered in this amazing event. Then life happened…
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“This is too hard. I am a widow and my adult children live too far away to just drop by. I’m lonely and I’m angry that God has killed my dreams. We had such plans to enjoy this season of life. Everything seemed to be falling into place and then that phone call, that terrible phone call…
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Did you know that in a landmark study researchers found that women react to stress differently than men because different proportions of hormones are released into the bloodstream? Men release much smaller…
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“Oh, look! I used to go to youth group at that church!” My friend and her daughter were Christmas shopping. The daughter’s invitation to go to the mall shocked her mother because of the ongoing conflict between them. Her daughter’s life choices..
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If the Life-Giving Encouragement devotional series sounds familiar, you were one of the first subscribers to Daily Treasure. Fear not, there are riches to be gained by delving back into the important call to life-giving vs. life-taking…
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This morning was episode 9,674 of strange things I never envisioned doing as a mother — training to operate a cough assist machine for Calvin. Essentially, it’s a machine that….
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Our monitors were off, Calvin had gone to bed doing just fine the night before. Breathing well. Alert. It had been a rough weekend but we were hopeful that…
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Violet has been joining me on snowy post-dinner jogs through our neighborhood; at six years old she’s surprisingly fast and still finds enough breath for…
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I haven’t written much. Sometimes it seems like the words have dried up and there’s nothing more to say. But more truthfully, we are adjusting to the years of intensity becoming…
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I woke up at 2 a.m. to Calvin’s calls through the monitor. long vocalizations rising and falling. Never sure if it’s a cry of distress or just the simple joy of making noise, I made my way…
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The message of a TGIF world is that work is a burden, something to be avoided, and an unpleasant part of life. While it is true that work includes struggle in a fallen world, it’s important to remember…
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