A long time ago in a life that now seems very far away, I was in the Army. During Basic Training I learned, among many other things, to stay alert on guard duty…

By now you know the little book of Hosea is a source of sadness and at first glance gives no hope to the reader. Hosea grieves over Israel and cries out to God for mercy…

My goal in these devotions is to find the treasures of the gospel in Hosea. But there are places in this book where we only see the gospel in what the Israelites rejected. The deeper in we go, the more disheartening it gets…

Recently, while my husband and I were walking our dog, we found and returned our neighbor’s Husky, named Smokey, who was in another neighbor’s garage a few streets away from his home…

As I read deeper into Hosea… Like watching a graphic battle scene at the movies I want to hide my face until it’s over. But I must look. For the Israelites’ darkness causes God’s mercy in the gospel to shine all the more brilliantly. And their predicament is not unique to them…

In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C. S. Lewis introduces us to Eustace, a boy who is very selfish and constantly complaining, making himself “an unmitigated nuisance” to his cousins Lucy and Edmond and the entire crew of the ship. But…

Do you remember playing hide and seek as a child? My Grandmommy’s house was perfect for hide and seek, but my little brother would always hide behind Grandmommy’s antique cane-back rocking chair, clearly visible…

A few months ago our family made the monumental leap into the 21st century and upgraded my Mom’s ancient flip phone to a smartphone…

“As I read deeper into Hosea, it causes me to flinch and recoil. I want to look away. The Israelites’ determination to sin and God’s impending judgment are…

I want to step back for a moment and address a question raised by our study of Hosea. Reading through this book, as God chronicles in relentless detail the…

Have you ever had that dream where you are standing on a stage looking out at a full audience, and not only have you forgotten what it is you’re supposed to say, but you suddenly realize…

In recent months there have been several weddings of family and friends which I wasn’t able to attend, but thanks to Facebook I was able to see photos and even live stream video of the…

Do you ever feel like you’ve blown it with a significant relationship? Like you have failed one too many times and there is no way to repair the damage you’ve…

The names we give our children often carry a great deal of meaning. There are so many factors to consider when choosing names. Do we want a popular name or something unique? Are there any relatives we wish to honor by…

What is the Gospel? According to Dictionary.com, among the meanings of “Gospel”, we find that it is: something regarded as true and implicitly believed

Over the next three weeks, Barbaranne Kelly takes us on a journey that builds on the strong foundation of God’s indescribable love. She takes us into the book of Hosea, an unlikely source of encouragement until you…

I’m not the person I thought I was growing up. I’m not that little girl, wide-eyed, full of wonder, filled with the expectation that life would go the way she planned, but it’s not all bad. I’ve discovered things…

Grief, loss, brokenness, those words are interchangeable. They are not just about physical death; it’s the death of our dreams, our hope, and sometimes our faith…

After the loss of my first daughter, and in the moments of raw honesty with God, I realized that I didn’t trust Him. I wanted him to fix my life, but He wanted something different…

“God, why?” I asked this question. I thought I wanted an answer. Looking back though, there was much more to my “why” questions than just an answer…