The Little Blessings – by Nancy J. Farrier

Posted on June 2, 2025 by Nancy J. Farrier

We are returning from a trip to attend our grandson’s second birthday. I’d been looking forward to spending time with our three youngest daughters and their families. However, there were some challenges to this trip.

First, our usual person who boarded our dog was unable to do so. I called a dog kennel that we’ve used before, but they were booked up. We tried to find someone local who would take our dog to no avail. The day before we left, I heard about a woman who runs a business finding homes for people to board their dogs in, so I called her. She was able to keep our dog, Oni, if we dropped her off at noon. That put us behind schedule, but we had a dog sitter.

Second, the neighbor boy who checks on our cats while we’re gone wasn’t home. He’d gone to the mountains with his parents and was unavailable. We had no one else to call on, so we put out plenty of food and water, and are praying they will be okay. I’m sure they will, but they miss the social interaction.

Third, we were running late because of the dog issue and on the freeway we ran into road construction. The ten mile stretch was bumper to bumper traffic creeping along at a snail’s pace. We arrived at our destination late, tired, but so thankful to be there and to be safe.

There were plenty of reasons to be upset and to be grouchy on this trip. Have you ever had that happen? Where one thing goes wrong and then another and another? Where it seems like everything is working against you and you begin to question God’s plan and wonder if you’re walking the right path?

“The footsteps of a man are established by Yahweh, and He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because Yahweh is the One who sustains his hand.” Psalm 37:23 (LSB)

When we trust in the Lord, He establishes our steps. He knows the pitfalls we face, the struggles, and the obstacles in our way. Even when those are trivial—such as a traffic slowdown—God understands. 

God wants us to take that frustration and turn it into a prayer and praise time. When we pray and worship God in those times of trial, the burdens we face are often lifted. The stumbles we have by grumbling or getting angry are lifted as we remember God is in charge. God takes our hand and sustains us.

Not only that but He often gives little gifts to us. We have to be open to looking for the treasures God gifts us, but they are there.

On this trip, I was given a lovely gift—actually several. My two older grandsons were able to spend the night with us and we had such a great time. My two-year-old grandson gave me a hug and a kiss, something he hasn’t done before. This grandma was thrilled.

Perhaps the greatest gift happened on Sunday morning. We attended church with two of our daughters. One of our daughters was singing with the worship team, the other was standing beside me. For years, I led worship with these two daughters—one of my most precious memories. As my daughter led a song in worship, my other daughter and I harmonized and it was almost like being back to doing worship together. I hadn’t expected that, but was so blessed to have it happen.

Remember the next time everything seems to be going wrong, that God has your footsteps in mind. And that He is bestowing little blessings. Watch for them. Anticipate them with joy.

Posted in Nancy J. Farrier | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

THIS SEASON TOO SHALL PASS by Vicki Hinze

Posted on May 30, 2025 by Vicki Hinze

 

Photo by Max LaRochelle on Unsplash

Photo by Max Larochelle via Unsplash

This season too shall pass.  It might pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass.”

 

I spotted the quote above on an unattributed, social media meme.  It was the perfect meme for me at that moment. Seeing it wasn’t a coincidence.

It was evidence that when we most need guidance it comes to us.  Sometimes in unusual and unexpected ways, but it comes.  Which warns we must notice and focus long enough to recognize what we’re seeing is guidance.

Recognition isn’t always easy.  When we are troubled, we tend to see things through the prism of whatever it is that is troubling us.  

    • If we’re having a trust crisis, we notice trust issues.
    • If we’re having a kid challenge, we notice kid challenges.  
    • If we’re having an issue regarding a false accusation—against us or someone we care about—we notice everything related to false accusations.

That’s human.  But it can also a problem.  Because if we’re focused on the problem, we are not focused on resolving the problem–the solution.

That makes it imperative that we recognize the problem, then switch our focus to what we can do to resolve it.  Noticing the problem in others, so that we better understand the complexities of the problem, has value.  Don’t get me wrong.  You must come to understand what’s wrong before you can hope to make things right.  

The point to monitor:  We often notice what’s wrong and then let what we notice drag us into a pit of despair, focusing solely and intensely only on what’s wrong.  We never get to this very important part:  “Okay, this is the problem. I get it.  Now, how can I fix it?”

The purpose of understanding is complete. But we must make a conscious effort to switch our focus to solutions.  Some get stuck in the “notice” pit.  Why?

Many reasons. But some really common ones are: 

We have to do something.  Something more than gripe about the unfairness, the injustice, the challenge, and asking, “Why me?” 

We’re exhausted and weary to the bone of all the bad things going on and we just can’t find the energy to deal with one more thing.  Yet if we don’t, we’re going to keep dealing with this thing until we do resolve it.  

Have you ever gone to bed at night and something weighing on your mind just keeps replaying and replaying and you can’t shut it off?  You watch the time tick off on the clock knowing you must let go and yet your mind won’t shut down?  That’s the absence of a resolution and what it does to us.

We don’t want to change anything. We want some nebulous something to change this thing for us.  The fact is, there’s no use in scanning the classifieds for a white knight.  They’re all booked elsewhere.  If we want to resolve a challenge in our life, we must make the effort to resolve it.

On that, may I suggest hitting your knees first and not as a last resort?  I am a simple woman.  I don’t claim to have all the answers to all the questions in life, but I do know this: God does know the answers, and seeking his counsel is the smartest thing seekers can do.  And the sooner we do it, the sooner we get to resolutions.

It is an established fact that brainwave patterns change during prayer.  That means the way we are thinking changes.  We don’t feel it’s us alone against the world.  We don’t feel we’re the only person on the planet facing this specific challenge.  If God is guiding us—through thoughts, signs, messengers in the form of friends or family or strangers on the street, or notice—then an answer to our challenge exists. And we are not facing it alone. Nor are we the only one facing it.

There is power in knowing that.  Power in engaging with the most sympathetic of ears. With the most compassionate of hearts.  With the most understanding and greatest in wisdom.

Regardless of what we’re facing and how challenging it is, we know that circumstances last for a season.  It might be a long or short season, and it might be painful and test us into better knowing who we are and where we stand or sit.  It might be uncomfortable and cause us different challenges that we do not want to visit even though we know we must.  But it is just a season.  And while it might pass with the elegance and ease of a kidney stone, it will pass.

There’s strength and hope in that certainty. Discoveries to be made.  About ourselves and about others.  About human nature and about humanity.  

Knowledge is always beneficial and perhaps we deem it more valuable if gaining it isn’t easy but fought hard for, enduring that inelegance. Maybe that battle assures us that the knowledge and insights we gain are important.  Worth remembering.  Lest we forget. 

Undoubtedly, the knowledge and insights stay with us, and we bring those gains forward in other situations we encounter for the rest of our lives. Perhaps in ways that spare us from other hard seasons and their kidney stones.

Of this I am certain:  When you’ve been through a hard season and emerge wiser for the experience, you gain a new and deeper appreciation for other seasons. For ones of hope and joy and affirmations of the good in people and in life.  

You then understand the saying about beauty being in the eye of the beholder.  Little looks beautiful when you’re in a kidney-stone season.  But when you’re not, beauty manifests in many things.

Mmm, thinking. . .  Years ago I wrote a story about a man standing beside a pond and barn. He was mourning the death of his son. He saw dark things like the cracks between the slats in the wooden barn.  Dark and murky water.  

In the story, there was a little girl at that same pond.  She had learned to ride a two-wheel bike and was elated.  Joyful.  Thrilled at the sense of freedom.  

Same pond. Same time-frame. Same story.  Just seen through two different sets of eyes, from two different people experiencing two different seasons.

I wrote then:  “There is nothing so arrogant as sunshine to one who is grieving.”

Mindset.  How we see what we see.  And a fitting reminder of the big truth about seasons–all seasons, hard or joyful.

They pass.

 Blessings,

Vicki Hinze

 

 

 

Posted in Vicki Hinze | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Men Traveling with Saul by James R. Coggins

Posted on May 28, 2025 by jrcoggins

The dramatic story of the apostle Paul being confronted by Jesus on his way to Damacus (Acts 9:1-25) is well known to most Christians. I had read this story of Paul’s conversion many times, but I had never paid any attention to “the men traveling with Saul” (Acts 9:7). Who were they?

To answer that question, we must consider what Paul’s mission was in going to Damascus. He was going to look for any men or women there who were followers of Jesus and “take them as prisoners to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:2). Therefore, the men he took with him were likely not scholars of Scripture. A few might have been. But he was not going to debate with the Christians. He was going to arrest them. He had with him letters from the high priest to “the synagogues in Damascus” (Acts 9:2) in order to get their cooperation in finding and arresting the local Christians. But the local synagogue leaders were not likely to volunteer to help Paul take the prisoners back to Jerusalem. For that, force would be required. Therefore, the men with Paul were quite possibly temple guards, soldiers, or at least powerful men armed with weapons. They were like policemen, security guards, or even a small army, an invasion force.  

When Paul heard a voice speaking from heaven and was struck blind, he became convinced that Jesus was God and the Messiah. (He had had three days of blindness to think about this, and then God provided further confirmation by sending Ananias to heal Paul and give him additional instructions from God.) But what of the men traveling with Paul? They heard the sound of Jesus’ voice, but they did not see anyone (Acts 9:7)—Paul, being blind, could not be expected to be able to see anyone, but they should have seen the speaker if the voice was human. Whether they heard the words is unclear, but what seems clear is that they did not understand what was happening. They led Paul into the city, but after that they disappeared from the story. They were now like an army without a general. They no longer had a leader or a purpose. They apparently did not carry through on their mission of arresting Christians. Did they just return in defeat to their bosses in Jerusalem? Did they hang around long enough to see Paul miraculously healed? Did any of them remain long enough to hear Paul’s story of what had happened on the road to Damascus? Or to hear him preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God? We do not know. What they experienced was truly dramatic, and it would have been something that they would remember and wonder about. But did that wondering lead any of them to become followers of Jesus? We simply do not know. Not everyone who sees evidence of the living God becomes a follower.

We might ask similar questions about Judas, who lived on Straight Street and who hosted Paul after the incident on the road. He was likely more aligned with the persecuting Jews than with the Christians since Paul’s companions led him to that house. Perhaps Paul being hosted there had been arranged ahead of time. What did Judas think of Paul being struck blind and then healed by Jesus? Did Paul tell his story to Judas? Again, we simply do not know. We do know that Paul likely did not stay with Judas because after that “Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus” (Acts 9:19).

One other thing is significant. Paul and his men were on the way to arrest the Christians in Damascus and stamp out the church there. But, with a single blast of light and a thunderous voice from heaven, God stopped the invasion force in its tracks, overcoming these soldiers with superior power. He did so, not by striking the invaders dead or by arming the fearful Christians so they could fight back. He did this by converting the main invader (Paul) to God’s side and rendering the others powerless. God then used Paul to greatly expand the church which Paul had gone there to destroy. God changes circumstances by changing people.

Posted in James R. Coggins | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Honoring the Brave: A Memorial Day Reflection for Believers

Posted on May 27, 2025 by Author Mary Alford

Even though Memorial Day has past, let our hearts still turn toward the countless men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. It’s a solemn time of the year, steeped in reverence, gratitude, and reflection—a chance to pause to remember that liberty has always come with a price.

For those of us who walk by faith, Memorial Day is more than a national holiday. It’s a powerful reminder of Jesus’ words in John 15:13:
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

We see the echo of that sacrificial love in the stories of every soldier who never came home—those who stepped forward when others stepped back, who stood in the gap for people they would never meet. Their courage speaks to a deeper truth: that real love is willing to bear the cost, even when it means laying down everything.

Let’s pray for the families who carry the weight of absence. Honor the gold star spouses, children, and parents who carry a quiet, daily grief—and yet walk forward with unshakable grace. May they feel the comfort of our prayers and the arms of our Savior wrapped around them.

Let us also look inward and ask how we, too, might live lives worthy of their sacrifice. May we be bold in our faith, unwavering in our hope, and generous in our love—for we are still called to be lights in a dark world.

Let’s not only remember—but live in a way that honors their legacy. Let’s cherish the freedoms we hold, stand for righteousness, and hold fast to the eternal hope we have in Christ.

🕯️ We remember. We honor. We give thanks.
🇺🇸 Until every tear is wiped away and every war is no more.

With grace and gratitude,
Mary Alford

www.maryalford.net

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

LET YOUR INNER LION ROAR by Vicki Hinze

Posted on May 23, 2025 by Vicki Hinze

Photo by Luke Tanis via Unsplash

In 2019, I wrote an article about feeling vulnerable and standing up for what you believe is right.  Here is a copy of it:

FEELING SMALL AND STANDING UP by Vicki Hinze

When your inner lion is roaring, it’s easy to stand up for what you think is right. Something triggers you emotionally or physically or spiritually, and that lion bares its teeth and is ready to rumble.

But when you are feeling small and insignificant, vulnerable, it’s hard to remember you even have an inner lion, much less to summon it to do battle–no matter how just the war.

Isn’t it odd that it is often when we feel the least prepared and able to stand up for what’s right is when we’re called upon to do so? Doesn’t it seem as if there’s a hidden switch that is flipped at the worst possible times, where we’re called on to not only act but to appear in full armor because the testing is so intense?

This has been on my mind a great deal lately, largely to some research I’ve been doing on the number of Christians who are being murdered and persecuted, like in the massacre that occurred on Easter Sunday.

For Christians, Easter is the ultimate celebration. Our Lord Jesus Christ conquered death and hell and rose. It’s breathtaking when you think about it. Humbling when you evaluate it. And yet on this Easter morning, hundreds were deprived of worshiping and of their lives.

Adding insult to injury, the media referred to the victims as “Easter Worshipers” rather than Christians. The intent occurred by too many for that diversion to be coincidence. The deflection was deliberate: a concentrated effort to lessen the disturbance to Christians for fear they would do something. For fear they would stand up.

While Christians have been slumbering–and by that, I mean, staying busy minding their own business and living their lives–Christians have become the most persecuted segment of society globally. Think about that for a second. Murder is wrong and we all know it. But so is the disparity in the public conversation about it.

A scant month ago, forty-five Muslims were massacred in a mosque. The media covered it for a week. Laws were changed. Lives rearranged.

On Easter, over 350 Christians were massacred in a church and hundreds more were injured and the media glosses over the event and moves on the day after the event, avoiding disclosure with rare exceptions, that the victims were Christians.

The event itself had its intended effect. Christians felt small, were made by omission to feel insignificant and small. Inconsequential. But many stood up. They summoned their inner lions and proved they might be vulnerable, they might be afraid, but they would stand. They would not be discounted or swept under a proverbial rug.

They attended church and sunrise services. They raised their voices in public forums. They worshiped and prayed and contacted their representatives to voice their objections to the treatment of Christians occurring and insisted that the relevant issues be addressed.

Constitutionally, our rights are endowed by our Creator. But it is up to us to keep those rights intact. We have slumbered for decades, and erosion has occurred. Now things are at a point where we must choose. Shall we continue to slumber, or stand up…even if we feel small?

Something that repeats in my mind a great deal on this is what Jesus said in Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

With him, we are a majority. It’s time we awaken and recall it.

And tall or small, it’s…time we stand up.*

Why do I feel that article is still relevant? 

Because as I write this today, I’ve just read yet another article about persecution and it deeply disturbs me.  It was a different kind of persecution, but any persecution that pits one against another defies our instructions to love one another.

Whatever the nature of the source (at home, at work, at school or at play), the rules of interacting with other humans don’t disappear.  We all have a moral compass.  As adults, we know right from wrong and we teach the difference to our children, who innately know a lot of it already.

Today, please agree with me in prayer that we will do our best to conduct ourselves with dignity and grace.  To treat others and ourselves with respect.  And to accept our differences and celebrate what unites us.

Today, may we let our inner lions roar, praying for mutual respect.

Blessings,

Vicki Hinze

Posted in Vicki Hinze | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Have You Ever Heard God Speak?

Posted on May 22, 2025 by Patricia Bradley

I don’t normally open a conversation with the two times I’ve heard God speak to me—forty percent of the people wouldn’t believe me and another 40% would probably think I’m crazy. But, that 20% left would probably know what I’m talking about. And I’m not talking about when we feel the Holy Spirit’s presence. I’m talking about a voice so distinct that you look around to see who said it.


It is impossible to tell whether it was an audible voice or just one in my head since I was alone both times. I will say, He didn’t sound like James Earl Jones. I can tell you where I was both times. The first time I was in a hospital room. The sun had not come up yet and I was reading my Bible and praying for my husband who was having surgery later that morning. Just as the sun rose over the building, a voice said, “Your life will never be the same after today.”


I knew it was God, but I wasn’t sure what He meant. My life had drastically changed over the last 3 months—New Year’s Eve I had taken my husband to the hospital, thinking he’d had a heart attack and he spent the next six weeks in intensive care with pancreatitis and then another six weeks in hospitals with the problems created by the gallbladder and pancreatitis. What if everything was about to get worse? I remember glancing down at the verse I’d been reading. Isaiah 43. I have redeemed you…I called you by name…the fire will not singe you…the water will not overcome you…I am the Lord your God…My life did change that day and for the first time in my life I was truly on my own…but not really. God was with me.


The next time it happened, I was driving home to Mississippi from Chattanooga, fretting about a problem that would come to a head the following week. A very serious problem, and clear as day from the backseat, I heard a voice say, “I told you I would take care of this. Don’t you think I can?”
Like I said, I don’t know if it was an audible voice, but I do know I looked behind me to make sure the seat was empty. And true to His word, He did take care of the problem.


If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life, it’s that life will not always be easy, but God will always be there during the hard times. So, if you’re struggling with a problem, take it to Him. He may not change your circumstances, but He can change your perspective, and that may be what the whole problem is all about.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Pastor or Prophet by James R. Coggins

Posted on May 21, 2025 by jrcoggins

“You have to decide whether you want to be a pastor or a prophet,” he said, “because prophets don’t live very long.”

My answer was unequivocal. “I want to be a prophet.”

We had met for lunch to “talk things over.” He was a denominational church leader, and I was an editor for the denominational magazine. He was older and more experienced and wiser than I was. Apparently, some things I had written or selected for publication had ruffled some feathers, and he was concerned that I might lose my job.

By his definition, a pastor’s job is to bring comfort and encouragement. That is true, but any pastor properly doing his job must also confront sin and speak uncomfortable truths. And the prophets I have read in the Bible brought comfort and encouragement as well as condemnation and judgment. Both things are needed.

So, while I took my friend’s advice into consideration, I continued to occasionally rock the boat. (As Kipling said, as a man, you should “trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too.”) My goal was not to cause trouble, just to tell the truth. I never worried about how what I wrote and edited would impact me but only about how it would impact the readers. I was concerned about what was good and necessary for them, not what was good for me.

In the end, I lasted nineteen years as a denominational magazine editor, far longer than most pastors stay in a church. I finally wrote something that upset enough people that I lost my job. But I don’t regret for a moment what I wrote. It was something that I was convinced needed to be said. And I had written things that could have gotten me fired much earlier in my career. I felt blessed to have lasted so long.

I have maintained the same attitude now that I am a freelance writer. I no longer have a job to lose, but I can still upset and disturb people. However, as Tommy Smothers said, “Maybe some people need to be disturbed.” And I suppose I could be sued—if I was a more prominent writer (and a wealthier one).

The thing is: As a writer, it is part of the job description to take risks. As a writer, if you are focused on losing your job, you aren’t doing your job. You can’t change the world by playing it safe.

Posted in James R. Coggins | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Hiking Adventure by Tara Randel

Posted on May 19, 2025 by tararandel

On May 1, I went on an amazing hiking trip in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I’ve always loved hiking, especially when we visit a new location, but this was a destination with the purpose of hiking Mt. LeConte, outside of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

I was excited about the prospect of a challenging trail, and along with the other women from church who signed up for the trip, we trained for about three months beforehand. I switched up my routine at the gym, worked on building strength in my legs, got new equipment, like a backpack with a water reservoir, and took a lot of local hikes wearing a loaded backpack to get ready for the almost eleven-mile hike we would be tackling.

And tackle we did!

We arrived in the parking lot at the base of the mountain at 7:15 in the morning. It was exciting to get started. I will admit that I was in the back of the pack because I couldn’t resist taking pictures. While the path was mostly flat and littered with rocks, adjacent to a rushing stream, the incline arrived much too soon, and we had to adjust to the change.

The terrain was much more rugged than I’m used to. There were large rocks we had to climb over, stairs built into the inclines to assist in climbing, and since the weather had been rainy prior to the day we hiked, the rocks we climbed over were slippery.

About midway, we came to a large, open cave that had been prospected many years ago. We sat for a while, got a bite to eat to increase our energy and sang How Great is Our God and Raise a Hallelujah for the ladies who were having a tough time reaching this spot. The acoustics were phenomenal, and the songs were beautiful.

Then came the second half of the hike, which was even more demanding than I’d ever imagined. The paths were narrower and there were spots where if you stepped off, you’d fall down the side of the mountain. But the views were absolutely breathtaking. And then, we came to areas where we were climbing over granite cut from the mountain. Large eye bolts were drilled into the rock with a metal cable threaded through so we could hold on while working our way up the incline. Believe me when I say I stopped plenty of times to lower my heart rate. It was tough, but looking back now, a challenge I was ready for.

As we got closer to the top, the temperature started to drop. Before long we’d added layers and raincoats because there was heavy humidity in the air. There was a thick cloud cover and once we finally reached the summit, we could not see a view at all. It was all white. The wind was wild, the air was wet, but we’d made it! And sang again, this time Because He Lives.

It took us about six hours to hike to the top. After a short rest, we had to make our way down. Unfortunately, I slipped and fell before we got very far. As we started the descent, my knee started hurting. Let’s just say that for the next four or five hours, I can’t tell you which, I was extremely focused on my footing while my knee hurt every time I took a step. If you’ve ever hiked, you know that you have to adjust your stride when going down. I actually think it took more of a toll on my legs than going up.

We arrived back at the car at 6:15 in the evening. In total, it took me eleven hours to complete the trip. For the group ahead who had no problems, it took them about ten hours. I had a fantastic group of women who stayed with me, encouraging me to keep going and I was able to hold on to one friend’s backpack with one hand while I used a walking stick in the other. As much as I was disappointed in getting hurt, I can say that I’m really proud that I did the hike.

My knees are better, and while the point of the trip was the hike, it was beautiful to hang out with friends when we did a smaller hike the day before Mt. Le Conte and to also spend time shopping in Gatlinburg.

The group is already talking about doing the same mountain next April. They want to do the hike in a shorter time. You may be wondering if I’ll be going. Right now, the answer is no. Or maybe…TBD. We’ll see.

Tara Randel is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author. Family values, a bit of mystery and of course, love and romance, are her favorite themes, because she believes love is the greatest gift of all. Look for her Harlequin Heartwarming romance THE SURPRISE NEXT DOOR, available MAY 27, 2025. For more information about her books, visit Tara at www.tararandel.com. Like her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TaraRandelBooks. 

Posted in Tara Randel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why We Forgive by Vicki Hinze

Posted on May 16, 2025 by Vicki Hinze

 

Forgiveness, sorry

We’ve all been wronged, and we’ve all wronged.  One would think that would make the art of forgiveness easier, and yet it is something most still resist.  We tend to remember every infraction against us, but to forget every infraction we’ve committed against others.

 

Oh, it’s easy to forgive when someone genuinely expresses regret or sorrow at hurting us.  It’s much, much harder to forgive when that person denies having done anything which requires forgiveness.

 

Let’s say, for example, someone accuses you of something you didn’t do. If given the opportunity to deny doing that thing, you might resolve the difference.  But what if you aren’t given the opportunity?  What if that person severs any relationship with you, and you’re forever tainted as one who did something against them when perhaps you were trying to protect them?  There’s no opportunity to forgive or be forgiven…or is there?

 

There is.  Forgive them anyway.  They won’t know it, but you will.

 

Let’s look at gossip.  It’s rife in our world, and it often wounds in ways we can guess and in ways we can’t begin to understand.  What if gossip is repeated and it proves untrue?  Who does it harm?  Everyone who listened and repeated the gossip.  And everyone else who heard it third and fourth-hand and repeated it—or believed it.

 

You see, the harm in gossip isn’t just to the subject of the gossip, but to the gossiper, and to those who listen to it.  Don’t fool yourself into thinking that if you just listen, it’s not causing harm.  It is.

 

The thing about forgiveness is that we’re all going to do something that hurts another.  Perhaps not intentionally, but even unintentionally, it hurts.  And odds are high that at some time we’ll be on both ends of that kind of hurt.

 

We’ll be sitting in a restaurant and overhear a conversation about us being deceived by someone being dishonest with us.  We’ll be told about some unidentified person doing something foolish or dishonest—and recognize that person is us.  We might know it isn’t true, or we’re being maligned unjustly, but we still feel shamed, embarrassed, or worse.

 

The point is, at some time we’re going to need to extend grace and to receive grace.  If we refuse to extend grace when someone maligns us, what happens when we step over the line and need grace?

 

 When there’s a disagreement, often we have the chance to apologize and set things right. That’s a blessing and once it’s done, it’s over.  We don’t apologize to keep the peace.  We don’t apologize to end a disagreement for the sake of ending the disagreement.  On those things, we agree to disagree.  We disagree with respect.

 

When there’s a disagreement and we do not have the opportunity to explain things were taken wrong, or out of context, then the art of forgiveness isn’t lost.  It’s just different. 

 

You don’t have to address an infraction with another to forgive them. You forgive them on your own. 

 

The bigger the harm to you, the harder this is to do, and there’s no way around that.  But that you forgive them anyway speaks to your character, not theirs.  It speaks to you attempting to do what is right even when only you and God know you’re making the attempt.

Sometimes forgiveness is easy.  The fonder you are of the person before the infraction, the easier it is. You have all their endearing traits to draw on to soften the upset of being maligned.  If you love that person, it’s a hundred times easier to forgive anything. It comes in the love package, because we’re all human, and we all make mistakes.

 

If there is tension in the relationship before the infraction, it becomes a bit harder.  And the more emotions the infraction engages, and the more people involved, the more difficult forgiveness becomes.  But it is so important to forgive anyway.  Regardless of where things end up on the surface, inside you forgive. Only by forgiveness do you reclaim your peace.

 

You see, inner peace is at the root of forgiveness.  Without it, you don’t have peace.  But if you can forgive the unforgivable, you can reclaim that inner peace. 

 

That doesn’t mean you permit someone to hurt you.  It doesn’t mean you forgive and forget.  That’s absurd.  You forgive and move on.  Some are best forgiven and kept distant—by your choice or theirs or both.  Some are best forgiven and reunited.  You know the difference by the nature of your relationship and the infractions.

 

The art of forgiveness isn’t to do it.  That’s a given.  For the other person and for you.  Anger, upset, pain is a heavy burden to carry.  When you forgive, you let go of it. 

 

You do not let go of the wisdom and insight you gained in the experience.  It hones discernment.  And that is where the real art of forgiveness is expressed. 

 

An example.  A former president said, “Trust but verify.”  That’s discernment.  Watch actions as well as hear words. 

 

We’re taught to “pray for our enemies.”  We’re also taught to forgive over and again, by those who ask. That extends to those who hurt us, whether or not they’re beloved.  So, what if someone with whom you had differences has passed on.  You are not prevented from resolving this within. 

 

If direct means for resolutions are not available to you, if the person is alive or dead, you aren’t prohibited from forgiving. Forgive them in prayer.  This enables you to regain your inner peace. And remember, use discernment. You can forgive, but not put yourself in a vulnerable situation with that person again.  Still, you forgive. 

 

There are as many types of forgiveness as there are situations that require forgiveness.  If you always begin with the premise that forgiveness is essential—to both parties—you’re halfway there.  Be determined and steadfast in resolving the conflict.  If you do not resolve it, it’ll become an old tape in your mind that replays over and over, even when it shouldn’t.

 

Remember these things: 

    • We all need forgiveness.  If we give it, we’re more apt to get it.
    • Forgiveness is the means through which we can let go of old problems and reclaim inner peace.
    • Forgiving doesn’t mean permitting disrespect or abuse.
    • Forgiving is an art aided by discernment on what is right in a given situation.

 

Determining what you should do to forgive and reclaim your inner peace—what is the right thing in this specific situation—that is the home of discernment in forgiveness.

And for the best example of it, we need only to look at the most amazing act of forgiveness ever expressed in all of human history:  to Christ on the Cross.

 

There wasn’t an infraction that wasn’t committed against Him, and yet he forgave, and He prayed for forgiveness for those who harmed Him.

 

Discerning, and the Master of the art of forgiveness…

Blessings,

Vicki Hinze

Posted in Vicki Hinze | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“When the day of Pentecost was fully come . . .”

Posted on May 15, 2025 by dtopliff

Throughout scripture, the dove represents peace and restoration. When the flood waters receded, the dove returned and brought Noah an olive branch. Doves feature in Psalms 55, 68, and 74. After the Lord’s baptism in the River Jordan, all four Gospels record the Holy Spirit descending like a dove to remain upon Jesus.

We celebrated EasterApril 20th. Pentecost is seven weeks later, on June 8th, and commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit while the disciples waited in the Upper Room for God’s promised comforter as described in Acts 2.

I’ve visited the Upper Room, the traditional site of the Last Supper, on each of my nine trips to Israel. While the actual location might be debated, the current structure is a 12th-century Crusader chapel built above a known first-century church-synagogue. The acoustics are wonderful. During my times there, groups from various nations and languages have worshipped with songs that spound like heaven.

I enjoy a blog by Bobbie Ann Cole, a Canadian Jewish-Christian Writer studying at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. She and her husband post photos of their local journeys. Here is an excellent short video of what you would see if we walked with them through the Church of the Dormitian in the Old City. The remarkable painting shows the mother of Jesus with the disciples while the Holy Spirit dove descends to hover over them all in the fulfillment of Luke 24:49, “I am sending the promise of My Father upon you, but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

It’s a wonderful video–enjoy. And have a blessed and meaningful Pentecost.

Bible Hubhttps://biblehub.com › luke

Click here to view

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Delight by James R. Coggins

Posted on May 14, 2025 by jrcoggins

The English word “delight” is used to translate three Hebrew words: chaphets (pleased with, desire), chashaq (cling to, love), and anag (soft, pliable). It is interesting how these words are used.

Perhaps most astounding is that God finds delight in us:

• “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me” (Psalm 18:19 NIV).

• “The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love” (Psalm 147:11).

• “The Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory” (Psalm 149:4).

• “The Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in” (Proverbs 3:12).

• “I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more” (Isaiah 65:19).

• “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).

As well, we are told to delight in God and His Word.

• “Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord and delight in his salvation” (Psalm 35:9).

• “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).

• “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God” (Psalm 43:4).

• “Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands” (Psalm 112:1).

• “I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word” (Psalm 119:16).

• “Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors” (Psalm 119:24).

• “Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight” (Psalm 119:35).

• “I delight in your commands because I love them” (Psalm 119:47).

• “I delight in your law” (Psalm 119:70).

• “Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight” (Psalm 119:77).

• “Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands give me delight” (Psalm 119:143).

• “I long for your salvation, Lord, and your law gives me delight” (Psalm 119:174).

Finally, God encourages us to delight in the things He has created for us:

• “They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights (Psalm 36:8).

• “Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them” (Psalm 111:2).

• “Be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy” (Isaiah 65:18). To sum up: God delights in us and encourages us to delight in His creation, His Word, His salvation, and His presence.

To sum up: God delights in us and encourages us to delight in His creation, His Word, His salvation, and His presence.

Posted in James R. Coggins | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A Mother’s Legacy: Love That Reflects the Heart of God

Posted on May 13, 2025 by Author Mary Alford

As we celebrated Mother’s Day this past Sunday, I was reminded of the quiet strength and tender love that so often flows through the lives of the women who raise us, nurture us, and shape us. Whether you’re a mother, a grandmother, a spiritual mother, or a woman who’s poured herself into the lives of others—your love leaves a lasting legacy.

Scripture reminds us in Proverbs 31:28 (KJV): “Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.” A godly mother reflects the very heart of Christ—selfless, steadfast, and deeply rooted in grace.

Mother’s Day is also a beautiful reminder of the quiet strength, sacrificial love, and unshakable faith that define motherhood. As we honored the women who have shaped our lives personally, it’s also a fitting time to reflect on the mothers of the Bible—women whose stories still speak life and hope into our hearts today.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is perhaps the most well-known mother in Scripture. Her humble “yes” to God changed the course of history. Chosen to carry the Savior of the world, she walked a path of faith that wasn’t easy. She pondered deep things in her heart, fled with her family to protect her child, and ultimately stood at the foot of the cross as He gave His life. Mary’s story reminds us that motherhood is often a journey of both deep joy and deep surrender.

Hannah, the mother of Samuel, teaches us about persistent prayer and surrender. Longing for a child, she poured out her soul before the Lord and promised to give her son back to God. When her prayer was answered, she kept her promise. Her faith was bold, her trust unwavering—and God used her son in powerful ways.

Jochebed, the mother of Moses, risked everything to protect her son from Pharaoh’s decree. Her courage and ingenuity saved a life that God would use to deliver a nation. Behind Moses’ strength was a mother who dared to believe in God’s plan, even when she had to let go.

Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, waited many years to become a mother. When her miracle finally came, she rejoiced in God’s faithfulness. Her story is one of endurance and the unexpected joy that can come in the waiting.

And let us not forget Lois and Eunice, the grandmother and mother of Timothy, whose sincere faith helped shape the early church. Their quiet legacy proves that what we pass on in faith to our children can ripple through generations.

In the stories I write, I’m often drawn to women who are fiercely protective, who wrestle with fear and faith, and who stand strong in the face of darkness. Many of them are inspired by the women I know in real life—women who have prayed over their children in the middle of the night, who’ve chosen forgiveness in the face of pain, who’ve sacrificed their comfort for the sake of love.

Though you may not feel it at times, mothers, what you do matters. The prayers you whisper, the stories you pass down, the faith you live out loud—these are seeds of eternity planted in the lives around you.

I hope you felt celebrated and cherished this past Sunday and every day—and may you know that your legacy is woven into God’s story in a way only He can write.

With love,
Mary

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hoping to See by Nancy J. Farrier

Posted on May 12, 2025 by Nancy J. Farrier
Photo by Surasak P on Unsplash

My breath caught. I stopped and stared at the dead cholla cactus. Nestled close to those wicked spines was a small mammillaria, possibly the mammillaria grahamii. A mammillaria “in the wild,” something I’d never seen before. I couldn’t wait to take pictures and show my family.

Over the next few weeks I kept watch for more mammillaria and soon learned to spot them with more ease. They were usually nestled under a larger cactus and since they aren’t big I had trouble seeing them. But as I practiced, I became more adept, even spotting them under different plants and a few out in the open. 

I didn’t get to see them often because I had to walk a long distance to get to the area where they grew. Then one day, as I trekked down a road I had traversed many times, there under a bush was a little mammillaria, one I had walked past many times and never noticed. A couple of weeks later, I spotted one very close to my house. Who knew? Why hadn’t I noticed them before?

I began to ponder this phenomenon, “seeing” the cactus when I hadn’t before. What did it mean that I walked right by them many times without noticing when they are a plant I love? And why was I seeing them now? As I pondered, I realized there were correlations with this mammillaria lesson and my “seeing” Jesus. 

I’d like to share these in an anagram of the word, HOPE.

H—Hunger: After I spotted that first mammillaria, I had a hunger or a strong desire to see more. I couldn’t wait to look and often thought of them. There is so much busyness in life, so much to do. I want to have a hunger, a strong desire, to see Jesus instead of forgetting to watch when I have so much to do. I must be willing to have Him at the forefront of my mind all the time.

O—Open: Be open to seeing. When I first began to search for the mammillaria, I thought they would only be found under the cholla cactus. Then I noticed them under bushes and other cacti, but I still thought they would be in a sheltered area. Next, I noticed a few that were out in the open. Last, my husband pointed out one that was nestled in a rock completely unprotected. Sometimes, I put Jesus in a box by expecting Him to be in certain places and not others. I must learn to be open to finding Him in unusual places. If I want to see Him, I need to be open to seeing Him where He’s at, not just where I expect Him to be.

P—Practice: I had to work at seeing those tiny little cacti. When I found this little mammillaria “forest” I was beyond excited. The tallest one is only about two inches high. They are so tiny and difficult to spot. It took practice. Likewise, seeing Jesus takes work. Not only do I have to hunger for Him, I have to practice looking for Him. He can be seen anywhere at any time, but I have to work to train my eyes to see.

E—Expect: I began to expect to see those cactus on every walk and I wasn’t disappointed. Each time I would spot a new one in a different place. Likewise, I want to expect to see Jesus. Whether I’m doing my everyday chores, dealing with a difficult situation, doing the shopping, or relaxing on the couch after a long day, I want to see Jesus in the midst of all the busyness and the quiet times. He may not be obvious, but He will be there. 

I hope you will also follow the HOPE principles and try to see Jesus in your everyday life.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8

Posted in Nancy J. Farrier | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

When You Win and Lose… Grace by Vicki Hinze

Posted on May 9, 2025 by Vicki Hinze

When You win or lose... grace by Vicki Hinze

 

During the course of a lifetime, we all win some and lose some.  That is the nature of competition and the nature of life.  Learn to do both—to win and to lose—with dignity, respecting yourself, others and the competition.

Have you ever heard someone awarded an honor for an achievement who lacked gratitude to those who helped that person gain the award?   Who boldly states they’d like to thank others but can’t because they’d made it all the way to the award by themselves?  Someone so full of themselves that they couldn’t spare a kind word for the countless others who guided and directed them to that point?

How about someone who lost railing on and on with a litany of complaints blaming others for their loss?

The absence of gratitude and the casting of blame are both reactions that are not only not endearing, they sour our opinion of the person, and that opinion remains sour for a very long time.

As a young writer, I witnessed both of those reactions, and I have to tell you, three decades have passed, and a lot of things have happened in those intervening years.  Yet my opinion on both those individuals is still colored by what I witnessed all those years ago.

I am not alone.  Think back through your life at the responses you’ve seen and experienced.  Have your reactions to those responses changed?  Probably not.

You see, in winning or losing we see a person at their best—the high—and their worst—the low.  If they can’t handle themselves appropriately then, they can’t do it at all.  We recognize that at core level because we’ve all experienced highs and lows in our own lives, or vicariously through someone close to us.

The lack of graciousness in the winner reminds us of everyone we’ve ever gone the extra mile to help who betrayed us, got what they wanted and then put us on ignore, or claimed credit for our efforts as though they had done it all and we had not contributed.  In other words, we were ignored, forgotten or betrayed.  There isn’t a person in the world with whom that will sit well.  Actually, it’s the behavior of the kind of people we try to avoid, and certainly try to avoid being.

The lack of graciousness in the loser reminds us of every time we were blamed for something we didn’t do, some wrong we were accused of committing that we actually didn’t commit and yet paid dearly for having done it.  It reminds us of every time we tried and failed and were berated for it.

It also reminds us of terms like “sore loser” and “sour grapes” and “unsportsman-like conduct.”

Once an opinion is formed in the minds of others who watch your response to winning or losing, it’s really hard to change that opinion.  If you are gracious in winning or losing, the opinion is far more apt to be favorable.

Now what others think of you is, as they say, none of your business.  What you think of yourself, however, is reflected back to you in the opinions of others.  If you respect yourself, you express and reflect it in your conduct.  If you don’t, you reflect that, too.

Whichever you choose to do, respect or disrespect, know that others take their cue from you, and they will treat you accordingly. So do what you will, but do it knowing that you are setting the tone, the bar, the standard for how you “show” others to treat you.

If you respect yourself, then respect others.  Behave with dignity toward yourself and toward everyone else.  Those with whom you agree and those with whom you disagree.

Remember:  Just because you have an opinion on everything doesn’t obligate you to express it.  Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.  And if someone wants your opinion, they’ll ask for it.

When things go wrong, and at some time, they will.  Seek first to understand, then take appropriate actions to assure a checks-and-balances system is in place to avoid future wrongs.  There is a right way to address a legitimate challenge and a wrong way.  Respect yourself and others, address it the right way.

An ancient philosopher once said, “What you do to others, you do to yourself.”

That became a universal truth because it is one.  There’ve been many iterations of it over the years, like:

“When you set out to destroy another, dig two graves.  One for them, and one for you.”  

The lesson in that message is universal as well.  When you set out to harm another, the one most harmed is yourself. You’ve disrespected the other person.  You’ve disrespected yourself more, and guess what?  You might stay away from that other person, but you cannot escape yourself.  Every day, from that day forward for so long as you’re drawing breath, you’re doing so with your attempt to destroy staining your thoughts, your actions, and weighing on your conscience.

You might think you won’t.  But you will.  We all do.

Be gracious in your wins.  Give credit where credit is due.  Be humble and never forget those who helped you all the way.  Honor them by paying it forward, helping others as you were helped.

Be gracious in your losses.  There is no need to assign blame.  Respect the process, the effort.  Look at mistakes you might have made, but also look at what others did right.  Strive to be objective and keep an eye on how you might improve.

That’s respectful to you and to others.  And that respect is key not only to improving but also to creating fewer regrets that will haunt you as you move forward through life.

In life, we win some and lose some.  It is vital to our emotional well-being to learn to do both with respect for ourselves and others, and with dignity and grace.  Our own self-esteem and our rightful respect for others depend on it.

I leave you with this thought…

When all is said and done, what we’re left with in life is ourselves.  What we’ve said and done, and what we haven’t.  How we were treated and how we treated others is a big part of that.  Yes, we’ll all make mistakes and we’ll all do things we wish we hadn’t done or said.  We don’t expect perfection.  We do expect to leave life better than we found it.

To that end, remember this:

Always treat others with the grace you are going to need from others when you commit a wrong.  If you do, when you need grace, you’ll be far more apt to get it.

It’s all about grace.  Gratitude, dignity and respect.  For you.  For others.

Read the quote from the recently deceased Dr. Emily Clyburn.  She left it, it’s said, in a note on the bathroom mirror for her husband, who’d just won an election.   “When you win, brag gently.  When you lose, weep softly.”

 Gratitude, dignity and respect.  

 Grace.  And wisdom.

Blessings,

Vicki Hinze

Posted in Vicki Hinze | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Doctoring in the Old Days by James R. Coggins

Posted on May 7, 2025 by jrcoggins

There were three doctors in the town where I grew up, and the practice of medicine would be almost unrecognizable today.

The doctor our family went to had a big house on the main street, and he had office hours there every afternoon, starting about one o’clock. Patients would walk in through the front door and go into a large room to the left with bench seats on all four sides of the room. The room would be fairly full by one o’clock. There was no receptionist, and there were no appointments. People who needed a doctor would just show up.

At one o’clock, the doctor would enter through a door at the back of the room. It was a double door, with one door opening out and the other opening in, to muffle the sound and maintain patient privacy.

The doctor would look around the room to see who was there and nod to one of the patients to come in. I am not sure how he decided who should go first, but everyone just quietly waited their turn. After the patient was ushered back out through the same door, the doctor would survey the room again, taking special note of any newcomers so that patients would be seen roughly in the order of arrival.

Patients selected to enter would go into another big room, where the doctor would ask what the problem was. If a more extensive examination was required, the patient could be ushered farther back into a third room, where there was a raised bed.

Once the doctor had diagnosed the problem, he would offer advice or prescribe a medication. Most of the time, the patient was not sent to a pharmacy to get the prescription. One wall of the middle room had shelves floor to ceiling filled with bottles of the most common remedies. The doctor would count out the required number of pills and hand them to the patient.

Then the doctor would tell the patient how much was owed. It was cash only. The doctor would pull a massive wad of money out of his pants pocket and add the payment to the wad, making change as necessary. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that poorer patients would be charged less than wealthier patients. There was no medicare, and no government was not involved. There was no bureaucracy such as exists today.

I assume the doctor kept limited records of some kind, but he knew all of his patients personally and stored a lot of the information in his memory.

The doctor offered a wide range of services, including setting and casting broken bones. Some of his treatments were innovative. He treated one woman’s depression by removing a mole from her face.

The afternoon office hours would extend until all patients were seen. In the mornings and evenings, the doctor would make house calls to very sick patients or visit them in the hospital in the next town.

Medical care in those days was quite limited. There were far fewer medical imaging machines and diagnostic tools. There were no cures for many ailments. But the treatment was immediate and personal. There was good patient care because the doctor cared about his patients, who were his friends and neighbors. Medical care has greatly advanced in some ways since that time but certainly declined in others.

Posted in James R. Coggins | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment