Precious moments
It was a typical Monday morning, and my husband and I were in town on business for the humanitarian aid project we operate in several Balkan nations. By 10 amit was alrea... »
Personal Accounts
Earthly possessions
I have always been a dog person. I grew up with dogs, and even later in life when my wife and I served as missionaries, we felt a dog was a necessary addition to our hous... »
Lost in Liverpool
Since I was a little girl, I have heard that God is omnipresent. I used to have a vague idea of it, like some cosmic energy, but since then, I have had some experiences t... »
Heaven’s best
I was fifteen and looked forward to Fridays, as it meant a trip to the beach. Every week during the summer, our youth group put on an impromptu performance of songs and s... »
Baking prayers
Prayer often works like baking a loaf of bread: You’ve got to mix the ingredients, knead the dough, proof the dough, then bake the finished loaf. Step one: mix the ingred... »
Two-minute prayers
I’ve often struggled to make time to pray. Though my wife and I pray together each morning and before bed, I find myself neglecting that regular “talking with Jesus” thro... »
Candles and prayers
There are some verses I’ve had a very difficult time with. One of them is “Pray continually.” [[1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIV]] That verse is often on my mind, and I’ve learne... »
My dishwashing partner
Some of my most significant moments with God have been with my hands in dishwater. For many years, I’ve been in the habit of starting my morning with devotional reading a... »
Three faith-boosting lessons
It began one morning when I disagreed with something my wife said. It was during one of those trying patches where you find yourself irritable and finding fault with ever... »
Whose time?
Not long ago, I confided to a friend that I felt overwhelmed with stress and anxiety over my work. She suggested that I spend more time meditating on God's goodness and s... »
Simple prayer
Several years ago, my life was very uncertain. And in the middle of that loss, crisis, and stress, I began to question everything, down to the very foundation of my faith... »
The encouragement experiment
At some point in our lives, we’ve all had someone say a few words of encouragement that radically changed our day or the course of events, just because of the extra inspi... »
The thorn factor
I don’t think that God intended any relationships to be perfect. I think of it as the “thorn” factor that He allows into the equation—that element that we shrink from, bu... »