Divine chaos
Of all the word pictures Jesus painted, I can’t think of another that engenders the peace of spirit that comes from feeling secure in God’s loving care more than this: “C... »
Volume 14.04 | April 2013
Heaven’s reflection
A friend was showing me a photo that he took at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden—a large park in the middle of bustling Tokyo. It showed a brilliant blue sky with green tre... »
Living with loss
Steve was a cheerful little boy with big brown eyes, curly blond hair, and a dimple that appeared on his right cheek every time he smiled. He had dreamy eyes, and often s... »
Fruit in season
My son’s voice broke as he spoke, “Mom, I don’t know what’s happening. I just moved my family in order to take a new job, but now that job has fallen through!” I did my b... »
God’s mosaics
Have you ever come across a construction site where the workers were laboriously laying a tile floor—one of those mosaic floors with thousands of tiny tiles that create a... »
The forest getaway
Last winter I took a five-week trip to fundraise for a humanitarian aid project I’m involved with. My plan was ambitious—possibly overly so. Long, intense days for over a... »
Meet the peacemakers
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.—Matthew 5:9 NIV We who work for peace must not falter. We must continue to pray for peace and to act... »
Peace—the steadfast fruit
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law”.[Galatians 5:22–23]... »
I’ll take the mountain
As the car kept winding up, up, up, I couldn’t help but wonder if our friend’s house had been built on the very top of the mountain. Darkness had fallen by the time my si... »
Living without stress
Stress is one of the big “joy killers” that God wants to free us from. Stress makes it difficult to operate and is a cause of terrible unhappiness, illness, and even deat... »
Snail patrol
Today I went for a walk with the kids in the countryside surrounding the village in which we live, an area consisting of farmland, dirt paths, and small woods. The weathe... »
Keeping God in the picture
Peace comes not from the absence of trouble, but from the presence of God.—Author unknown Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.—Colossians 3:15 To have peace reign in... »
Peace, be still
I can give you peace that defies understanding, [See Philippians 4:7.] that calms storms, and that overcomes stress and worry. The storms may come and the waves may rise,... »