READ: PSALM 23; JOHN 10:11-18; 14:1-21 I bent down to snatch a wildflower from beside the path and then hurried on. I rushed to catch up once again with my beloved family member—I’ll call him Nash here—who had agreed to let me accompany him on a walk in the woods. I rejoiced to spend rare [...]

READ: JOHN 13:1-17; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:15-21; 1 PETER 2:21-25 A few days after arriving in Romania as a missionary, I discovered two things: First, one of the sandals I had brought along, hoping they would last my entire year overseas, broke. Second, on the ground floor of my apartment building, a family ran a small [...]

READ: JOHN 4:4-30, 39-42 When I was 18, I took part in a scholarship program to earn money for college. All the participants stayed with host families during the week of rehearsals and competition. Volunteer drivers picked us up for events and then returned us to our host homes in the evening. On the final [...]

READ: JOHN 1:1-15; 8:12-18; 2 CORINTHIANS 4:6 Vacation time for my family when I was a kid usually involved tents and sleeping bags. We enjoyed the outdoors, and camping helped us stay close to nature—while also saving on hotel costs. As a little kid, I took notice of signs where we camped warning us of [...]

READ: MATTHEW 1:23; 28:20; MARK 6:45-54; EPHESIANS 4:2 As I stood at the lake’s edge, I was observing a genuine SOS moment. A young family member—I’ll call him Ford—had just received a kayak for his tenth birthday. He loved to be on the water, so a kayak seemed a fitting gift for him. Since our [...]

READ: EXODUS 34:6; PSALM 86; 1 JOHN 3:1 I stepped off the school bus and headed down the sidewalk toward my third-grade class. Sticking my hands in my pockets, I felt for the envelope with that day’s lunch money. I expected to find it there, but I wanted to reassure myself. However, I didn’t locate [...]

READ: MATTHEW 5:43-47; JOHN 16:29-33 My brother was selected to participate in his middle school’s play, so my family gladly showed up to watch the performance. While we sat in the audience, some unknown person crept into the parking lot and broke into our minivan. Although the would-be thief found nothing to steal, this individual [...]

READ: ROMANS 8:1; HEBREWS 4:14-16; 1 JOHN 1:8–2:2 I’d just arrived in a new-to-me country on the other side of the world. I had left a sweltering summer in Florida, where I lived…and landed in a blustery New Zealand winter to begin a year of ministry. A missionary couple offered their home for my first [...]

READ: ROMANS 12:1-13; JAMES 4:6-10 I genuinely wanted to figure this out on my own. But I couldn’t. It was time to ask for help. I’d been in Romania just a few weeks. Wanting to acclimate to my new city, I took a tram to shop for groceries one afternoon. I needed to return for [...]

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 2:12-16; GALATIANS 5:16-26; EPHESIANS 5:1-20 I’ve always had a sweet tooth. On one special occasion, this served as a great qualification for a unique job. My family and I had joined with others in our community for a fun-filled summer day, complete with a barbecue, picnic, games, and a dessert contest. I [...]