Do you wake up at night worried sick about the future? You are not alone. Fear and anxiety are rife. Stress has become a natural ingredient in peoples' lives, regardless of their age. News from around the world provides a daily diet of issues to worry about. Communities and families all bring different problems. Concerns [...]

Growing up, church attendance, youth group, and church camp were all regular parts of my life. However, I never really read my Bible or talked about my faith outside of “church stuff.” I probably would've told you that I believed in God if you asked, but I wouldn't bring it up and I definitely didn't [...]

"There's no time,” the voice on the radio says. “You must come now.” I look around the cockpit of the spaceship—my spaceship. The control station, the thick, curved glass of the windows, the sleek engines quietly humming in the hull below—all of it is my design. I spent years building this spacecraft, painstakingly attending to [...]

At the beginning of every spring, I get stressed. The long, harsh winter is finally coming to a close. I know the flowers will start blooming soon, and I worry that I'll miss it. That I'll miss seeing the crocuses peek up through the grass before they're mown over. That I'll miss seeing the flowering [...]

In the book of Genesis, Joseph was the favorite son of Israel, also known as Jacob. And his brothers hated him because of it. One day, they did an evil thing to Joseph and threw him into a cistern. Joseph pleaded for his life (Genesis 42:21), but they cruelly sold him as a slave to [...]

Life is full of ups and downs. When everything seems to be going well—when we have friends and are at peace with those around us, when we have all the material things we need and are in good health—we feel good and acceptable. But when these things are lacking or we think we don't have [...]

What is it I see going o'er the fields? Some shadow, beast, or ghost? Swooping down low. Ensnaring its prey. My escape from it I cannot boast. It has armies no, legions! They will try to get you to follow. To listen to its lies and in your anger, fear, and shame to wallow. It [...]

Jehu Jones Jr. was born enslaved in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1786. His father, Jehu Jones Sr., was trained as a tailor, and he was so skilled that the elite class in Charleston requested his exacting work. He was allowed to charge his customers a fee. He asked his slave holder if he could purchase [...]

Do you ever wrestle over what God's will is for your life? When I graduated high school, I was quite anxious about choosing the “right path.” I grappled with decisions about college, wrote lists of pros and cons, prayed and sought God in tears. Since then, I've had other large decisions where I responded similarly. [...]

Have you ever had a heavy heart—felt the physical effects of your sadness weighing you down? You are not alone. I have felt this way too. Worries, painful experiences, anxiety, grief, or guilt can burden you. It feels as if your emotional state is sinking physically into your body. Craving solitude, I dragged myself on [...]