Getting to know ourselves and God in times of crisis. by Joyce Hoey Through the icy pane of my kitchen window, I gazed. The poplars stood rigid, their bare, brittle limbs thrust against the chill winter air. Within my weary soul the ice was slowly melting. I began to come alive again. My sorrow…
Category: Home and Family
Confessions of a Lost Lamb
Wandering away, but ever in the sight of God. by Marcy Zipf I was at fault for losing our home. I spent our mortgage money on frivolous things or on items to spoil my kids, then lied to my husband as to where the money had gone. I couldn’t make the payments on my…
Finding God After Failure
Choosing to go God’s way and staying there. by Eileen Key I lay on the sofa in my parent’s den on July 4, 1976, a heap of misery. While the television newscasters showed videos and celebrated our nation’s two-hundredth birthday, I wallowed and cried over the demise of my marriage. Dating Terry and I…
A Gift of Peace
A father’s trust in his time of trial. by Paul White I had no idea such a beautiful weekend could have such horrible consequences. I had been looking forward to the Fourth of July holiday because four-year-old Kristi and I were going camping with my parents. Though Kristi’s mom, Victoria, and I were separated,…
A Promise Kept
The reward of young faith. by Sarah R. Dace* “Sarah, come with me, please.” Mrs. Grant’s face bore the strain I heard in her voice. As I followed her down the row of desk cubicles in our modern day, one-room schoolhouse, she stopped to tap my ten-year-old brother’s shoulder and whisper in his ear….
What to Do When the Nest is Empty
Finding fulfillment when the kids are gone. by Sharlene MacLaren For many, the transition from a full nest to an empty one is difficult. After all, you have spent some twenty years in this business of parenting. You have changed diapers, wiped noses, and cooled fevered bodies. You have read children’s books until you…
When Our Son Divorced
by Dawn Hamilton* When we met our son, Paul, at the airport, he stepped off the plane with all he had left in the world: his old tool box. He walked slowly with none of his old carefree spirit. My husband and I said little to him as we found the car and headed…
The Pain After Reunion
The dynamics of the Second Rejection. by Marcy Wineman Axness Your phone call takes too long to be returned. Your letter goes unanswered for an unnerving number of weeks. You concoct exaggerated scenes inside your overtime mind, clamoring to make sense of it all, to somehow feel sense of it all. Ah, reunion. For…
Thanks to Ryan
Special needs are not all physical and emotional. by Lynne Hudak as told to Wendy Lynn Decker “Ryan has a rare and incurable kidney disease. He’ll need a kidney transplant by the end of the year.” I felt as though I was going to be sick all over the doctor’s desk. The words dialysis,…
Spreading the Flame
New lessons in love the second time around. by Marcia Alice Mitchell “You’ll never be able to handle three more kids — especially a strong-willed child.” Mary, a woman at church I greatly admired, said this after taking care of my future kids in the nursery. One of them, Joe, had just shown her…