Encouraging.com

All summer long, my backyard rose bush produces hundreds of pink roses. I notice that it blooms and then most of the roses die about the same time. With my garden shears, I cut away the spent blooms. I imagine it sighing and saying, Thank you. Now I have room to grow and bloom all over again.

Dec 3

Dec 3 Painful Plowing

Trials are hard. They’re messy. They’re down right painful. Do you feel blessed when you experience them?

For eight years, I drove by the same field. There were weeds growing, and the grass looked unhealthy and sparse. One day, as I drove by, I noticed a tractor driving over the grass with sharp circular blades cutting through the hard, cracked, dry ground turning the soil. How painful that must be for the ground, I thought.

Dec 2

Dec 2 Refined as Gold

Do you know how precious metals are refined? Smelting is the process in which gold is separated from ore and other metals. The ore is first pulverized with extreme pressure to create tiny particles, which are then melted at almost 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. As the gold becomes molten, most of the impurities are burned up.

Dec 1

Dec 1 Trials Like Fire

No matter how you slice it, life is full of challenges. Each hardship represents some sort of loss; loss of a person, home, safety, stability, or purpose. This is why these experiences can be so painful.

Nov 30

Nov 30 Rescuer of Pit Dwellers

Praise the Lord! He rescues us from the pit! I don’t know about you, but I have been in the pit many times throughout my life. Sometimes it’s sin that throws us into the pit, however, sometimes it is circumstances out of our control that throw us head-long into it.

Nov 27

Nov 27 I Am Secure

The day Drew moved out followed ten months of limbo. It had been an awful day. The kids cried themselves to sleep. It was late when Dana climbed into bed. She sat propped up on her side of the double bed and opened her Bible. She hadn’t planned to read Romans 8, but the words were there for her that night.

God’s words touched her gently, much like the romantic gesture of being presented a single, long-stemmed red rose.

Nov 26

Nov 26 I Am Wanted

Eight months had passed since Drew’s and Dana’s ten-year marriage started to unravel. Uncharacteristically, Drew accompanied Dana and the children to church one Sunday morning. It was Valentine’s Day.

The service was unremarkable until the associate pastor announced he would be teaching on romantic love from Song of Solomon.

Nov 25

Nov 25 I Am Beautiful

Drew and Dana began marriage counseling with a Christian counselor soon after their move. Drew finally admitted to having an extramarital affair. As devastating as the news was, Dana expressed the willingness to forgive him. Her commitment to keep their family intact held steady. Drew wanted a separation, but he took no action to move out.

Nov 24

Nov 24 I Am Valuable

Following Drew’s confession that he didn’t love her, Dana’s feelings continued to reel. She felt lost at sea one moment and anchored by faith the next. Soon thereafter, Drew received his new job assignment that required moving fifteen hundred miles away.

Nov 23

Nov 23 I Am Loved

Dana felt sweet anticipation as the day began. It was her 10th wedding anniversary. Drew, her husband, was home from completing some out-of-town professional training for his new job. The last few months they’d only spent a few weekends together so she was excited about celebrating today.

Nov 20

Nov 20 Au Naturel Consequences

Spiritual Growth, Obedience

My friend was having trouble getting her 7-year-old daughter up and ready for school in the mornings. After repeatedly asking her daughter to do her morning routine, she decided she had enough. She asked her daughter to come to the bathroom to brush and style her hair, but she didn’t keep asking. Her daughter hadn’t come in to get her hair styled by the time my friend was finished in the bathroom. When the girl wanted her hair brushed, the mom calmly told her that she had missed her chance. She didn’t follow her mom’s instructions, so she would have to go to school with her hair as it was. Hair au naturel – the natural consequence.

Nov 19

Nov 19 Let Your Words Be Few

Encouragement, Spiritual Growth

Once my daughter and a friend of hers got into a little disagreement. As I asked the girls what the problem was, each girl began telling her side of the story . . . simultaneously. When they realized that neither was backing down, each girl spoke louder and louder. My son was standing right beside me, and his observation was, "That's too many words!" I laughed and had to agree.

Nov 18

Nov 18 What Are You Searching For?

God's Will, Spiritual Growth

The other day I was taking off my jewelry, and I must have pulled too hard on my ring. It flew off the end of my finger when I pulled it over my knuckle. I heard it hit the carpet. I immediately got on my hands and knees to look for my ring. I must have looked for 20 minutes before I decided to stop and try again later. After looking later, I still could not find my ring. I knew it was there, and I also knew that I would find it with continued searching.

Nov 17

Nov 17 What Did You Expect?

Peace

When my son was around two, he thought he saw his daddy from behind. He started running toward the man, and when he rounded the corner, I saw a horrified look on my son’s face. The man was not his daddy – not at all what my son was expecting. The man looked very similar to my husband from behind, from his build to his bald head, but one glimpse of his face revealed the truth. I explained to the man that my son was a little surprised and upset because he was not who my son had expected him to be.

Nov 16

Nov 16 Trust or Unbelief?