Article By Judy Mosley

Thunderstorms always make me feel better.  That’s because of my mom.

As a younger child, when it would begin to rain my mom would usher me outside, blanket in hand, and sit down with me to watch the storm.  The lighting would grow brighter and the thunder would nearly burst our ears.  But what I remember most is that we were sitting together, bodies wrapped up in the blanket, talking about whatever.  I don’t remember a single word of our conversations, but the feeling is still warm, deep within my heart.

As a parent, even with memories like those I find it difficult to remember what it takes to reach into the heart of my child.  I have had to make myself remember what was important to me as a child … and remember that what I needed then is what my children need now. Read More »

God promises to give you the desires of your heart …

“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:4 (NIV)

God promises to bring joy …

“those who sow tears will reap with songs of joy.”

Psalm 126:5 (NIV)

Finding Laughter, Love and Kindness in Difficult Times

Article By Stephanie Johnson

Once, my fiancée and I lived in a sleepy little house in a sleepy little town.  We were surrounded rolling green hills and plains, and there wasn’t much traffic or noise, and wildlife liked to frolic in our yard.

I never worried about things like where my next meal would come from, if I would have a roof over my head, or clean clothes to wear.          

Hard times hit, as they sometimes do.  We made decisions we thought would put us in better positions, but instead ended up in dire straits.  We were living one incident away from complete disaster, with no healthcare and a faltering safety net, in a city full of busy strangers who didn’t have enough time to help us or care enough to answer our questions.

We took minimum wage, part-time jobs, because that was all we could find with our experience and education.  We found that, in this day in age, hands-on experience or education means very little unless you have that all-important piece of paper to accompany it.  And then, despite working ourselves ragged, we could not pay all of our bills … and then our employers laid us off.  We were good, but we were disposable, replaceable, and the companies were going through hard times too.

My fiancée and I were both, understandably, stressed.  Almost to the breaking point. Read More »

God promises to comfort you and to comfort others through you …

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)