Article by Kevin L. DeWitt

It’s in the headlines, it’s on the news, and it’s in our day-to-day conversations with people we care about: family, friends, co-workers, neighbors and people within our spiritual circles.  Lost jobs.  Lost homes. Lost hope. 

When you’re out of work, where do you turn when it seems nobody can help you or those you love?  How to you overcome unemployment and the negative emotions surrounding it?

Try turning to God and using affirmative prayers.

Originally created in response to their own financial and personal challenges, I have adapted the following affirmations and prayers developed by Paul and Tracey McManus, authors of The 7 Great Prayers: For a Lifetime of Hope and Blessings.

1. Change Your Focus - Give Praise. Take your mind off your life’s challenges and shift your focus toward good thoughts and attaining a new job. For many of your affirmations, affirm as though you have already been blessed with what you are asking for.

Affirmation: I love you God and welcome you into my heart.  Thank you for blessing me with a new job.

2. Put Yourself in a State of Gratitude.  Take a moment and reflect on all the good things in your life and give thanks.  Change your thinking from lack to thanks.  Affirmations without taking action are just wishes.  Take steps forward every day to find a new job and give thanks for everything during the day.  There is nothing too small to give thanks for.  For example, thank God for the beautiful day, a smile, a kind word, not to mention your health, family, etc. Read More »

“Thankfully, this is not about winning and losing.  It is about fully living …”

Article by Malcolm Marler

Today, I’m remembering what it felt like just before kickoff when I played football many years ago for Clemson University …

This post is not ultimately about football … it’s about my life … right now at 54 years old and how I physically feel today.  Let me describe the feeling first…

Just before kickoff, there were always butterflies in my stomach.  Do you know what I mean?  Not a feeling of fear, but rather anticipation, nervousness, and excitement simultaneously.  My heart would beat about 90 times per minute compared to my normal 60.

It was anticipation of a game that I loved to play … I had dreamed of, longed for, and prepared for this moment.  I knew who I was and what my mission was.  The time for thinking had past.  It was time to trust all of the practice, all of the coaching, all of my teammates, and all of my deepest instincts.  It was time to let go and react and respond to each and every moment.  I loved being on the defensive kick-off team.  Because when the whistle blew for the game to begin, and the ball was kicked … I could run like the wind, find the ball carrier, and do my job.

And today, many years later, thankfully I have those butterflies again.  I had almost forgotten what it felt like. Read More »

Article by Mary Bea Sullivan

Twice Jesus asks, “What is it you want me to do for you”?

In the first instance, James and John are vying for privilege and power, wanting a seat at Jesus’ left and right hands. The second incident occurs when Bartimaeus, a blind beggar shouts for mercy.

Setting the Bible on the ottoman, I call to our white lab Daisy so I can ponder this question on a walk in the country.  For a little while I move at a brisk pace hoping to burn calories.  Occasionally I remember the question and consider, “What is it I want Jesus to do for me”?  Scattered thoughts pop like popcorn, my mind frequently wandering.

Descending from a steep hill, nearing the end of our second mile I wonder, “What if I were walking with Jesus right now and he asked, ‘What is it you want for me to do’”?

Instinctively I slow down and ultimately stop walking altogether.  Surrounded by an arch of greenery, I turn to look back at the direction we have just come.  Wisps of steam, barely noticeable, dance across the pavement.  Turning toward home, I hear the morning-song of crickets.  How had I missed their serenade?

Continuing my journey, at a relaxed pace, I imagine Christ at my side, asking, “What is it you want for me to do for you”?  The answer spills forth, the question one more drop of rain needed overflowing the crest of a dam. Read More »

Article by Stefanie Johnson

There are magical places that exist within each one of us, inside our minds, hearts, and souls. By visiting these places, we can tap into the infinite and bring peace and abundance into our lives.

Each journey will be unique, as we are unique, so you may want to have a notebook and pen nearby to record your experience afterward. You may choose to have another person read the meditation to you so you may experience it more fully.      

Find a comfortable place, close your eyes, open your mind, and prepare yourself to travel within.

When it seems like everything is stressful and terrible, when life feels like a struggle … it’s hard to remember that there is much in your life for which to be grateful.  Remembering all the many gifts and blessings that have been given to you over your lifetime can help you to center yourself again with a feeling of gratitude for all that has passed and renewed energy for the future. Read More »

“God has not only met my needs, but has woven all of the threads of my life into a new quilt that is more diverse and colorful than I could have imagined …”

Article by Malcolm Marler

As I turned 54 this summer, I became aware that I have more questions than I have answers.  When I was younger, I had more answers.

Now that I’m older … I can remember other times of questions and transitions in my life and how God has helped me to survive and thrive through them all…

I remember when I was 10 when I sat in our den as my Dad told my sister and me that my mother had died suddenly during the night.  Thankfully, a dozen “mothers” promptly stepped forward from our church over the next few weeks, months, and years for me.  And then I was blessed to have Jimmie Ruth Hudson to become my stepmother three years later.  She is still in my life 41 years later.

I remember when I was 15, sitting in an empty high school football stadium with my Dad as he contemplated whether to accept becoming the pastor of a new church.  That meant moving us from the only home I had known to an unfamiliar one for my high school years.  I only knew that I wanted to play football at the local high school because they had recently been the state champion.   My Dad eventually accepted the position in the new town, and I ended up having a wonderful high school experience there. Read More »