I can remember a time when prayer felt transactional to me. Although I’d been praying since before I could read, even as an adult, prayer often felt like a one-way conversation in which I asked God for this or that and then waited to see how He would respond. And then I walked through a… Read more
A Mother’s Prayer Written by Katie Blackburn Heavenly Father, How amazing it is to remember that Your plan for motherhood has always been good. Before You spoke the world into motion, before the day was separated from the night and the land distinguished from the ocean, as You breathed life into man, You knew that… Read more
One bright Sunday morning, I heard the voice of my grandmother. I was five years old and was enjoying spending the weekend with her. On Sunday mornings my grandmother would make homemade biscuits and fresh orange juice and then lay everything out on her glass table in the kitchen. My cousin and I could smell… Read more
Summer is coming soon, and if your children are school-age, thoughts quickly turn to vacation and carefree days! How often at this time of year do we think of our children’s teachers? This year has been full of ups, downs, chaos, and change. Teachers have served on the front lines of pivoting and innovating during… Read more
Lent and Easter in a global pandemic? We’ve been here before . . . a year ago. It all seemed so new and scary last year. This year, we’ve settled into a new way of living: pandemic life. We’re “pandemic fine.” Young kids may barely remember life “before,” and kids who do remember are dealing… Read more
You’ve probably heard it said before that it is important to pray for our leaders. Maybe you regularly pray for your leaders at church or at home. Do you sometimes feel that praying for our leaders is hard because you don’t see eye to eye with the way they are leading? The truth is …. Read more
Spiritual disciplines are inward and outward practices, rooted in Scripture and tradition, that draw us closer to God. They are disciplines, practices that require work and repetition, that we grow more comfortable with and better at the more we do them. And they are a critical part of the Christian life, helping us to mature… Read more
This has been a hard week for America. When things get hard and ugly outside the walls of our homes, it is a natural reaction to hide our head under the covers and pretend everything is okay despite the groans of the world around us. Life can be uncomfortable and overwhelming and oftentimes we just… Read more
Dear Father, As we close out 2020— the hardest or at least, most odd year we’ve ever had, we thank You for seeing us through it. We have no idea what 2021 is going to look like— yet we trust You will guide us to move forward with peace. No matter what is behind us… Read more
How did prayer start? Well, prayer, which is the practice of talking to God, goes all the way back to the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve walked and talked with God every day. The Bible is full of stories that involve talking to God, and the book of Acts is especially notable! The… Read more
