Survival Kit for Desperate Places

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Dianne Barker here with encouragement for your journey. I don’t love disappointments, delays, or detours. Life would be sweet if we could just go our well-planned way, checking off finished projects one by one. But unwelcome interruptions are reality. I wasted a lot of life fretting and grumbling, allowing circumstances to disturb my peace and steal my joy. Not any more!

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Living a Ten-Talents-Plus Life

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Living a Ten-Talents-Plus Life — Dianne Barker here with encouragement for your day. Recently I wrote about the parable of the talents—such a familiar story that I sometimes trivialize its impact. Reading the story again (Matthew 25:14-30) gave me fresh inspiration to live a ten-talents-plus life.

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How Many Loaves Do You Have?

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Dianne Barker here spreading encouragement. I’m wondering…what’s in your hands? Only a few loaves of bread and some small fish? You’re thinking…these won’t be enough to feed a hungry crowd. In your hands, inadequate. But in Jesus’ hands, more than enough.

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Heritage of Truth Internet TV

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Heritage of Truth Internet TV, Produced and Hosted by CAN member Jeanne Dennis Click on the title links below to watch the interviews with Christian Authors Network members. You can also learn more about each member by clicking on their name. Jane S. Daly, Time for Hope (show link) Crystal Bowman on Teaching Children Spiritual Truths (show link) Dianne Barker interviewed by Angela Breidenbach: A Journey of Faith (show link) Twila Belk interviewed by Jeanne Dennis: Spiritual Encouragement for Caregivers (show link) Anita Brooks on Getting Through What You Can’t Get Over (show link) Craig von Buseck: Fishers of Men  Karen Whiting on Raising a Young Modern…

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One Gear—Forward!

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Dianne Barker here spreading encouragement. A television documentary on ship building surprised me with inspiration. The narrator said that massive vessel under construction had only one gear—forward.

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She Was Just an Interruption

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Dianne Barker here, spreading encouragement. I must ask—do you ever feel like giving up? Are you tired of the hassle…tired of spinning your wheels…tired of feeling stuck? Facing a bleak future and overcome by hopelessness, have you muttered to yourself, Why bother?

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Search for Treasures in Unexpected Places

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Dianne Barker here, doing my favorite thing—spreading encouragement. I’ve chosen my verse for 2017. “…Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it” (Malachi 3:10b).

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God with Us—Does that Make a Difference?

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Dianne Barker here with a few thoughts about the presence of God with us. Long ago the prophet Isaiah wrote, “…The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14), which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). What difference does his presence make in an ordinary life?

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Exhausted but Still in Pursuit

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Dianne Barker here again with my friend Gideon. Remember, God chose him to save Israel from the Midianites and called him a mighty warrior…while he was doubtful and afraid (see October 17, 2016 blog post). We’ll pick up the story as Gideon prepares to carry out the mission (Judges 6-8). Being a journalist, I’m claiming literary license to interview this courageous hero. Our conversation might have gone like this.

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