Let’s be honest. Life is filled with ups and downs. Oftentimes there are more downs than ups, and it’s important to remember where our hope lies. Our hope is in the Lord—and sometimes the things that seem so important really aren’t. Other times there are pretty big and scary things we have to face. No matter what the issue, my faith and trust in the Lord help me to deal with whatever I’m facing. My go-to verses to remind me of this are Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all…
Month: July 2019
This is our archive pageJoy is Relationship
On my birthday, as my newest book, Discovering Joy in Philippians: A Creative Bible Study Experience released, I pondered “What is joy, really?” As I look back, seems God had me on a learning trajectory to find then live out joy. As a child, first born daughter of an alcoholic dad, I was naturally joyful but our home situation was chaotic and unpredictable so when things got volatile due to my dad’s anger or his own depression, I retreated and became a sullen, sometimes, pouty and often emotionally teary-eyed little girl. But God had something greater, something better for me…
A Chat with Author Marlene Banks
Greetings from Sarah Sundin in California! I hope you’re keeping cool in this heat wave! Today I have the honor of interviewing multi-published author Marlene Banks, who calls herself a word warrior—don’t you love that? Marlene shares today about how she fights with those words of hers, in the only battle with eternal significance. Tell us about your book, Generations Series…# 1~Land and Legacy. The Generations Series is a collection of seven short stories (novellas) about several families explored through multiple generations. These stories focus on a bloodline’s spiritual DNA, the hand of God throughout the family as well as…
Holding Hands Underground
In 1998 we moved from California to Atlanta, and a new friend asked, “What do you miss about California?” Of course, the main things were family and friends, but then it hit me. “The Redwood Forest. It’s beautiful and Majestic, and I learned life-lessons from those giant trees.” When you drive into the National Park and get out of your car, you enter a new world—an eerily quiet one. Your eyes scan the height of the magnificent trees, some 300 feet tall only allowing a trickle of light to peer through. The fringed tops seem to touch the sky, and…
Portable Edens
In Bible study on the Book of Exodus, our lecturer said the Ark of the Covenant was a “portable Eden.” It was a gold box God told the Hebrews to create so He could once again dwell among His nomadic people on earth and be in covenant with them as they traveled. Once the temple in Jerusalem was built, God then dwelled there, in the midst of the land He’d promised them. It became “Eden.” That talk sent a flutter through my chest. Why? Paul told the Corinthians that their bodies were the temple since the one in Jerusalem had…
A Chat with Author Kathy Collard Miller
Greetings from Sarah Sundin! It’s an honor for me to interview the very first Christian author I ever met, Kathy Collard Miller—she and my mother used to bowl together! Kathy is a multi-published author and a gifted speaker—I had the joy of hearing Kathy speak at a women’s retreat many years ago and was deeply touched by her words, her heart, and her humor. I know you’ll also enjoy hearing from Kathy today. Kathy, please tell us about your book Pure-Hearted: The Blessings of Living Out God’s Glory. Pure-Hearted encourages and inspires any Christian to evaluate the inner motives of…
Spinning Out of Control
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” (Proverbs 16:3 NIV). Spinning is a popular form of exercise almost everywhere now. Although, in my neighborhood, spinning has a totally different connotation. When I hear the word spinning, I immediately visualize a gym with a spinning class. Don’t you? But in my neighborhood, bicycles are not used for exercise per se. Yes, they are a means of exercise for my neighbors, but their primary purpose is to provide transportation by spinning to and from their alfalfa fields before sunrise. As I watch my neighbors spinning by my house in the early…
God Bless America
This is the week of our nation’s Independence Day. And in today’s times there is a greater need for bright lights of the gospel and people of faith living out their Christianity. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD . . .” Psalm 33:12 NASB “and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14) In Devotions for Women on the Go and Devotions for Men on…
U.S. Flag Trivia
The upcoming Independence Day holiday is all about fun, food, family, and celebrating America’s freedom from Britain. Here are five interesting facts about the U.S. flag you can share with your kids while waiting for the fireworks to start. History states the red, white, and blue colors of the U.S. flag represent valor (red), liberty and purity (white), and justice and loyalty (blue). There have been twenty-seven official versions of the American flag, each with a different number of stars. Of the six American flags that were planted on the moon, five of them are still standing. Which one isn’t?…