Why I Write Happily Ever After Endings

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I’ve experienced God’s happily-ever-afters in my life many times since I became a Christian at age twenty-one. I suffered a difficult childhood. When the Lord made me a new creation in Christ Jesus, He began my emotional healing that transformed me into the happy, content person I am today. Again, when my first husband died early in our marriage leaving me with almost no money and two young children, I learned first-hand the Lord does take care of His children. When the first love of my life died, I felt physically torn in half. I often looked down at my…

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Yes Isn’t Always the Best Answer

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In my early working career, I liked my job in administration at a new hospital, but a big brand new company moved to town. They had an opening for a human resources director, and I interviewed. The vice president said his boss’s daughter applied, and it was between the two of us. In the meantime, other jobs came available, and I applied for those. The interviews were positive, and I was sure I would be hired for one of them. I had prayed about this change, and I didn’t understand when I wasn’t chosen for any of them. Why had…

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As Seasons Change

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Watching the summer season come to an end, and autumn follow, reminded me once again that God is in control. He is the one who sends the rain, the snow, and the sunshine. He directs the clouds and the wind and determines the temperature. Though people may try to predict the weather based on meteorological patterns, they cannot control it. Only God can. God is a God of order. Since the beginning of time, God established day and night and seasons. He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down (Psalm 104:19).   Every…

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A Wheel Secret

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  The secret things belong to the Lord our God… (Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV). The oddly-fashioned wheel bug is a type of assassin bug. An assassin bug preys upon and attacks a wide variety of insects and other arthropods in a rather gruesome manner, using its front legs and proboscis. The bug injects the critter-turned-lunch with enzymes that not only paralyze it but also dissolve the life-giving organs. The wheel bug then slurps up the liquefied insides. Yum, right? Uh, not hardly! Kinda icky, actually! Yet, the true bug is considered beneficial because it preys on pest insects. The wheel bug…

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Compassion Fatigue

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Compassion Fatigue By Janet Holm McHenry The Lord is a refuge to his people. –Joel 3:16 (ESV) From a recent training for local teachers on social-emotional learning I learned a new term: compassion fatigue. As teachers have doubled up duties to teach both in an in-person setting and in a distance learning model, they have also encountered countless cases of students and parents and peers in emotional distress, while also trying to manage their own families’ needs and their own. Compassion fatigue is real. I have experienced this often over the last 22 years as I’ve prayer-walked the streets of…

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Who Are We?

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  On the first day of a class I was teaching on how gender is expressed in the home, church, and society, I thought through the material I planned to cover. And honestly, I feared that some of what I’d prepared was too elementary for seminary students. Did they really need to hear again that both male and female were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27)? Yet despite my doubts, I determined to cover even the basics. So, as I taught, I repeated what I assumed they all knew. But sure enough, a woman sitting on the front…

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Discerning the Times

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  Sometimes it’s so hard to discern what’s going on in your life emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually. Something is off-kilter, but you just can’t put your hands on it. You’re not quite yourself. You’re edgy. You’re frustrated. You’re tense. Or your relationships aren’t quite right. You’re distant. Distracted. Touchy. And then it hits you. It’s been days since you’ve prayed or spent quality time with God. Or maybe you’ve gotten hooked on a television show or a novel that’s not good for your soul. Or perhaps you’ve been hanging out with a friend who loves to gossip or spew negativity…

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God’s Hands…Our Safe Place

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  Today’s world is full of evil manifesting itself in violence around our nation and even the world. Paul tells Timothy that we are to flee from evil and everything Satan sets before us from his world of darkness. Satan’s words can fill our minds and hearts with such negative energy that we begin to believe the lies we tell ourselves. How then can we be encouraged to stand for what is right and flee evil? When our hearts and minds are set on anything other than what God has planned for us, we cannot reach the full potential God…

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Praying about the Small Things

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The donut and webcam story… by Molly Jebber I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart at five years old. I learned early on that Jesus Christ may not say yes to everything we ask, but he cares about all our requests. And thank goodness, He doesn’t always say yes, because the Lord knows what’s best for me when I don’t. I was a keynote speaker for the Southern California Christian Authors Conference recently. Due to the virus, the event was virtual. My webcam on my computer went out the day before the conference. Wearing my mask, I went to six…

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Worship While You Wait

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  Waiting is one of the most difficult of all the spiritual disciplines. In our hurried, driven, fast-paced culture we have lost the art of waiting well. If there’s a long line at the grocery store or coffee shop, we sigh and wonder if it’s worth it. We use microwaves and Instant Pots. God, however, is in the waiting. He uses delay in our lives to sharpen us and set the stage for His future plans. We see this in the Psalmist David’s life. David was well-acquainted with waiting. Many Bible scholars feel he waited at least seventeen years before…

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