Daily Devotionals

I love Hallmark Christmas movies with all of their cheesy holiday joy. In every frame of each movie, the creators make sure to include some aspect of holly jolly cheer. While the lights may sparkle on the television screen, I can’t say that real life meets the Hallmark standard. Some...

The Israelites spent 40 years eating manna and never having to work the land or gather the harvest. Upon stepping into the promised land that flowed with milk and honey, this all changed. Yes, the land was fertile and rich, which would heed bountiful crops, but bounty comes at a price. The price...

I love the feeling of scaling the side of a rock and making it all the way to the top. I love the feeling of hitting my stride when I am running. I love to push into a yoga pose that I have been trying to get for a couple of weeks. I don’t, however, love the regular day-to-day exercise...

Our world is filled with death, disease, disasters and evil. The consequences of this brokenness are pain and suffering. The world doesn’t give preference to people who are righteous, and Job is an example of this truth. In Job 1:1, we find out that Job was blameless and upright. Job...

Each day is a new opportunity to align our direction with our intention. The prophet Jeremiah says in Lamentations: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. — Lamentations 3:22–23 Because...

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to serve for three weeks at a Christian summer camp for orphans in the Ukraine. This camp was right by a river and mountain, and in the side of the mountain was the Sviatohirsk Cave Monastery. While we were there, we were able to tour the monastery, which...

Growing up, I was blessed with the gift of watching a godly marriage in action. My parents served each other on a daily basis. They loved each other through every situation that life handed them with laughter and support. Unfortunately, I did not get the opportunity to see their dating life in...

Baking is an exact science, especially when you make pastry dough. Pastry gets its flakiness from the layers and layers of butter rolled out between layers and layers of dough, but the process to get to those layers is painstaking. The butter and water added to the dough must be extremely cold...

I crave order in my life. Everything should have a place and should always be returned to its location. My calendar is color-coded. I have a system for how I read books and do chores and plan meals. Some might even call me a control freak. I would say that I just prefer everything in life to be...

My husband and I recently celebrated 20 years of being married. It was a sweet day, filled with little things that have become some of my favorite parts of marriage. Just a short 24 hours after that day, several life challenges came our way. It seemed like we could not catch a break. From car...