by Nancy Hoag Because my husband’s employment and promotions had repeatedly moved us from one side of the country to the other, I longed for roots and a permanent home. I’d even chosen a house plan for the dream we would make come true; I’d been carrying the plan around for more than a dozen […]
by Danny R. Von Kanel When Allen, my oldest son, viewed his world from a stroller, I would often push him around in our backyard in Florala, Alabama, and say, “Allen, let’s go trail blazing.” Wheeling him around our yard was a delight—especially to a dad and his firstborn. Since then, I have realized that […]
by Alan Dowd It’s odd that the Bible doesn’t tell us much about Joseph, the husband of Mary. After all, Jesus spent many—perhaps most—of his formative years with Joseph. In a patriarchal, male-dominated society like that of first-century Judea, we might expect more detail on this fill-in father figure. But the Joseph of the Gospels […]
by Joy Crichton When we returned home after 10 years as missionaries to South Africa, my husband and I longed to reach our neighbors for Christ. Daily we drove by the 40 houses in our neighborhood and knew what we needed to do first: We needed to make friends. We’d been teenagers in the 80s […]
by Laura L. Wood I didn’t like what I heard, but I knew it was true. My sister told me something years ago that has stuck with me. I told her I had hurt someone’s feelings accidentally by a joke I made. At just the right moment in the conversation, she said, “You’re just joking, […]
