Woman’s Best Friend

A friend loves at all times.—Proverbs 17:17

It was Labor Day weekend 2006, a month and a half after the death of our 12-year-old Springer spaniel Duncan, as we traveled from a friend’s wedding in Jacksonville, Fla., to a Wendy’s parking lot in South Carolina to meet our rescue puppy.

Called Floyd at the time, he had been rescued the night before he (more…)

Making Connections

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor; if either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls but has no one to help [her] up.—Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

If genuine friendships are a measure of blessing (and I believe they are), I am among the most blessed women ever. Despite (more…)

Loving Like Cats and Dogs

Iron sharpens iron. So one man sharpens another.—Proverbs 27:17

You may hear an argument described as people “fighting like cats and dogs.” But dogs and cats apparently aren’t always enemies. Recently I was watching the cable TV show Secrets of the Zoo, which showed yellow labs being partnered with abandoned cheetah cubs. The results are adorable and potentially life-saving.

Cheetahs, it turns out, (more…)

Making All Things New

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. – Isaiah 43:8

God is in the business of making all things new. He gives us new life in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 6:4). He makes His mercies new every morning (Lamentations 3:23). He fills each day with new hope and new possibilities.

And He has given us this new year.

Yes, it (more…)

God’s Will for Your Life

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good (more…)