At a recent women’s retreat, my small group leader asked the women, “What are your spiritual stories?” My first thought was, “Goodness! You have just asked a bunch of women who don’t know each other to tell stories! This will take all day!”

Life seemed much simpler when I was a child. Our neighborhood bustled with children. We felt comfortable going from home to home during the day, checking in sporadically with our parents. Parents knew everyone in the neighborhood and on summer nights they sat in lawn chairs on the neighbor’s lawn, watching the children play hide-and-seek or catch fireflies. As the time drew closer to bath time, my parents folded their chairs and made their way into the house, calling out to me. I never felt ready to end the evening but in obedience I waved goodbye to my friends and headed into the house.

We have a tradition in our family. When a grandchild becomes a teenager, they are allowed to choose somewhere in the United States they want to go with my husband and me. This past summer we were blessed to take two of our grandboys to Washington, DC. There was lots of planning and excitement over this trip because of all the sites we anticipated seeing.

Father’s Day will soon be upon us and there are lessons we can all learn from good fathers like I was blessed with. My father, Jack Wilson, was a man of few words and one of the humblest men I’ve ever known. His life taught me an important lesson on humility and I think it will speak to you too.

Some days, we wake up and are not clearheaded. We drag ourselves from the bed. On days like this, I grumble all the way to the treadmill. I am not a coffee drinker, so it takes me awhile to get started. As I work out and stretch, I listen to Christian shows that awaken my mind and help me seize the day.

As I walked out the door dressed for an event, I took one more glance in the mirror to make sure I was ready to go. I wore a new dress and shoes, ornamented with jewelry my husband had bought for me. I felt so special.

George and I recently watch a movie set in World War II called “Greyhound.” In the movie, Tom Hanks plays Commander Ernest Krause, who leads his first wartime mission on a battleship named the “Greyhound.” While escorting 37 merchant ships across the Atlantic Ocean to Liverpool, England, he also commands British, Polish, and Canadian destroyers.

When George and I married, it was his last year of college and I had started a new job. As newlyweds, we counted every penny and stayed within our means. The phrase “we didn’t have two pennies to rub together” was meant for us. Money was so scarce we accepted a used 1949 Chevrolet painted Baylor green with gold hub caps from my parents—the same car my mother drove when she attended Baylor University! We fondly called that car “Claude.” Every time we turned right, Claude honked, and every time we pushed on the gas pedal, the windshield wipers stopped, so we would let up on the gas, get the windshield wiped, and then go again.

How many of you have said the words, “I am drawing the line right now”? Did you stick with it? I used these words with my children many times, but when it comes to Godly principles, there is no moving the line.

‘Tis the season for Christmas. I love to Christmas decorate, bake, and entertain this time of year. I begin decorating the day after Thanksgiving once all the Thanksgiving decorations are stored. I awaken early to the excitement of decorating by pulling out all the containers of Christmas decorations. I do not like containers sitting around, therefore, I unpack and replace them back to storage, leaving decorations out of place everywhere. Image this, most every room in the house has unpacked decorations.

Not long ago I awakened in a funk. I felt a bit off and in a bad mood. I could not figure why. Usually, I wake up and look forward to the day and what it will bring. On this day, I didn’t want to see or be with anyone. This was strange because my husband says I never meet a stranger and I fill our calendar with social events.

“I was madder than a wet hen!” This is a slang term I like to use about anger. It isn’t very becoming, and it is rare that I get really angry, but this incident pushed my limit. A group of Christian leaders decided to take a weekend holiday at our home on the lake. There were not many restaurants on our side of the lake, therefore George and I frequented one in particular. The restaurant usually employed young women in high school as waitresses and we would get to know them. On this particular night the restaurant was busy, but our group was seated quickly. While we were laughing and telling stories, a young girl came to take our drink order. We paused to answer and a few of the women kept changing their order. By the time the drink order was finalized, even I was confused.

This year the Jewish “Feast of Trumpets” will be celebrated on September 25-27. Many believe that this feast will usher in the end times as Christ returns “at the sound of a trumpet” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). My husband George has extensively researched and recently taught on the signs of the end times, so I asked him to share a short summary of his teaching with you in this month’s devotion. You may agree or disagree, but he has laid out some facts that you can study for yourself. I hope it is an inspiration to you to study more on your own. I challenge you to pray about what you are about to read and come to your own conclusions. With love, Jan

Have you ever said to yourself, “Oh Lord, not me! Please use someone else to do this job!” Most of us can honestly say we have. Yet it is no mistake that God has you where He wants you: strategically placed.

“Sappy” and “wonder struck”: how do those two words fit together? Let me explain. I recently attended the wedding of a darling bride and spiritual daughter in Washington, D.C. during the cherry blossom season. Viewing the cherry blossoms was on my bucket list and when I discovered she planned her wedding during the peak season of the cherry blossoms, I was so excited.

“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord” Psalm 27:14 (KJV).

You may have heard the phrase, “April Showers bring May flowers.” I love Spring, but as a child the sound of rolling thunder and lightning scared me. On one particular stormy night, the skies exploded with a spectacular light show and thunder shook the windows of our home. I raced to my parent’s room, knocking over a few items on the way. My dad flew out of bed in a flash, poised to take on an intruder. What he saw was a blonde-headed little girl shaking with tear-filled eyes. My sleepy-eyed mom joined us and walked me back to my room. She had me kneel on my bed with my arms poised on the windowsill. Together, we watched the storm roll in.

When trials and tribulations come upon us, sometimes we feel as if God has turned away and doesn’t hear our cries. Have you ever felt this way?

One year just before Easter, my husband George was asked to teach on the last words of Jesus. He chose “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”, the loud cry that has echoed for centuries (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34). These words beg the question, Did Jesus really feel forsaken by God? And did God abandon His Son to suffer?

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9 NJKV

When George and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary, we decided to put together a video. You can image my husband’s surprise as I unfolded a long table and began to stack picture albums on the table. There were stacks upon stacks from 50 years of marriage that I had carefully put together. As we relived those years together, with different hairstyles and debatable clothing, I realized our life experiences had shaped us and grown us closer. We shared many high points of joyous times of pure laughter, the birth and raising of our children and grandchildren, and traveling all over the globe.