Open our Bible Study with Prayer Dear Heavenly Father, we begin today by giving You thanks. Your love endures forever, it never fails. We thank You for breaking Your silence and revealing Yourself to us through the gift of Your Son and Your word. Speak your words of love and compassion to us and give us ears to hear what you are saying. Prepare our hearts to receive your love and to pour out that love to others. We ask this In Jesus’ name. Amen Last month I asked "What defines a family? Is it love or blood?" Ruth and Naomi were an example of how you can have a strong family connection without ..read more

Dear heavenly Father, You are the creator of all things, the author of life. We thank You for Your faithful presence in our lives, and we thank You for the Word of God. Today, we ask for Your presence here in the middle of our group. Open the eyes of our hearts and make Your will clear to us. We ask that You make us ever mindful of our mission to share the gospel with all creation. Lord, would You please give us a holy boldness to share the knowledge of Your Word with those around us? We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. In this lesson, we are looking at joy found through the life and death of J ..read more

Open our Bible Study with Prayer Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for making me a woman! Being a woman comes with so many challenges. I acknowledge that I cannot do it alone, so I ask for Your divine strength and wisdom to scale through this life. Help me to be a source of strength to my fellow sisters whether they are connected to me by blood or love. May the things that we learn today help us to continue being women that bring glory to your holy name. We ask this In Jesus’ name. Amen This month’s bible study on Mothers and Daughters, asks us to look at what makes a family. Is it love or bloo ..read more

Dear Heavenly Father, as we rise to meet each new day, please let us be filled with Your spirit. We praise You for this day and Your purpose for it. Help us to embrace and enjoy the life you’ve given us to live. Reset our agendas as we sit in Your presence. Bless our minds to remember and embrace the freedom, hope, joy and peace we have in Christ. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. This is our second lesson in this study of Philippians, and we are still on our search for Joy. Deb asked us to think about these five ways we can see joy at work in our lives and how we can share that joy with othe ..read more

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your amazing power and work in our lives. Thank You for Your goodness and for Your blessings over us. Help us to set our eyes and our hearts on You afresh. Renew our spirits, fill us with your peace and joy. Wherever we go, let us spread love, joy, peace, goodness, and faithfulness. Let us desire to become more like you and to worship you in all we do. We ask this in Jesus' Name, Amen. For this lesson, we are looking at the first week of Deb Burma’s book “Joy a Study of Philippians.” She gives us 5 statements to help us on our journey in search of Joy. It w ..read more

I have a special connection with my daughter, and when I heard about the woman’s devotional “The Mothers and Daughters of the Bible Speak” by Shannon Bream, it intrigued me. What does the Bible have to say about motherhood, and what could these biblical women have to say to me? Although my daughter is not biological, I see so much of myself when I look at her, and because of that, I worry about her. All kidding aside, I worry because she is growing up in a world that has lost track of what it means to be a woman, and less importance is being placed on being a mother. You may not be a mother o ..read more

I have to confess this is my favorite week of advent. It’s joy week! This is the time we light the rose-colored candle because it reflects the joy that comes from the promise fulfilled for us in Jesus’ birth. Luke 1:14 tells us, “You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.” But sometimes we have trouble finding joy and gladness this time of year, we let the news on our TV’s and our expectations of the holidays get in the way. Even I get nervous as it gets closer to Christmas. Wondering if I will be ready? Will, I get to all the details, like cards in the mail, decorati ..read more

I confessed last week that I love Christmas. The way we celebrate (in church and with our family) is with an Advent wreath. Last week, we lit the first blue candle that represents PROMISE. The promise our Lord made in the very beginning to Adam and Eve. That one day He would send a Savior; and that her offspring will crush Satan’s head. Isaiah 7:14 made that promise clearer when he said, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” God with us. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 16:20 that, “The God of peace will ..read more

I have to confess I love everything about the holidays! From the Christmas music on my radio to the pine needles that seem to get stuck in every imaginable place. Today, my home is in a state of flux as we transition it to a Christmas wonderland. I say we because alone I wouldn’t be able to accomplish much, and I wouldn’t have much interest either. The other person in this “we” is my husband. He not only brings in the muscle, he brings on the joy! I can remember my husband and I as we celebrated our first Christmas together, not our first married holiday, our first dating one, because we bega ..read more

I have a confession; I have never felt a genuine happiness that has lasted longer than a few days. Now, don’t feel sorry for me, or get mad at my husband. I consider myself a cheerful person, and I could bore you for hours with the many blessings and things that bring me happiness daily. My husband, family, my work for the church, my home, and writing, even a day at the beach. These things have brought me tons of happy moments! So, what in the world could I be talking about? How could someone with all that not feel true, lasting happiness? It is because this world is not the end all, be all ..read more