The post Mother appeared first on Southern Baptists of Texas Convention ..read more

The post El Saco Blanco appeared first on Southern Baptists of Texas Convention ..read more

The post The White Jacket appeared first on Southern Baptists of Texas Convention ..read more

“Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valleys,” wrote Billy Graham. Eighteen months ago, I found myself staring down into the dark unknown of my hardest valley. The circumstances surrounding my eighth pregnancy were unusual and had me on high alert. The delivery of our seventh baby, Gwendolyn, included complications. I had suffered a major postpartum hemorrhage, and medical statistics painted a bleak picture for a healthy delivery for number eight. But God had given us a sweet promise before we found out we were pregnant with this baby. He gave us the baby ..read more

My son plays soccer and has been working hard to improve his speed. His coach supports his goal, but the coach also reminds him of the importance of finding strength in his weakness. The coach advised him to team up with someone who is strong in the area he is weak. “They will pick up where you are weak, and make you feel strong,” the coach said. In 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, Paul shared a similar principle about acknowledging our weaknesses and aligning ourselves with the One who makes us strong: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My ..read more

Something as simple as a diary shows how generations of women differ from other generations. Some generations of women write in diaries and keep them hidden away as highly personal while younger generations use Facebook or Instagram as public diaries for everyone to read. Whether a generation records their lives in diaries or Instagram, or whether they prefer a handwritten thank you note or a “THX” text, women of different generations feel disconnected from each by their differences. How can we be intentional about getting to know women younger or older than ourselves? How can we help wome ..read more

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 that God has given us the message of reconciliation for the world; therefore, we, His church, have been given an incredible privilege of being His ambassadors. According to Webster’s dictionary, an ambassador is “an authorized representative or messenger.” If you think about it, why aren’t we taken to heaven the moment of our salvation? The answer is because the Lord still has work here on earth for us to do. He has chosen and commissioned us to advance the Kingdom and share the good news of Jesus Christ around the globe. If you have genuinely repented of ..read more

“Go where are you sent, stay where you are put, and give what you’ve got until you’re done.” Jill Briscoe I was a broken mess, still trying to process the events that had happened over the last 18 months, when I heard this quote. It was Jill Briscoe the summer of 2018. I had moved back to Houston after the death of my first husband. Houston—the last place that I ever wanted or thought I would be. But it was this quote that I turned into a prayer—and faithfully made my heart’s desire—and God was faithful as He always is. I’m often around women who find themselves in hard, unwanted, and unex ..read more

Lord, may they be one, just as you and I are one (John 17:21). These are the words of Jesus in John 17 as He prays for His followers. Having just broken bread with His disciples for the last time before Gethsemane and Golgotha, Jesus prayed for oneness among people who called themselves His followers. This passage invites us into the Middle Eastern upper room where Jesus asked the Father for three things: to sanctify us in truth, that we would come to know God the Father intimately, and that we would be one. Does that move your heart like it does mine? Of all the things Jesus could have pr ..read more

Christmas music. Listening to it may have been the first Christmasy thing you did this season. And that’s appropriate since after the delivery of angelic tidings to Zechariah and Mary, Christmas music starts playing in Luke 1:46 with Mary’s poem of praise. We expect a song from the leading lady of the first Christmas play, but we assume it will be a sweet and soft song, glowing with hope and glistening with happy tears as a first-time mom awaits her divinely given firstborn. But God gives the best presents, and they’re always full of surprises. One Christmas gift He gives us is this song o ..read more