Devotionals

  A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford All of her friends were upset when our dear friend told us she’d been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and faced immediate surgery.  She’s old (by our reckoning),  lives alone, has rather meager resources...

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Handford My husband Walt was an ardent mountaineer, growing up in Seattle. He and his aged father even did a 3-day backpack into the Three Sisters, peaks each over 10,000 feet in the Cascade Mountains. Walt could walk into a...

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Handford Friends of mine both work for the federal government. During covid, they worked from home, and as soon as they could, they returned to their offices. But the husband is deeply worried now that they might be furloughed....

A Word of Encouragement with Elizabeth Rice Handford A dear woman who attended my Bible class was diagnosed with brain cancer. She had only a few weeks to live. She was a retired school teacher. She’d come to Christ only two years before. She was too sick to have...

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford I was already skeptical about the phone call when I heard the man’s British/Indian accent. He said, “You have won a million dollars, and we are ready to send it to you today.” “Sure, and you’ll throw in the Brooklyn...

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford Forgiven! At peace with God! Isn’t that the longing of every human heart? But not many of us feel forgiven or at peace. We are more anxious and fearful, it seems, than any people who lived. Then, at least, threats...

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford I was a refugee from Hurricane Helene. My daughter Ruth and son Jeffrey had climbed through downed trees on the road to rescue me. My power, heat, light, internet, food supplies, all had been knocked out by the...

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford "I’m glad they caught the man that murdered that insurance executive." said a friend of mine recently. Another friend retorted, "Huh, sure they did. The guy that was killed was rich and famous. But if he’d been...

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford Facing the new year is daunting. The year 2025 is unknown. We can’t guess what will happen about inflation, family relationships, employment, the cultural divide our country faces, or the threats of hostilities all...

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford On a long flight from Connecticut to Washington, D.C., my seat mate was a beautiful Jewish woman. We’d had a lively conversation about things we were both interested in. Then I told her about my relationship with...