Devotionals

So, how can I reconcile the wonderful and terrible things that happened this week? (“So?” you ask. “Is that a proper way to open a conversation?” Maybe so. My grandchildren always answer a question with “So— ,” as if they’re continuing a conversation already begun,...

“Celebrities separate parenthood and marriage,” our newspaper announced last week (as if we hadn’t already noticed!) It isn’t just celebrities who reject marriage while bringing children into the world. It’s a trend on every level of our society. And, oh, what a...

Our daughter Margi loved school most of the time. Music class was wonderful. Art class, too. She’d always loved books, so she enjoyed English. And recess was fun. But one night, sitting at the kitchen table trying to do her math homework on fractions, she was near...

The man sitting next to me on the plane saw me studying my Bible and asked with irritation. “Don’t you know that the Bible is full of mistakes?” We were on a Saturday afternoon flight from Pittsburg to Atlanta. I was coming home from a women’s conference, he from a...

The dictionary says, “A snipe hunt is a practical joke in which the victim is left in a remote spot holding a bag for a fictitious snipe to run into.” The entry adds, “It can be a wonderful bonding experience for a father and child.” Uh? Really? It was summer family...

Recently I read in a “Dear Abby” column a letter that ran something like this: “Christian friends keep telling us we’ve been blessed by God because we both have wonderful jobs, our children are healthy, and we own a beautiful home. But they’re not blessings from God....

Our little home on small Shannon Lake seems like paradise to me. My neighbors are caring. The house is warm and easy to care for, but roomy and pleasant when the great-grandchildren visit. And God’s presence is here. My little dachshund Schatzi (her name means...

A mild admission from Elizabeth Rice Handford Walt and I were standing at dusk in the church parking lot with other church members, enjoying the air before the evening service. Some of the highschool boys were skate-boarding. I was intrigued, so this sixty-year-old...

A Sobering Conversation with Elizabeth Rice Handford First surprise in a 2020 Barna poll: 51% of all American adults claimed they believed that the Bible is the only source of absolute truth. They affirmed they make intellectual, emotional, and spiritual life choices...

You’ve got to confess it, I said to myself, desperately, for maybe the thirteenth time. If you don’t, and maybe somebody driving the car has an accident and dies, it will be all your fault. Daddy has to be told. I was sixteen years old. I’d only had my license for a...