Devotionals

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford “Joy to the world!” we sing so gladly on Christmas Day, “the Lord is come!  Let earth receive her King!” But there are 123 million refugees in the world to whom that song is a mockery.  Joy?  Peace?  Driven out of...

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Handford We celebrated Columbus Day last week, on the date he first spied new land from his flagship, the Santa Maria.  You may have heard derogatory statements made about him and the statues of him that were destroyed.  I’d like...

 A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford “Grammy!” an agonized voice said over the phone.  “This is your oldest grandson.  I need your help.  My car wouldn’t start this morning, and I got a ride with a friend, and the police stopped him, and I didn’t know...

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford Nobody likes to be called into the school principal’s office.  So I was accustomed to talking to uneasy children. But one morning, years ago, the parents of twin girls in our school came into my office seeming to be...

  A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford Recently I invited my seven children and their spouses for supper.  “Bring big empty boxes and newspapers.  I want you to take home everything you want of my stuff from the house.  I’m not going to be needing any...

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Handford Years ago Walt and I had a sweet Beagle named Ranger.  She was AKC registered and had just delivered her first litter of puppies.  It was so much fun to watch her turn from a care-free puppy herself to a careful and...

  A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford This has been a difficult week.  Three funerals in eight days.  Three godly men.  Dear friends.  Two of them in the prime of life.  All three companions in ministry with my dear husband Walt at one time or...

    A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford The summer I was 16 I worked in my father’s Christian book store.  The work was pleasant and always challenging.  One hot day a distraught woman hurried into the store.   “May I help you?” I asked. “Yes.  I need...

 A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford “Dr. Handford!  Wait up!” a woman called, as Walt and I were walking out of a doctor’s office.  “I’m so glad to see you,” she said.  “For thirty years I’ve wanted to tell you how much it meant to me when you...

 By Elizabeth Rice Handford “Let’s be kinder,” a blogger recently burbled.  “Let’s love each other more.” Oh, how right she is!  This poor old world desperately needs to see us Christians loving others, caring for the poor, compassionately watching for ways to help...