Devotionals
2021
Anakin the Dog Is Home Again, So—?
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford For 28 days our “Next door” neighborhood email box was filled with the heart-broken pleas of a woman whose dog Anakin was lost. The owner put up posters everywhere, begged people to pray they’d catch him, and asked...
Because Jesus Did Rise from the Dead
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford Was all that suffering of Jesus on the cross in vain? Did He make that sacrifice all for nothing? His followers had believed Him. They had trusted Him to give them eternal life like He’d promised. Was it all a...
Easter: When God Died
Thinking about Jesus’ death with Elizabeth Rice Handford WARNING: Content disturbing, but in the end, exhilarating. Among their many other dubious achievements, the Romans of the first century perfected the art of the execution of criminals. The Romans had no...
They Gave Me Grace
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford Ask my kids, and they’ll tell you I’m a competitor. I play to win. (Not that I always win, you understand; it’s just that I aim to win.) My competitive spirit is so strong, I find it hard, when I’m playing checkers...
Tomorow Will Come— Will You Be Glad or Sad?
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford Do you remember, when you were a child, how very long it took for your birthday to come again? Later on in life, I’ve discovered, birthdays seem to come too soon. But it is true: tomorrow will come.And the question...
St. Patrick: Interesting Myth or Heroic Reality?
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford St. Patrick’s grave at Downpatrick How exciting it is to find out that what you thought was just a pleasant fairy tale about a brave hero turns out to be genuine, satisfying historic truth. That’s what happens when...
God’s Never-Ending. Loving Care
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Handford If you are a mathematician you already know what a mobius strip is. Since I’m not a mathematician, and have no hope of becoming one, the idea of a mobius strip facinates me. Take a strip of paper, hold one end of it,...
“Why doesn’t God do something?”
A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford Years ago my husband and I were walking through the Ford Museum in Dearborn when he stopped me by a huge Farmall F-20 tractor. “There,” Walt said, “that’s the tractor I bought last week. They’ll deliver it next...
Olga the nanny goat is riding on the runing board—But where’s the Baby?
We agree. don’t we, that a boss doesn’t hire a salesman because he’s handsome, but because he’s an effective salesman. A mother doesn’t spend her time on making the house pretty so her neighbors will be impressed. Rather she creates a home, a refuge, for her husband...
God sends His Love
Your Valentine from the God who loves you dearly Too often our concept of God is that He is an angry, unloving despot leaning over the battlements of Heaven, watching us with an eagle eye, hoping to catch us doing something wrong so He can zap us in glee with a 2 X 4...
