During my first two months or so in China, I lived in three different cities and in five different apartments or hotel rooms. As a girl who has had the same home address for more than twenty years, I found it difficult to adjust to being a stranger and a pilgrim. I know we are…
Meeting Day, Part 2
I waited patiently for the phone to ring again, and it did. This time a voice I had only dreamed of hearing was on the other end. “Hello, Mari, I am Evonne, and I have been searching for our daughter.” Tears of joy and fear filled both mother’s hearts. For eighteen years, Evonne had dreamed…
Meeting Day, Part 1
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” Proverbs 3:5 Our life with our daughter, Alyssa, has been a joy at every turn. She has grown into a very lovely young lady. Never did I realize what a blessing she would be when we fondly called her our…
God is Always in Control
After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a…
The Other Side
When I rose from my knees, having drunk deeply from Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21, I was in awe – that I “might be filled with all the fullness of God.” Since I am so limited in my scope, such a thought surpasses my wildest expectations of what God has for me in Christ. As a…
Discernment of the Fake
And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name…
They Called Her “Mom”
Everyone called her “Mom Steel,” though the only ones in our group who could really claim to be her descendants were Matt, Shannah, Ruth, and John Mark. The rest of us were college kids excited to have a home-cooked meal and a place to fellowship on Sunday nights. Mrs. Steel’s motto was “All are welcome….
Change For His Glory
And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And…
Is My Unlove Showing?
About thirty of us from our church’s career group wee packed into a living rom, listening to our friend Ellen share insights from her nine-year career as a single missionary in Cameroon, West Africa. When Ellen had concluded and a thoughtful silence hung in the air, she asked, “Does anyone have any questions?” From the…
My Fountain
We who have been redeemed can choose one of two kinds of lives to live here. We can enjoy a life of continual vitality, or we can live in an arid wasteland. The prophet Jeremiah begged Israel to choose life, asking the question, “Why will ye die?” And this exhortation I am continually burdened to…
The Beautiful Spirit 