I’ve been thinking a lot lately about avoidance. Trying to avoid the chocolate calling for me in the pantry. Avoiding too much screen time. Germs. Crowds. The scale. Overextending. Traffic. Snakes and spiders. The news. Avoiding staying up too late because I just can’t seem to put the book down. What I’ve slowly come to realize is most of these are physical aggravators. Oh, indulgence in any of them can affect my emotions, possibly even harm me. Yet while we tend to focus on external things we should avoid, most of us are missing a huge aspect of our spiritual…

Lord, We come to Your feet, praising You for being the God You are--holy, all-powerful, King, and friend. Father, You hear the cries of Your children in Afghanistan and all over the world. You hold them in their darkest moments, when terror squeezes the breath from their chests. Be their peace. Be their hope. Give them courage. I ask, in the name of Jesus, to blind the enemy as You did in the days of Elisha. Confuse their plans and rescue Your children from danger. Not for their name's sake, but for Yours. Forgive us, Lord, for our apathy. We…

I was getting a bit bored, driving through soggy rice fields on my way to a prison in Arkansas, preparing to speak to inmates on a drizzly Sunday morning. Maybe it was the lack of scenery that made me notice it. Maybe it’s because it was the only building around for miles other than a few silos. But when I saw the building perched on the side of the road, I shook my head. There in big, bold print, a sign advertised: Euphoria. Now, if this establishment offered chocolate or books, I would have pulled right in. This business, however, offered…

I'm asking our Father to give you joy, peace, and strength for this day. You are loved! ~Tara  

A glove lay on the table, its yarn soft and clean. It was proud of its red hue, striped with black and white. No knots marred its design. It was perfect. One day, a boy slid his fingers into the little glove. What a surprise! The little glove could move and wiggle, each one of its fingers working together . It flew high and dipped low. It could curl in on itself or stretch as wide as could be. What movement! What power! The little glove thought to himself, “Look at me! Can everyone see? My energy and abilities are…