Through the scorching heatwaves that blurred the dusty Indian plain before me, I saw them coming in the distance, their vibrantly colored silks shining through the grit and heat like flames on the horizon. As they drew closer, the sight of them pierced my heart like a sword: they were crawling. Painstakingly and in suffocating heat, they inched their way to the wheelchair distribution held by the disability ministry of Joni and Friends.

Research tells us that home is the most important place for a man to be loved and affirmed.  If a man knows his wife loves and appreciates him, he is empowered to do better in every area of life … including his marriage!

God is the God of THE “I WILL!”  When you find the words “I WILL” in the Bible, you can bank on it.  When you say, “I can’t!”  God says, “I will!”  These words are God’s promise to you. He never goes back on His Word. He never changes His mind.  I WILL is present tense – it’s the promise of a living God and a living Savior.  He sees, He knows, He loves, He responds, He rescues, He restores!

This is adapted from the great Today’s Christian Woman article, “The 12 Prayers of Christmas” by Karen O. Allen.

Do you know someone for whom Christmas is a lonely, difficult season?

Sita Roa-amma’s face is pinched and filled with a mixture of sorrow and desperation that only a mother of a disabled child can fully understand. Her story spills out, more heartbreaking with each twist and turn, as she shares the journey to find healing for her 7 year old son, Balaji.

So, your son or daughter is home from college for the summer. Here’s a list of questions to open honest, crucial conversations to help them process their college experience as well as their goals and choices going forward.

This summer, use these open-ended questions to assist your child to reflect and learn from the challenges, choices, struggles and victories of this past school year. Not only will they learn valuable lessons through processing their year, but you’ll grow closer together as you share hearts in these precious summer days ahead.

The single mom is one of the fastest-growing sects of our population– there are more than 13 million across the United States. Recent studies report that at least fifty percent are classified as low-income. Where are the resources for single moms?  What tangible help is available to her other than government assistance?

Has there ever been a time in your life when you possessed all the qualities needed for that dream job but you couldn’t get through to the hiring manager? Or maybe you needed a specific doctor for your ailment but you couldn’t get past the receptionist’s stone cold voice, “He’s not taking new patients at this time.” It’s frustrating because your future is truly waiting on the gatekeeper.

From my radio show to the Bible Studies I teach, I talk to a lot of women about their stresses and their concerns about their careers, marriages and children. One consistent theme I hear over and over is, “What difference am I really making, for my family, my kids or for God?” For such questions I have only one answer, “You’re the only one with your personal convictions, your make-up, your skills, your appearance, your touch, your voice, your style, your sphere of influence.”

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I tend to think about all the things that need to be done: the cooking, the house cleaning, the guest list. Combined with work, family obligations, and Titus the Wonder Dog that doesn’t seem to get that “screen door” does not translate into “canine destruction zone” it can all feel a bit overwhelming. And let’s not forget Christmas is, gulp, six weeks away. (“Dear Santa, I want a new screen door. Thanks, Cindy.”)

When I think back to the times I felt most beautiful, most nourished, most comfortable with my body and its natural curves, they were not the times I was most pre-occupied by taking vigilant care of those things, but the times I worried least about them. They were the times when I worked hard to listen long and deep to an African woman’s story of rejection, when I invested so deeply in my children that I never noticed whether my hair was perfectly cut or even washed that day, when I didn’t worry about the crow’s feet around my eyes when I laughed huge and long with my whole face.