January Week One

How You Can Find Success at the Start of the New Year

I love new beginnings, fresh starts, clean slates. To me, there is nothing quite like a brand-new notebook with a crisp cover and pages upon pages of blank lines compelling me to write. I feel the same way about books that are begging to be read. Maybe that’s why I like the New Year so much.

Really, it’s just a change in date, a flip of a page on the calendar. Nothing is significantly different about today. Nothing about my life changed that much since yesterday. But, it’s the beginning of a new year, and with it comes the draw of the unknown, the expectancy of different, the possibility of change.

Change is inevitable…

As this year begins, you are going to see a few differences with The Girls Get Together inspirational emails. Forgive me if you don’t like the new format, but please understand. Everything is being done for a reason. Here are four important things you need to know.

1. The devotional will continue to be posted and sent on Wednesdays and will be no longer than 800 words (not counting the recommended scripture reading).

2. The entire devotional will not be included in the email. Instead, you will click on the “Read more” link to go directly to The Girls Get Together site, where the entire devotional will be posted.

3. Each month’s devotionals will be stored on site only for the current month. If at any time, you miss a devotional and cannot find it, contact me personally, and I will email it to you.

4. This year, I am encouraging you to dig deeper with me into the scriptures. Each month, we will examine Biblical characters and what we can learn from their lives and experiences. I encourage you to memorize the theme verse and to complete the challenges that are included with the lesson. Sometimes, I will include other resources and information that I think you may find interesting and helpful as well.

These devotionals are a primary way that I seek to encourage you and to help you grow in your relationships with the Lord and each other. 2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.” God wants us to know Him more! I hope that you join me in using these studies to develop a more intimate relationship with Christ.

Christ is the author of the fresh start, and the Bible is full of new beginnings. I am so thankful that through God’s love and forgiveness, we are guaranteed a clean slate—every year, every month, every week, every day, every moment that we need it! Please, feel free to comment, send an email or text, or join us on Facebook with questions, suggestions or insights that you want to share. Let me know how I can help and encourage you!

This Month…

This month, we are going to start with the book of Acts. Acts is a great place to begin a study of new beginnings because it’s the story of the beginning of the church, but it also includes the stories of numerous individuals who experienced a new life through Christ. As we examine four individuals from the book of Acts, we will begin to see a pattern in their lives, three things that they did that lead to their new beginnings.

1. They listened to God.

2. They responded to God.

3. They obeyed God.

These are the same three things that we can do to find success at the start of our new year and all year through. We have so much to learn!

So, let’s get started!

• Begin memorizing 2 Corinthians 5:17.

• Read one chapter of Acts every day this month. If you don’t have a Bible that you can read and understand, check out this Easy-to-Read Version.

• Check out “What is a Testimony and Why You Need to Share It.” Begin praying about who needs to hear your testimony.

January Week Two

From Murderer to Missionary

What God Can Do with a Lump of Clay

Read Acts 9:1-18

On a shelf in my living room, there is an orange vase. It was made by Brandon when he was in 8th or 9th grade. It’s not one of his best pieces of art. He made it—or tried to make it—on the pottery wheel at school. Using a pottery wheel looks much easier than it is. I guess that’s why I am always amazed when I see beautiful vases and pieces of pottery that master craftsmen make. They start with what looks like nothing more than a big ball of mud and form and shape it into something uniquely beautiful.

It reminds me of the story of Paul, also known as Saul.

Saul was a murderer. If you have been reading through the book of Acts, you have already heard about him. At the end of chapter 7, an angry mob stones a Christian named Stephen. As they prepared to hurl rocks, they took off their coats and laid them at the feet of “a young man named Saul” who “agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.” (Acts 7:57-8:1) In other areas of the Bible, we learn that Saul was a very religious man, and by killing Christians, he actually thought he was doing a good thing. Today’s reading begins by detailing his eagerness to eliminate all the followers of the Way (Christians). But God had other plans for Saul. On the road to Damascus, where he was going to capture more Christians, Saul’s life was changed forever.

I am not going to recount all the details. Those are in the Bible reading, but in short, Saul was confronted by the Lord. He was blinded. He prayed and was healed. He was baptized and became one of the greatest evangelists in the history of the church, writing much of the New Testament. God gave Saul the opportunity for a new beginning, but in order to actually begin anew there were a few things Saul had to do.

Saul, like each of us, had a choice to make. When he heard God’s voice from Heaven, he could have tried to explain. He could have presented His side of the story. He could have argued his own righteousness. Instead, he listened. Once he was in Damascus, he could have sought medical help. He could have called his religious friends to come pray for him. He could have sulked and tried to figure out what had gone wrong. Instead he responded in humility, praying and waiting as God instructed. And finally, after he was healed, Saul could have gone back home. He could have continued to pursue his idea of religion. He could have rejected God’s message. But he chose to follow the Lord’s example by being baptized and then living out his faith on mission for Christ.

Isaiah 64:8 says, “And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.”

Just like a lump of clay on the potter’s wheel, God didn’t like the way that Saul was turning out. So, He did a work in his heart and gave him the opportunity to begin fresh, a vessel formed by the Master Craftsman for His pleasure and His use.

God offers us the amazing opportunity to trust Him. He wants us to come to Him, to accept the His forgiveness, and to set out on a new course for our good and His glory. Unfortunately, sometimes we aren’t as compliant as Saul.

Isaiah 45:9 says, ““What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’”

Can you imagine if the clay could argue with the potter? Could you imagine what it would be like if the lump of mud tried to resist? Yet, that’s what we try to do.

We serve a God of new beginnings, fresh starts, and clean slates. As long as you are breathing, it’s never too late to begin again with God. But, you have to follow Saul’s example. You have to listen to what God has to say. You have to respond in agreement, and you have to obey His commands.

When we stop arguing with the Potter, He will fashion us into the masterpieces He always intended us to be.

This Week…

• Continue to read through the book of Acts. Try to read the entire book by month’s end.

• Memorize 2 Corinthians 5:17

• Spend time reading the Bible and praying every day. Check out What You Need to Know About Reading Your Bible if you need help getting started. You can print the free resource at the bottom of the article.

 January Week Three

Peter's Powerful Lunch Lesson

Surprisingly Great News for Us

Read: Acts Chapter 10

When the boys were little, Ian and I sometimes cooked whole chickens for supper. We had this handy gadget that we inserted into the chicken in order to stand it up and allow the juices to drip into a pan beneath. One day, Brandon sat and watched as Ian prepared dinner.

“Daddy, what’s that?” he asked.

“It’s a chicken,” Ian replied. “You’ve eaten chicken before.”

“Where it’s head?” Brandon asked.

“Well, son,” said Ian. “It doesn’t have a head anymore.”

Brandon was horrified. “I’m not eating that!” he said.

When dinner came, we made sure the whole chicken was nowhere to be seen. Cut into small bite-size pieces, the meat didn’t appear anything as it had before, and Brandon ate it none the wiser.

However, it didn’t take long before his eating patterns began to change. Soon, meal time became a battleground, and we had to address the issue.

“Mom, the reason I don’t like eating meat is because eating meat to me is like eating a person,” he said.

So, for a short season of his life, Brandon became a semi-vegetarian. I say “semi” because at that time in his young life, there were still a lot of meats that he didn’t associate with animals. For a while I even got away with feeding him hot dogs, until one of his cousins told him that hot dogs were pigs intestines turned inside out!

This meat-and-potatoes-mama was glad that the vegetarian stage was short-lived.

Unless dieting, I have never lived by very many rules when it comes to eating. Although I consider myself somewhat of a picky eater, I don’t have food allergies, am not gluten intolerant, and have always eaten whatever I wanted. So, I couldn’t really relate to Brandon’s complicated meal-time emotions. Peter would have probably better understood.

Jewish meal times were full of dos and don’ts, things they could and could not eat or even touch. So, imagine Peter’s surprise when one day God sent a message that seemed to contradict everything he had ever known regarding not only his eating patterns but also his social, religious, and cultural identity.

Peter was trying to pray, but his stomach was reminding him that it was time for lunch. Have you ever tried to pray when you are hungry? Maybe you have sat around the dinner table with the smell of a hot roast wafting under your nose while a long-winded uncle blesses every person in the family by name. Maybe your stomach has grumbled loudly as you stood in your pew waiting for the final chorus of the final song before dismissal on a Sunday morning. Maybe you have tried to have your quiet time before breakfast and found that instead of concentrating on confessions and blessings, you were thinking more about coffee and bagels.

I’m sure that’s how Peter felt that day. It was around noon, and he was hungry.

Then the Lord sent him a vision of all kinds of creatures and told him to “kill and eat them.” But there was a catch. The animals in his vision were the ones on THE list, the list of impure and unclean animals that no good Jew could or would eat. As his stomach churned from hunger, maybe Peter thought it was a test.

“No, no way! I know the rules, Lord,” he said. “I know that it’s against our laws to eat that kind of stuff. I will pass.”

God persisted. He sent the same vision three times, and He told Peter, “Don’t call something clean if I have made it clean.”

Peter was confused and rightly so, but it didn’t take long for him to understand. God wasn’t just talking about food. The very next day, Peter was teaching, having fellowship with, and even eating in the house of and among Gentiles. “You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you,” Peter said to the Roman army officer. “But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean.” (Acts 10:28)

The Jewish people were God’s chosen people. As a result, they had been raised to believe that Gentiles (anyone other than a Jew) were faithless, “less-than,” inferior. Like their laws regarding clean and unclean foods, Gentiles were considered unclean, unworthy even. So, this event marked a new beginning in not only Peter’s life but in the life of the church. God was making it clear that the gospel message, the message of salvation offered through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, was for everyone. No one is excluded from God’s grace.  

Peter did not allow his grumbling tummy to distract him from the message God wanted Him to hear. He listened. With a lack of understanding, He responded, and God even had to repeat two more times. But then, Peter accepted and obeyed.  

Listen to God speak. Respond with acceptance. Obey without question.   

It is the formula for new beginnings in Acts, and it’s the formula for our new beginnings as well.

This Week…

• Continue to read through the book of Acts. The goal is to have read the entire book by the end of the month. So, you should be at chapter 16 by now. If not, try catching up. You can do it!

• Memorize 2 Corinthians 5:17

• Commit to spending time reading the Bible and praying every day. Check out the free downloadable/printable resource, The Psalms Method of Bible Study, if you need help getting started.  

 January Week Four

When You Think Everything’s OK

Lydia: From Building a Business to Building a Church

Read: Acts Chapter 16: 11-15 and 40

Sometimes you don’t even know that you need a new beginning.

I wonder if that was the case with Lydia. The Bible tells us that Lydia was a merchant. She sold expensive purple cloth. In a male-dominated society, she was a businesswoman and the leader of her household. We are also told that she worshiped God.

So, on the Sabbath day, as she made her way to the river to meet with other women to pray, I wonder if Lydia felt that everything in her life was just how it ought to be. She didn’t lack money. She didn’t lack power. She didn’t lack friends. She didn’t lack love. It wasn’t until she met a man at the river that she realized that she did lack Jesus. Then Lydia discovered that worshiping God was not enough.

Although Philippi was a major city, there was no synagogue, but Paul had heard about a place where people sometimes gathered for prayer.  When he joined Lydia’s group that day, he began to talk about Jesus, “the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)

Lydia’s heart seemed to be primed and ready to receive the truth. She listened to what Paul was saying, responded by being baptized, and then invited the missionaries to stay at her house while they were in town. Since Paul later writes a letter to the Philippians, we can assume that this was the beginning of the Church of Philippi.

Lydia may have not been looking for change that Sabbath day when she went to the river to pray. She may have not realized that she needed a new beginning, but when God spoke through the Apostle Paul, she was willing to listen, respond, and obey. As a result, she went from building a business to building a church.

Knowing about God is not enough to get you to Heaven. The Bible says that even the demons know Jesus and tremble. (James 2:19) Living a “good” life isn’t enough. The Pharisees were some of the most righteous people of their time, but that didn’t please God. Just worshiping God won’t get you to Heaven. The stories of people like Lydia and Cornelius (Acts 10) show us there is a need for more.

You can think there is no need for a change. You can think you have it all together. You can think that everything is good, but if you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you need to learn from Lydia.

The Bible makes it clear. We are all sinners (Romans 3:23). The penalty for sin is death, but through Christ Jesus, we can have forgiveness and eternal life. (Romans 6:23) Like Lydia, if you don’t know Jesus, I encourage you to start with prayer. Listen to God’s voice, and respond by admitting your sin, asking for forgiveness, and accepting His Son, Jesus, as your Lord and Savior. Then, be ready to obey because you may be surprised at what He has for you to do.

This Week…

• Continue to read through the book of Acts. Read the entire book by the end of the month.

• Memorize 2 Corinthians 5:17

• If you know Jesus as your Savior, consider asking Him if there are any areas of your life in which you need to experience change. If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, I encourage you not to wait!

 January Week Five

Missing the Moment

King Agrippa’s Lost Chance for a New Beginning

Read: Acts 25:23 - Acts 26

Is there anything sadder than an opportunity missed?

Paul had been arrested for preaching the gospel. Knowing that he would not receive a fair trial from the Jewish religious authorities, he appealed to Caesar. As a Roman citizen, he was granted his request. In the meantime, however, the new governor, Festus, was unable to determine what the exact charges were against Paul. So, Festus decided to ask the opinion of King Agrippa.

Given the opportunity, Paul spoke boldly about his Jewish ancestry, his Pharisaical roots, his conversion on the road to Damascus, and the false accusations laid against him. When Paul spoke of the Messiah rising from the dead, Festus called him crazy.

Paul was not dissuaded and instead turned his attention to King Agrippa. Agrippa had been given Roman authority over many Jewish religious concerns, including care of the temple and the power to appoint the high priest. So, Paul knew that his testimony would not sound quite so foreign in Agrippa’s ears. Paul asked him bluntly, “Do you believe the prophets? I know you do—” (verse 27).

Agrippa came from a family of violent rulers. Herod the Great, who had massacred baby boys in an effort to kill the infant Jesus, had been his great-grandfather. King Agrippa’s father had imprisoned, persecuted, and killed Christians. Agrippa had wealth. He had power. He prestige. In so many ways he had been given much in his lifetime. But did King Agrippa have peace?

Here was his chance, the chance for a new beginning, a fresh start, a clean slate. In this one moment, King Agrippa had the opportunity to say, “Yes” and to forever alter the course of his history and who knows how many others. Did the room fall silent as the crowd waited to hear his reply? Did King Agrippa feel all the eyes in the room trained on him? Did his heart skip a beat? Did he realize that there was a decision to be made, or did the answer slip off his tongue with little thought?

 “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?” he answered.

And, like that, the moment was gone.

Fatherless from the age of 17, Agrippa lived in a world consumed with conquest and control. The Romans wanted to maintain control over the Jewish people. The Jews wanted complete freedom. Agrippa ruled on a razor’s edge wanting to keep peace between the two parties just so that he could keep his power. But history records little that gave Agrippa a good name and nothing of eternal significance. He died childless, with no heirs to continue his name or lineage.

In Luke 13:23, someone asks Jesus if only a few people will be saved. Part of Jesus’s response is, “When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’” (Luke 13:25)

There will come a time when salvation is no longer an option. Once we take our final breath and exit this world, it will, obviously, be too late to come to a saving relationship with Christ.  But, in addition to death, there is the very real possibility that if we ignore the calls of Jesus long enough, He will quit calling. Without the Holy Spirit convicting of us of our sin and convincing us of God’s love, we are left to ourselves, and, in that state, we are hopeless. Without the calling of Christ, we will not see our need.

It seems that was the case with King Agrippa. We don’t know if he ever heard the gospel message again. Whether he did or did not, there is no indication that Agrippa died as a follower of Christ. I believe that this was his moment, the moment when Paul gave him the message and the opportunity to respond. It was a moment he missed.

There’s nothing sadder than a missed opportunity. It’s something that can never be retrieved, recreated, or resurrected. It’s gone. But I’m so thankful that God is gracious and merciful and gives us so many chances. Let’s try hard not to miss another one. Let’s vow to never say “no” or “not now” or “maybe later” when God calls our name. Let’s not be like King Agrippa and miss the moment, especially the moment of salvation.

Whether Jesus is calling us to something mundane or something momentous, our hearts should always be open to His voice and obedient to His commands. Let’s listen for and respond to all the moments God gives us for new beginnings.

This Week:

• If you have read one chapter of Acts each day, you have finished the entire book by now. Yeah! If you have gotten behind, use the rest of this week to catch up.

• Write a brief summary of the book of Acts—just a paragraph—to help you remember what you’ve learned. I would encourage you to do this with every book of the Bible you read. Keep a notebook for the entire year so that you can see your progress.

• Have you memorized 2 Corinthians 5:17? If so, why don’t you type it by memory and send it to me in an email? Write this verse in your notebook too.

• If you know Jesus as your Savior, pray about what moments God is placing in your life. Ask Him if there is anything He wants you to do or change? If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, I encourage you not to wait. This is your moment! Don’t miss it.

February Week One

The Greatest of these is Love

Read: Psalm 139

A week before my first son was born, I read a passage of scripture that has since become one of my favorites—Psalm 139:13-16.

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”

As I read those verses, I thought of my little son, who I had not yet met. I meditated on the fact that before I ever knew I was pregnant, God already knew my baby. Years later, when Sjon-Paul was around four or five, he asked where he was before he was here; I told him in my belly. Never one to take the simple answer, Sjon-Paul asked, “Where was I before that?”

I answered, “You lived in Heaven, in the mind of God.”

Since that time so many years ago, I have often thought about that fact. Before any of us existed in any bodily form or fashion, we already existed in the mind and heart of God. Before any of us were even conceived, God knew us, truly knew us. God knew us not only as some future creation, but intimately. God knew every day we would live, every breath we would take. He knew the day, hour, even second that we would enter the world, and He knew exactly when we would depart from it.

God knew how we would look, how we would act, what we would think, and whether we would accept Him or reject Him. Our Lord knew every sin that we would commit; yet, He made us and loves us anyway.

            One day, Sjon-Paul was riding a little bike around the house, pretending to go on a trip. I said, “OK but be careful and come home soon. I love you.” And he said nonchalantly, “Bye-Bye I love you too.”

My second son, Brandon, was in bed one night. I said a prayer with him, kissed him good-night and told him, “I love you.” He looked up sleepily and said, “I wuv you too Mom.” When those boys first told me they loved me, they acted like it was no big deal, but I was thrilled.

Did I know it before? Of course, but it was wonderful to hear it from their lips. And even still, after all these years, I never get tired of hearing my boys tell me so again.

God loves me. God loves you. I think we would all agree that we know that. Most of us have heard it since we were little children ourselves. However, because we often take it for granted, I think we miss out on the truly extraordinary nature of His love and the enormous array of benefits that come along with it.

During this month of Valentines, we are going to examine God’s love for us. I encourage you to continue reading your Bible every day. This month, however, I ask that you read the same passage every day for a week, that you pray over it, study it, and ask God how you might apply its message to your life. As the month goes on, I will include more information in my blog regarding how to study God’s Word, but this week, let’s just start with the following assignments.

This Week:

• Begin memorizing 1 Corinthians 13:13. Write it on an index card or in the notes section on your phone, and read daily.

• Read Psalm 139 every day.

• Make a list of all the benefits of God’s love that are outlined in this chapter.

• Thank God for His amazing love.

February Week Two

He Loved Us First for a Reason

Read: 1 John 4:7-21

Forced by their captors to perform brutal labor in unbearable heat under inhumane conditions, the prisoners of war had begun to act like animals themselves, often towards one another. At the end of one day, the guard in charge performed the tool check and found a shovel was missing. He told the prisoners that if the thief did not come forward, he would shoot all of them. After a few minutes, just before the officer was going to carry out his threat, one man stepped forward.

The guard picked up a shovel and beat the man to death.

In the meantime, a second tool check was performed. On second count, there was no missing shovel. In fact, it had been a miscount all along. An innocent man willingly died to save the others. His sacrifice changed the hearts and lives of the other prisoners to such an extent that they began to love and treat each other like family.*

1 John 4:10 says, “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

For those of you who are married or with a significant other, do you remember who said, “I love you” first. I assume that my husband told me first, but, honestly, I can’t remember. It might be a big deal when you first start a relationship, but after a while, it becomes a moot point. After all, it doesn’t really matter who expressed it first as long as you both love each other now.

While that may be true in human relationships, it’s not true in regards to our relationship with God.

God loved us first.

He loved us before we were born. He loved us even though He knew all the things we would do that would be displeasing to Him. He loved us even though He knew that we would mess up, that we would rebel. He loved us enough to send His son to die for us.

Like the soldier who willingly gave His life for a bunch of guys who had shown no love or kindness to him, Jesus stepped down from Heaven and took the punishment for our sins because He loved us.

What would have happened to those soldiers had the one POW not come forward? It’s likely that many of them would have died that day. Instead, the love and sacrifice of the one man transformed the hearts of the rest. In fact, as the story goes, they were so transformed that when they were finally rescued, and their roles were reversed, they showed mercy to their previous captors.

A love born of sacrifice has the power to change the hearts and lives of men.

“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

Because of God’s sacrificial love for us, we, in turn can love Him and others.  Let’s just say this kind of love is contagious. In fact, the Bible tells us that we will demonstrate the evidence of our love for God by how we love each other (verses 20-21).

Think about it. If the remaining POWs had continued to bicker and mistreat each other, it would have been as if the martyr had died in vain. The same can be said of us. Can we really represent Christ on earth without loving one another?

Pastor Tim Harris put it this way, “Our inability to love one another makes our gospel proclamation ineffective.”

That’s pretty serious stuff.

We can bank on the fact that God loved us first, but equally important is the command that we love each other. He loved us first in order that we could have the capacity to reciprocate and share that love. If we don’t, then we need to question whether or not our love for God is sincere. It’s impossible to accurately and authentically be a witness for Christ if we hold grudges and hate our fellow man. In addition, it’s just as impractical to think that we can win others to the Lord if we are complacent and callous towards the very people He died to save.

The words of these verses ring through my head in a melody learned as a child, “Beloved, let us love one another (love one another) for love is of God and everyone who loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love (God is love). Beloved, let us love one another. 1 John 4:7-8.”

*Original story from Miracle on the River Kwai by Ernest Gordon, retold in The Christian Leader by Don Ratzlaff, and included in Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching From Leadership Journal (page 136), edited by Craig Brian Larson, edited by Craig Brian Larson, Baker Books, copyright 1993 by Christianity Today, Inc.

This Week:

• Begin memorizing 1 Corinthians 13:13. Write the verse on one side of an index card. On the back, write it with several words missing. Practice reading and filling in the blanks.

• Read 1 John 4:7-21 every day.

• After reading through the passage, note all the benefits of God’s love mentioned in this passage. Then note the responsibilities that God’s love imparts to us.

• Do something specific to share God’s love with someone this week.

February Week Three

A Powerful Love that Prohibits Separation

Read: Romans 8:35-39

Once when my two oldest boys were young, my husband and I took them to a fall festival gathering. A local church had teamed up with the Christian radio station to host a large event in a Target parking lot. There were two huge tents connected together, and they were both packed with parents and children.

Sjon-Paul was only four at the time. It was a warm October evening, and his costume included a shirt with a dump truck on it, a pair of matching shorts, brown hiking boots, a plastic tool belt filled with tools, and his little construction worker hat. The four of us made our way, hand-in-hand, through the first tent, and then we decided to navigate through the crowded passageway to see what the second tent held. Somewhere along the way, we lost Sjon-Paul.

As soon as we entered the second tent, I realized his absence. We were shoulder to shoulder with people, and all I could imagine was someone snatching my boy and slipping under the tent and into a nearby get-away vehicle. My heart sank.

I jumped onto a nearby chair and scanned the crowd looking for that bright yellow hardhat. He was nowhere to be seen. I remembered that we had just passed a policeman standing next to his supped up “Say No to Drugs” car. I headed that direction to secure his help. In my final step towards the officer, I heard a small voice say, “Mom?”

Behind me was the DJ table, and there was Sjon-Paul, standing next to another mother who had found him. As I hugged him and thanked the woman, he said, “Mom, I was so scared!”

“I know!” I said, “I was too!”

Sjon-Paul looked at me incredulously and replied, “Mom? Why were you scared? I was the one who was lost!”

Separation can be a scary thing and not just for children.

Perhaps that’s why Romans 8:35-39 is such a comfort.

I’ve been in a funk the last two weeks or so. I don’t have an excuse or a reason; so there’s no use trying to come up with one. I have just been down. I’m sure you’ve felt that way sometimes. That’s why this particular newsletter is a little later than usual. I just didn’t feel like writing.

There are days that I still struggle to deal with the emotional fallout of Brandon’s death. There are times when I am still so unsure about what it is God wants to do with my life right now. And there are moments when I just can’t feel God’s love in all of the events and circumstances of my life and the lives of those I love.

So, when God lead me to Romans 8:35-39 today, I couldn’t help but smile. He is so faithful, even when I am not.

“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He (Christ) no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?” (verse 35)

The Bible clearly tells us that no, it does not. In fact, verse 37 assures us that “overwhelming victory is ours through Christ.”

Despite how things appear, despite how we might feel, despite the difficult circumstances of our lives, nothing can separate us from God’s love, “neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow.” (v38) While I most certainly don’t want to add to God’s word, I think it’s safe to say that neither can the regrets of yesterday.

My doubts, my anger, my questions, my pain… none of it can separate me from God’s love.  And since 1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love, this means that I can never be separated from God. No matter what trials I face on this earth, I am united with God through the presence of the Holy Spirit living in me. And when I die, I will be in God’s very presence in Heaven.

But these verses are a comfort and joy to me for another reason. Fortunately, all those years ago, Sjon-Paul and I, though physically separated, were still under the same tent. While we acutely felt the sting of being apart, we were really not that distant from one another.

Because both Brandon and I willingly admitted our sinfulness, asked Jesus us to save us, and gave our hearts and lives to Him, I can rest in a similar assurance. I don’t need to fret about my current separation from my son. He is safe in the arms of Jesus. Because we are both under the same canvas of God’s love, we aren’t really as far apart as it may seem.

This is what I believe. However, while it’s somewhat easy to write about, it’s much harder to feel. So, I am thankful for this assurance, thankful for these words, and thankful for this beautiful reminder today.

This Week

• Keep memorizing 1 Corinthians 13:13. Try reciting it to a friend who can check your progress.

• Read Romans 8:35-39 every day.

• After reading the passage, think about which of the things mentioned in the passage (persecution, hunger, death, etc.) are the most frightening to you.

• Thank God that His love is stronger than your fear. Pray that God would help you to overcome your fear or anxiety. Ask Him to help you feel His love in a special way this week.

FEBRUARY WEEK Four

The Truth of Love and Trust

Read: John 3:1-21

I can’t remember when I first heard John 3:16. It, like the 23rd Psalm, are so deeply ingrained in my memory that it is as if I was born with the words echoing in my head.

Of course, I know that’s not the case. I know that at some point in time my mom or dad or a Sunday school or Vacation Bible school teacher read those words to me when I was too little to read them myself. Maybe I heard the famous verse uttered by my first pastor, Bro. Leftrick, as I sat in my father’s lap during a church service. Maybe my mother or a nursery worker recited them over me while rocking me to sleep.

All I know is that for as long as I can remember I have known John 3:16 by heart, in the King James Version, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

If you are like me, you also probably know it well.

But can you imagine what it must have been like for Nicodemus? In John 3, Nicodemus doesn’t just get to hear these precious words for the first time, he gets to hear them for the first time ever. This chapter recounts the how and why and when of Jesus’s speaking this now-familiar passage into existence.

Poor Nicodemus. He seems like a literal kind of guy. Don’t mistake that for unintelligent. I can’t help but think of my son, Brandon, when I read this account. Brandon was very literal as well. Once, when Brandon was very young, he wanted more candy. It was after Easter, and I said, “No, you have candy coming out your ears!” When I looked at him, he was sticking his fingers in his ears to check.

Nicodemus was like that. Despite being a Pharisee, Nicodemus must have been curious to know more about this man who claimed to be the Savior. He arranged a meeting with Jesus. Forgoing Nicodemus’s polite greeting, Jesus got straight to the point. “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”  (v3)

Talked about confusing. Nicodemus couldn’t imagine such a thing. How could a grown man fit back into his mother’s womb? Jesus continued to try to explain. He told Nicodemus that people have to be born by water (physical birth) but also by the Spirit (spiritual birth). He explained that while humans give birth to other humans, only the Holy Spirit can birth a spiritual life.

But Nicodemus had trouble following along. It often makes me think about what I sound like when I am trying to explain the gospel to a lost person. We who have been in church since we came out of the womb have heard these things so often that they are familiar to us, second-hand. But even though Nicodemus had been raised in religion, he had never heard about something like this. This was new territory, and he was confused.

So, Jesus laid it out as simply as He could. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” (v16 NLT)

We aren’t told whether Nicodemus decided to follow Christ that night. We aren’t told if He finally understood, but we do know from other scriptures that in a later Pharisaical confrontation, he spoke out in defense of listening to Jesus (John 7:40-52). In addition, he was one of the men who claimed Jesus’s body and put it in the tomb after the crucifixion (John 19:38-40). I can’t help but wonder if at that point, it was all beginning to make sense.

If, like Nicodemus, you don’t understand. I encourage you to pray. Ask God for wisdom, and He will give it (James 1:5). If I can be of help, please feel free to contact me.

Within the first hour of discovering my son had died, I could hear the Lord whispering to me, “I love you.” I desperately needed that reminder because my emotions and the circumstances seemed to indicate otherwise. In the days, weeks, and even months afterward, I would recite to myself, “My God loves me, and I love my God.”

One day, our pastor asked me, “You love God, Tricia. But do you trust Him?”

My answer, though hard, was and is still, “Yes. Yes, I trust my God.”

How can I love and trust a God who allowed my son to die?

It all comes back to this verse.

God allowed my son to die, but God sent His son to die for me, for Brandon, and for all of us, so that we can experience true peace and hope, so that we can spend eternity with Him.

This, my friend, is true love.

This Week

• Keep memorizing 1 Corinthians 13:13. Write it down without looking and then check  yourself.

• Read John 3:1-21 every day.

• Do you understand what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus? If not, pray and ask God for wisdom. Have you given your heart and life to Him, if not, please consider doing so today.

• Thank God for a love so strong that He sent His Son to die for you. Ask Him how you might serve Him better.