Good morning, Refresh friends! It gives me great pleasure to introduce one of my dearest friends, Jean Wilund, as our guest blogger today. Jean is a brilliant writer, deep scholar, and lover of God and His Word. She’s written a fabulous new Bible study that you’ll learn about at the end of her post,
Humans are negative creatures by default. We have to cultivate character traits like gratitude and appreciation. They just don’t come naturally. Think about it. Which is more likely to come out of your mouth – a complaint about something your kids or your husband failed to do? Or a word of appreciat
Tender from a recent loss, I stood with the congregation as the worship leader announced the hymn for the day: “It Is Well with My Soul. He launched into the familiar story behind the song. “Horatio Spafford’s wife and four daughters were sailing to England when a horrible storm arose. . .” I’ve hea
If I’m not careful, I miss the beauty and value of different approaches, perspectives, and methods. I forget that behind the differences that separate us is God’s creative hand making each person unique for his glory and our good. God reminded me of this truth through an unlikely patch of dirt in my
If you struggle with feeling overwhelmed, consider these three truths, found in (of all places) the book of Numbers.
Your friend is in trouble. Big trouble. I’m not talking thrown-in-jail kind of trouble, although that certainly could be the case. I’m talking about life circumstance trouble. Maybe she’s struggling through cancer treatment, trying to stay strong in a fractured marriage, or battling depression. Or p
Samantha has been praying for her prodigal for seventeen years—not seven, seventeen. On good days, she prays in faith. On bad days, she feels like giving up. Andrew listens to fellow church members as they share a tsunami of prayer needs during a prayer meeting, and a wave of hopelessness washes ove
The fiasco on the mountain was truly a pathetic scene. Desperate to prove the superiority of their false god, the prophets of Baal worked themselves into a frenzy. They danced. They sang. They called out. After hours of such nonsense, Elijah’s patience with their theatrics wore thin. He began to tau
“Eleven steps.” I glanced to the side as I approached the front entrance of the hospital. An elderly man, gaunt and grizzled, climbed the stairs beside me. His faded jeans were cinched together at his waist. A flannel shirt, faded soft, was tucked neatly into his waistband. His leathery skin told me
“What do you think happened to Peter?” I asked my husband. “Why did he deny Christ?” I was reading the account of the Passover week, and Peter’s loyalty to Christ stood in sharp contrast to his subsequent betrayal. At the Last Supper, Peter declared he was willing to die with Christ. When the mob ca
Greetings, Refresh readers! It’s my pleasure to introduce you to my dear friend Julie Lavender as our guest contributor today. I know you’ll fall in love with her. Her tips for cultivating a heart of prayer in our little ones are spot on. ~Lori When our kids were young, David and I argued each night
A few years ago I was the unhappy middle man in a collision between an SUV and a Porta-Potty truck. It wasn’t funny at the time, especially because the accident preempted my plans for a Chick Fil A lunch and sent me to the doctor instead. Thankfully the only real victim was my 2005 Toyota Corolla. [
