Author: torimatlock

By: Claire Ryan

I want you to imagine with me for a moment.

Think about Jesus. His appearance; olive skin, carpenter hands, and lowly apparel. Think about His life. Other than being born of a virgin and living in perfection, He likely had a similar upbringing to some of us. He was raised in simplicity by two God-fearing earthly parents. He had multiple siblings and a strong work ethic. Think about His mission. Three years of specified ministry in which He proclaimed to be God and performed great miracles.

Now, think about His death. Bloodied hands, whip-lined back, a crown of thorns, his body hanging on a cross. Think of all the torture and ridicule that He endured along the road to the cross. The entire reason behind His birth, accomplished in His death.

Mocked, beaten, whipped, spit on, cursed, humiliated—Yet, Jesus pressed on.

Why go through that suffering and still press on?

The reason is found in Romans 5:8-9: God showed His love for us, dying for our sins. Through His blood, we can be saved. Hebrews 5 states that, “He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” Jesus pressed on in the misery knowing through His death on the cross a greater glory awaited Him and any who accepted Him. 

Think about the thief on the cross; he made it worthwhile for Jesus. That thief made Jesus’ ministry useful, His life successful, and His death invaluable.

I am the thief.

I have failed to live by His ways, fallen short of His glory, and dropped so low in my own sin I have doubted His mercy and grace for my life. I have questioned Him, like Sarah. Denied Him, like Peter. Doubted Him, like Thomas.

Yet, His mercy is all-sufficient; His grace is never ending. He bore the weight of the cross so I would not have to. He carried my sin up that hill to Calvary.

I am the thief. But He paid my pardon. And, when I humbly admit my desire, my need for His forgiveness in my life, that grace is a continual stream flowing over me daily.  

We are all the thief on the cross. But when we call upon Him like that thief, He is faithful to remember us in His Kingdom.

By: Hannah Gorrell

We may often reflect on which things may have been different if sin had not entered the world. Maybe our first thoughts are death or pain, but what about the way we communicate?

Yes, everything has been altered after the perfect world has been spoiled by sin, even the way we talk. I wish this was not so. I feel it most in times of stress. I’ve been the victim of overthinking. I struggle and overanalyze a statement that I hear or worry about the motivations behind a simple text.

We should practice what James 1:19 tells us, be slow to speak. Let’s be slow to speak, but still, speak honestly. Thankfully in heaven these would be two things we won’t have to worry about. But in order to make on earth as it is in heaven, we must saturate our life with truth. Practice speaking kindly, it will make it easier when you have less time to be intentional with your words. 

In the same way, we should already be communicating honestly and kindly with those around us. This is even before we have to “speak the truth in love” or communicate something more difficult to share. 

Let’s pray for opportunities to practice kind speech. Pray for God to place good examples around us from whom we can learn.

By: Ruth McDonald

There is so much chocolate and hype for this annual celebration of love and romance, isn’t there? It’s supposed to be a happy holiday, but for some of us, it can be a bit awkward. My 2 single kids jokingly call it “Singleness Awareness Day” or SAD.

I always wanted to play hooky from school on that day each year. As a shy, serious, and socially awkward teen, I dreaded homeroom on that particular morning like the plague Each year, the cheerleaders sponsored a fundraiser for students to send “Kiss-grams” or flowers or some such thing to their favorite people. I wanted to crawl under my desk as the perky popular girls received armloads of affirmation and I received none. It was the most humiliating day of the year for girls like me.

It was different in elementary school, of course. We all decorated our own mailboxes in anticipation of the deluge of cards we would receive. Every student gave every other student a card because it was mandatory. I do remember choosing the most deluxe valentines in the set for those I liked the best and sometimes taping a special sucker to the envelope. I also picked the cards I least liked for the classmates I least liked (which, now that I think about it, was fairly passive-aggressive for a child, wasn’t it?)

I have 4 children, and I love them all. Not equally, exactly, because they’re such different people. It’s impossible to measure my affection or rank them in any kind of order. Each of them thrills my heart with deep, inexpressible joy. On some days, one of them makes me especially happy and I jokingly tell them “You’re my favorite!” But they all know that coveted position will shift to one of the others before they turn around.

While God may be a bit more pleased with my behavior at certain times and less at others, His love for me never wavers. The very idea that I’d like to be His favorite only serves to showcase the self-centeredness of my nature. And yet, it does thrill my heart to know that He “rejoices over me with singing.” The God of the entire universe serenades me on Valentine’s Day and every other day of my life! And it’s more than okay with me that He does the same for you.

I hope you receive flowers, chocolates, and expressions of love and friendship today. But even if you don’t, please imagine yourself holding armloads of Valentines – the best in the box. God doesn’t love anyone else more than He loves you. YOU are the apple of His eye, His treasure, His special someone.

By: Destinee Payne

This Christmas time of the year is always exciting. There are wonderful festivities and school parties. There are cozy decorations and Christmas music. The gift exchanges make us wonder what gift we will receive. And don’t forget about the Christmas break from school that does not seem long enough!

With all these things going on, it is easy to go beyond the gift wrapping. We get wrapped up in ourselves! When we are constantly thinking about the things we want as gifts and the plans we make for Christmas fun, we can forget what we are grateful for. If we are not careful, we can forget the special gift that has already been given to us through Jesus Christ.

While on breaks like Christmas, we need to be careful not to take a break from our walk with our Savior. When our schedules change and we get more chances to sleep in and relax, it becomes easier to neglect our quiet time with God. We can fall out of a daily routine of reading the Bible, which will stunt our spiritual growth if we let it happen for too long.

Psalm 19:7-10: “The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad…The ordinances of the Lord are….more desirable than gold.”

When we are strong in our daily reading and prayer with the Lord how strong we can become in Him! How joyful we will become! This is the time of the year to be especially grateful to God for all that He has done, especially in sending His Son.

Psalm 63:7: “You have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.”

I pray that you carry the joy of the Lord with you this year. I challenge you to not let the distractions of special seasons in life stunt your walk and daily time with Him. If you do not have a routine of spending time in the Word daily, I pray that you begin today! If you don’t know how, talk to a mature Christian woman who can help you!

By: Ruby Crowe

When I was seven years old my parents, two younger sisters and I moved to southern Japan. We had lived on the Northern island of Hokkaido since I was a baby, but we were moving to the outskirts of Tokyo. I attended a Japanese preschool since I was 3 years old and my parents planned on putting me in an English speaking Christian school for my elementary years. But I saw my neighborhood kids walking to school everyday and told my parents I wanted to know my neighbors and have Japanese friends. The next month I went to the school where nobody spoke English and I didn’t look like anybody there with my blond hair and brown eyes. Slowly I learned the language and tried to fit in.

But only two years later it was time to move back home to North Carolina. My whole family missed Japan so much, but once I looked around I realized that God had put us in the right place. The school I went to was so different from the school in Tokyo. . In Japan the teachers and rules were very strict and nobody talked about Christianity. But in America my third grade teacher shared her testimony in class! She had been a missionary kid in Africa! I lived there from second to fourth grade. I also made some close friends that I still keep in touch with today.

But when I was ten we moved to Columbus, Ohio to follow my dad’s job as a Chick-fil-A owner. It was hard moving again and it took me a while to make friends and of course I missed my old home and friends very much. But God did something amazing by moving us to Ohio. We quickly learned that Columbus, Ohio has a very large Japanese population in America. My parents started teaching ESL at our church and we became very connected to the Japanese community. At the end of the first  year we moved about 15 minutes away from where we lived. Moving 15 minutes was easier than moving from another country, but then Covid came.

            It was hard making friends during COVID in a sixth grade only school, where everybody already had friends. I got very lonely, then my parents considered an option we never had considered before: homeschooling. We thought and prayed about it and everyone felt very clearly that this was what God wanted us to do. So my two sisters and I looked for a co-op we could join so we could meet some new people. A co-op is where a bunch of homeschoolers get together and do fun things or learn. We found one that had exactly three spots open, it was a theater group. Everyone was so welcoming and nice it didn’t take long for all the new people to make friends. We love it so much we decided to do it again this year.

I love how we can trace back through the events of our lives and God is always putting us exactly where we are supposed to be. So I know it’s hard to think it in the middle of a difficult moment, but I challenge you to look back on your life. You will find that God has been there the whole time and He’s helping you with each step, move and change in your life!

By: Hannah Gorrell

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23)

Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit. These attributes pertain to one fruit. He does not say the “fruits are” but the” fruit is.” The work of the Spirit in us is alive, active, and ever growing. As the fruit bearer, a Spirit bearer, we should be careful in all opportunities. We present the Spirit of God to others by being loving, joyful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and full of self-control.

Love is a big, heavy word. This word is overused and abused. We have learned love to be a strong feeling of like. Its opposite, hate, as a strong feeling of dislike. Paul shows us what love really is. His definition reveals that love is not just like. It is a decision or action to be completely selfless. To be patient, kind, longsuffering, and never failing requires an intentional heart. One must be drained of self and focus only on the benefit of the other, the one they love. Hate is not the opposite of love; selfishness is.

Father, help us show Your love to others as we seek to develop the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. May we represent You well in all opportunities.