By Debra Torres
I’ve just come in from my raspberry patch where I’ve been working diligently for the past few weeks.

The patch grows in a nice-sized square at the back of my vegetable garden and up until last year, it was a disaster.

You see, right along with my neatly planted rows of raspberries, the dandelion, wild aster, creeping charlie and assorted grasses grew. 

What I had initially hoped for out of my patch became a mangled mess of weeds that competed heavily with my berry plants.

And as a result my plants were sickly and prone to disease and gobbling pests.

Ugh!

I had several remedies in mind for my failed raspberry patch, including demolition, but never followed through with any until last year when a desperate plan popped into my head. 

By Debra Torres
The pair of blue jays excitedly flitted about in the white birch just outside my bedroom window. 

I have a “prayer chair” that faces that window and the jays made my time with God a little more jumpy that morning.

I watched as the male jay found a loose piece of paper-white bark and brought it to his mate. She then gently tapped it in all comfy-like into the side of the nest they were building.
            
I thought that’s what the jays were up to and, although I looked forward to watching their family grow, I couldn’t help but observe the construction process with a sense of dread.

You see, the birch grows just a few feet from our deck and more often than not three of the jay’s greatest enemies spend many hours there napping in the sun.

And I know that the sound of hungry baby birds will be like a dinner bell ringing to my fluffy felines. 

I have a friend who has worked hard for her salvation. Her commitment to her religion is admirable. 

She strictly adheres to its teachings, rarely misses a meeting and has regimentally shared her beliefs with countless others.

If she works hard enough, my friend thinks that she may just get to spend eternity in bliss. She’s got a great track record of service and that most likely will make her a “shoo-in” right?

Strangely enough the words of the Bible would disagree. You see God has flipped things around for us when it comes to salvation. 

We can’t earn it. It’s a free gift offered to all of us, and the only part we play in the process is simply receiving it.

I understand how people like my friend can fall into this trap. I mean most things in life work the opposite way don’t they? We’ve been taught since we were little that the rewards of hard work are great. And many of us drive ourselves into the ground simply trying to measure up.

So you see why the free gift of salvation can be a difficult thing for many of us to wrap our heads around. It’s almost like ...

​By Debra Torres

The lake was calm and inviting. 

And as we started out with our assorted floaties, I mistakenly concluded that the other side wasn’t all that far.

It would be an adventure, I thought, to take the kids over. We could say we swam the small, residential lake and had fun doing it.

And so, we set off.

At first our moods were light and cheerful. I had some of my kids with me and another little friend, and everyone kicked and splashed with their tubes and floats. What a perfect day.

But around the time we got to the middle of the lake, I began to sense we were in a bit of trouble. Trying to the get to the other side wasn’t so much fun anymore. We were all getting tired, and it seemed like no matter how hard we kicked, we still seemed to stay in the same spot.

And the other side of the lake wasn’t getting any closer.

By Debra Torres
I’ve just finished reading the Book of Ecclesiastes, and I have to admit that at first I was glad to be done with it. 

King Solomon, despite all his splendor, must have been going through a pretty rough time when he wrote that book. 

Or, maybe his God-given gift of wisdom caused him to see things a little more deeply than I would. Either way, the book comes across as downright depressing.

In Ecclesiastics, Solomon highlights the monotony of life and a futile theme echoes throughout that all is relatively “meaningless.”

I understand Solomon’s complaints, I really do. Sometimes ...

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Who is God? The creator of the universe has more for you than a meaningless existence. Following Jesus gives your life the meaning you seek. Ask God to help you keep your focus on him and there you'll discover your purpose.

By Debra Torres
When I was younger, God was a bit standoffish to me. And even though I held him in awe, respected his holiness and tried like crazy to wrap my head around his Word, I just couldn’t seem to get any closer.

God just wasn’t relatable to me.

 Oh, I believed he was there, but only somewhere in the distance, unmoving and staring – kind of like the statues in my church.


At least that’s how I thought about him anyway. And if that’s what I thought about God, then that was pretty much the truth, right?

I watched Priscilla from my seat across from her in the classroom and decided that she was cold and distant. She was in a few of my classes back then, and I sure we could never be friends. One day, she asked me for a ride home from class and even invited me in for a bite to eat. But I kindly refused.

I wasn’t her friend after all. ...

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Who is God? It’s amazing how we let our thoughts and perceptions of God shape our understanding of Him. I guess it’s human nature and maybe some kind of “control freak” thing we do having to have him all figured out. What do you think about God?
 

It may be just a tad early for some plants, but I am desperate to start my seeds indoors. 

This winter’s been the longest yet it seems, and at the end of March, I still could only count the signs of spring on one hand.

I’ve poured through my seed catalogs, looked through last year’s remaining supply, and even brought my five-foot seed growing stand out of the barn and on into our sun room.

I am ready.


Starting seeds indoors is a bit of therapy for me, I think. Not only does it give me the opportunity to pick new and unique plant varieties, it lets me get my hands dirty again.

And best of all, I get to see things grow.

There’s always a sense of excitement when I see ...

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Who is God? Just like any good parent, your heavenly Father desires to see you grow in your faith. You may start out "drinking milk," but the goal is to eat "solid food" in your Christian walk. How's it growing? 

By Debra Torres
The stack of magazines caught my eye at our local secondhand shop. They were old copies of “Taste of Home” that someone had collected over the years and finally discarded. 

I had never heard of the magazine before, but its “home cooking style” looked right up my alley. I had been on a recipe kick at that time, satisfying my usual urge for new ideas in the kitchen with books upon books from our local library.

So happily I paid my few dollars and took the stack home with me.

Over the next few months, I poured through the old copies, finding many recipes that suited our family of seven well. And whenever I found a winner, I would proudly use a little jingle to tell my family that I got the recipe from “Taste of Home.”

When I started to get close to the bottom of my pile, however, I began to wonder if the magazine still was still in print. And after a search on the Internet, was glad to ...

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Who is God? God loves us so much that he gives us all of the ingredients we need for a good life. Want the recipe? Follow these four-steps for attaining life and health here on earth.

By Debra Torres
Several servants stood around the newly installed telephone at the Downton Abbey country estate staring.

“Do you now how it works?” William the footman asked the butler, Carson, after he came in to shoo them back to work.

“Will you show us?” Daisy, the kitchen maid asked excitedly.

It was the summer of 1914, and the telephone was already in London, so naturally Downton’s owner, the wealthy Earl of Grantham, felt it was necessary 

to add this bit of new technology to his house as well.

"But why would we ever want a telephone at Downton, my lord?" Carson asked Lord Grantham when he spoke about having one installed. There was an unmistakable edge of disbelief that resonated in his tone.

As you can probably tell, my family has just been introduced to the British period drama television series, “Downton Abbey,” and we’ve been having fun “catching up” with the world by watching its past seasons.

I’m learning that one of the prevailing themes in the season we are currently watching is “change.” Taking place at the dawn of WWI, the show reveals the differing perspectives on change through the eyes of both the rich and servant classes living in the Yorkshire country estate, Downton Abbey.

On a larger scale, the characters are impacted by the war and the changes it brings about in their society. And on a lighter side ...

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Who is God? God is steadfast. And it says in his word that he does not change. I'm glad that God doesn't change his mind on his love and commitment to us. Aren't you?

By Debra Torres
I was watching the instructional webinar on my computer when I heard the speaker mention church.

Hmmm, I thought and considered what this meant. 

This man was a leading spokesperson in his area of expertise, and I considered contacting him and having a little chat. 

I love connecting with Christian professionals. 
They show their true colors now and then in my field, and sometimes I can spot them by what they choose to say or write about. 

I remember discovering that a fellow copywriter was a Christian by seeing an image of a Bible in her “best reads” list on her blog. And recently, I connected with a prominent Canadian Christian after reading one of his emails where he included a small financial appeal for a mission trip.

I dream of one day writing for a large online Christian ministry, and you never know who has connections where. So I emailed the man from the webinar and introduced myself, telling him about my faith and asking him about his own.

When I read his reply message however, it was like I had been punched in the gut. 

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Who is God? We serve an all or nothing God. One that likes his children “stinging hot” in their loyalty to Him. The world wants us to think that there is more than one way to heaven, more than one way to living the righteous life. But God says he is jealous for us.