We couldn’t find the keys anywhere. My son, home on a college break, had driven home with them, walked in the house, and a few minutes later discovered they were missing. 

Not only was the car key lost, but along with it was a wallet key ring that included my son’s electronic student ID card, his college dorm keys and his room key.

It all totaled a hefty replacement fee of nearly one hundred dollars.

Yikes!

Now, I hate to lose things and when I find out that something is lost, I have a tendency to “tear the house apart” looking for it. No stone should be left unturned – is my motto. And I look everywhere – even in ...

Click here to read more 

Who is God? God's not a robot. He's the creator of the universe and He knows what's best for us. Not always are our prayers answered exactly the way we think they should be, because God's got the greater picture in mind. Think you want to learn more about Him? Enjoy the "Who is God" video below: 

By Debra Torres
Our sunflower house was the highlight of our vegetable garden this year. 

Long ago, I learned how to grow one from a library book, but my first attempt was a flop.

Last spring, my daughter and I decided to try again and carefully mapped out the space. 

We cut holes about 6 inches apart in our black plastic making a perfect square and leaving room for a door.

Then we shared jobs digging holes and planting small handfuls of sunflower seeds into each.

It wasn’t long after that when hardy leaves began to poke up and each hole had 5 or 6 bright, healthy looking seedlings. But like most plants, the sunflowers had another admirers who had a taste for them -- especially my archenemy -- the slug.

One night my daughter and I would enjoy the growth of the sunflowers and the next, I’d go out to the garden to see ...

Click here to read more 

The pastor asked several members of his congregation to get up in front of church, spread their arms out wide and form a line facing us. 

Then he called a small girl from her seat and asked if she would place her hand out flat and squeeze it in somewhere near the middle of that human chain.

            
The pastor then explained that the chain formed by the arms represented eternity and the little child’s hand represented our life.

Pointing to the chain on one side of the child’s hand, he said that this end represented the life that went on forever, before we were born, and the chain on the other side of her hand, represented life that goes on forever after we die.

That was an eye-opener me. You mean there was all that before my life and, there’ll be a whole lot after it – here on this earth and forever after?

If you’re anything like me, you may be a bit ...

Click here to read more  

The three blue Mason jars waited in a cardboard box in my basement for nearly five years. 

Spiders had their heyday with them, but I wouldn’t touch them. 

Never mind the fact that I had a small collection of antique Mason jars and longed to bring the three up from the basement and display them with my others.

There was something about those jars that made me want to hide them away. Because I knew that if I took them out, I’d be overcome with guilt.

No, I couldn’t get the jars out. Couldn’t enjoy their sturdy, rounded shoulders, their clear sky coloring, their block “PERFECT MASON” lettering. You see, I wasn’t sure if the jars were really mine and every time I thought of them, my conscience was pricked.

The last house we lived in we rented and towering shelves of canning jars new and old were in the garage. I was new to the whole farming thing, but 29 acres and a plowed vegetable garden were pretty strong indications that I start.

And so I did. My first year was an absolute ...


Click here to read more   

God is not a mean old ogre waiting to squash us for our mistakes. In fact, he’s more than willing to take on the burdens of our sin, if only we’d give them to him.

The truck was packed with items that would help my son’s new dorm room seem more like home.

And we approached it with a bit of dread.

With only two adults to do the unloading, the task before us was a bit daunting. 

And we knew that we were in for several trips up to his suite.

I thought about it and inwardly sighed. The work, I guessed, was par for this new college mom. We would get it done – however long it took.

“Need some help?” a voice piped up from behind.

“Can I give you a hand?” came another.

I turned to see the smiling faces of several college students descending upon us. They made friendly small talk with my son, grabbed items from the back of our truck and walked with my son inside.

I marveled at the empty vehicle as I stayed behind to lock up.

Wow, that was exactly ...

Click here to read more

It was a perfect night for baseball, but you wouldn’t have known it by the look on the pitcher’s face.  

The team they were facing was undefeated, and that only added to his list of troubles.

 “These guys know all my pitches,” he told his coach, “I walked too many the last time we played them.”

Knowing all the correct motivational words, his coach sized up the situation and decided to approach it from a different angle – a spiritual one.

And their conversation went something like this:

“You know, whether you do well or poorly out there doesn’t determine your worth or value as a person, right?” he said.

Starting his “pep talk” this way, the coach knew he was taking a risk. He was supposed to stick with the program, after all. He knew that, but he also knew one more thing -- when God opens a door, you’d better walk on through it.

“All that matters,” he told the pitcher ...

Click here to read more 

By Debra Torres
I could feel the little silver cross hanging from my neck as I drove my kids up North to see some relatives last week.

I loved my little cross and I had just started wearing it regularly. To me, it represented my faith and touching it there from time to time reminded me of it and brought me comfort.

But as we drove down the road, a speaker came on the Christian radio station that challenged me to be careful of my perspective of my necklace, or any other material representation of God for that matter.

Now I know that sounds kind of weird. It’s just a cross and it means something powerful right? But what I learned from Chip Ingram of the Living on the Edge radio broadcast ministry is that ... 

Click here to read more 

By Debra Torres
The concrete sidewalk paths that wound around our housing development were perfect for a mother with small children.

There, my young boys could ride their big wheel, go puddle jumping and walk to a small wooden bridge where we used to feed the ducks and their ducklings in the water below.

All this while staying clear of any vehicles.

There was one path, however that led to a busy side street where cars would whip around a curve unexpectantly. And it was this path that we took once a week in order to trek over to our local library’s story time.

At that time in my life, I usually had one or two in the stroller and a few walking next to me, so it was important to find just the right break in traffic where we could all get across safely.

One thing I would say to my boys as they got in formation behind me was: “Remember to be like the ducks!”

You can probably picture us crossing: Me in front pushing the stroller and two or three boys behind trying to keep a tight line.

Just like a mama duck and her brood.

Click here to read more 

Sticking close to God can be a slippery slope if we try to go it alone. He wants you to stick close to Him. And you can do it with His help.

When I first met my husband, I wasn’t attracted to him at all. He was nearly ten years older than me and sported a full beard. 

And when he began pursuing me, I hid – literally.

I was working with our campus newspaper back then and my husband knew just when and where I spent the bulk of my time. So often, he would show up while on some “errand” or another for his job.

 I remember seeing the back of him in the hallway one day and decided to act fast and lose him, knowing that sooner or later he’d show up in my office for a “visit.”

And so I hightailed it down a back corridor and onto a secluded balcony where students and newspaper staff were busy on the computers.

Phew … I would be safe hidden back there until he left the building.

Or, so I thought. ...

Click here to read more 

By Debra Torres
Claudia said she didn’t take Joyce’s stuffed animal. 

It wasn’t hers, so what would she have to do with it? 

Again and again she denied that she took it, but when we challenged her to open her square, metal lunchbox, 



I’m sure we probably gasped at what was inside.

Joyce’s toy.

It was 1973 and I was in second grade. And even though I was only 7, I can still see the tormented look on Claudia’s face when her peers caught her in the act.

A lying tongue cuts both ways.

In my devotions this morning, I read that we are responsible to teach our children about lying and why it is wrong. And it also said that we should use God’s Word to do it.

This challenged me to do a little digging, because you know what? As parents and grandparents, I think we often do a disservice to the young ones who are watching us. Can you guess what it is?

We Lie.

Click here to read more