The email came as a surprise and after reading it, I felt like I had been punched in the gut. 

A woman who had been receiving email updates from my Christian Devotional blog had decided to unsubscribe and her reason left me deflated.

Her comment went something like this: “Sorry… your writing is just not speaking to my heart.”

Ouch. It was a blow, and it took me a few days to recover. My mind filled with questions like: Why even try? Is this how all my readers feel? How could I not see how awful I am?

Criticism is tough isn’t it? And learning how to ...

Click here to read more on this Christian Devotional Blog ...
Get free devotions sent directly to your inbox by clicking here

It was a warm, sunny day – typical weather for the South. 

And, I was making my way through one of the poorest neighborhoods in my city. 

I was headed to one of the ministry buildings nestled among the slum-like homes in the low-income housing complex.


As a Bible club volunteer, I used to help make the rounds in the neighborhood gathering up children who were willing to come.

The cinder block homes, all set in neat rows, were not hard to navigate, but somehow I’d gotten turned around that day. And I found myself going the wrong way down a one-way street.

The windows of my 1980s Chevy Citation were wide open, so I had no choice but to listen to the ridicule that followed. It seemed like everyone was out on the street and boy did they have an opinion about my mistake.

Click here to read more on this Christian devotional blog ...
Get free devotions sent directly to your inbox by clicking here.

We first started seeing the black and white tomcat sometime in midsummer. 

He’d sit in the tall weeds near our barn and run off when we’d get too close. 

Jokingly, we called him our calico’s boyfriend and thought nothing of it since all our cats are “fixed.”

            
But recently, I noted the tom getting a little “chummier” with me. When I’d go out to feed our three females, he’d always be there waiting-- just about five feet away from the door of the barn.

I named him “Tom-Tom” and tried to make friends -- even inviting him to slip into the barn to eat with the “girls.” 

But around that same time, I noticed some strange things happening...

Read more on this Christian Devotional blog by clicking here ...