God knows my name and He knows yours, too!
by Vanessa Richardson

She was suddenly hit hard. The unexpected impact sent her sprawling to her knees. She could hear the incessant sound of the rain, pelting against her large bedroom window. It was all a strange phenomenon, to her. Dark billowy clouds had gathered, hovering and intimidating. It was an remarkable sight. The howling winds were a frightening thing to hear. The ominous sound caused chills to dance over the lone woman’s slight frame.

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In ___ We Trust
by Tyora Moody

One of the most practical areas of the bible is the book of Proverbs. Most of Proverbs was recorded by King Solomon, known to be the wisest man of all time (1 King 3:12). Like his father King David, Solomon was a good king. Unfortunately, Solomon didn’t remain as faithful to God as his father. Even though he was the wisest man in the world, Solomon inherited a flaw from his dad, a deep love for beautiful women. Solomon went above and beyond by marrying 700 foreign women and keeping 300 concubines in his lavish palace.

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Filling up on God’s Best for You
by Nancy Twigg

I confess I am a bit of a junk food junkie. When faced with the choice of fresh fruit or a handful of chocolate chip cookies, I’ll take the cookies every time. Within an otherwise balanced diet, I know there is nothing wrong with enjoying a few sweets here and there, but it’s up to me to make sure cookies don’t replace the healthy foods my body needs. In the same way, when God gives us material possessions and experiences to enjoy, He wants us to derive pleasure from them, but He doesn’t want that pleasure to take the place of the spiritual and emotional sustenance only He can provide.

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Slogging Through The Mud
by Chris Plekenpol

February, 18 2005

(excerpt from FAITH IN THE FOG OF WAR: Volumes II reprinted with permission )

The mud clung to my Belleville boot like a scared child to daddy’s leg. I was on a mission to an informant’s house. Sweat trickled to the edge of my nose then fell into the mire. A moment of clarity pushed away the fog and I realized we took the wrong route. I was stuck.

It had only been a week since our last visit, so we knew that insurgents might be setting in an ambush for us. I decided that we would dismount about a kilometer away and make our move through the fields that had high reeds on either side, thus providing excellent concealment for our infiltration. It had rained hard the week previous, but I figured that by this time it would have dried up. I was wrong.

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