Acceptance and Security
ALT="dad carrying daughter on shoulders"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer  “Daddy prays with me at night before I go to sleep. It makes me feel welcome and safe.” “Welcome” seems like an unusual word choice, but think about it. The child who said this feels welcome at home. How many do not? This child has a

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Out of the Storm
ALT="sunlight through stormy clouds"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer  Early afternoon light dims beneath the gray underbelly of an approaching storm and thunder rolls from one side of the river valley to the other. Twenty minutes later, “… the rains are over and gone….the cooing of doves is heard in our land” (Song of

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Like a Tree Planted … and a giveaway!
ALT="tree by a river"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer  Do you have a favorite tree? Countless varieties flourish on the earth, but Psalm 92 mentions three with a descriptive promise attached: The godly will flourish like palm trees, grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon, and still bear fruit in their old age (

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Remember the Fallen
ALT= "military presentation of folded flag to child"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer  For many people, Memorial Day signals the changing of the seasons. Those of us who can’t wait any longer for summer declare that it’s time to bring out the lawn chairs and barbecue. Who wants to wait another four weeks? We’d rather start thinking about

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You Against the World
ALT="lone horse in pasture"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer  Ever feel like it’s you against the world? Occupationally, relationally, or physically? If it’s not one thing, it’s another – right? Just when we get our sea legs under us, a rogue wave hits, the deck rolls, and our stomachs follow. Why can’t our careers, relationships,

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Cords of Love
Alt="young girl holding baby goat"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer  Robert Fulghum’s 1988 New York Times bestseller, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten was on that prestigious list for nearly two years. He made valid points and stirred most of us to consider the kindnesses and stress busters we were introduced

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Cool of the Day
"Alt="spotted fawn in the evening"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer  What would it sound like to hear God’s presence? Would it be the whirlwind mentioned by Job, the rushing wind of Pentecost, the whisper Moses detected? Genesis 3:8 tells us that Adam and Eve heard God walking in the garden and hid themselves from His

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Life wins!
ALT="pink peach blossoms"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer  One morning last week, an ethereal veil hung over our small orchard, shrouding the budding trees with mist. I wondered, could that be what it looked like in God’s garden that we read about in Genesis? “… but a mist went up from the earth

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Of Birthdays and Other Interuptions
ALT="toddler eating birthday cake"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer  My perspective of age has changed over the years. Perhaps that’s because I’m on a different side of it than I once was. I still look ahead in anticipation, but now I look back with more gratitude for where the Lord has brought me and

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We Run Out of Time
ALT="gold pocket watch"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Time. We run out of time faster than we run out of money and milk. But we can always get more money and milk. We can’t go get more time. When I was growing up and my mother didn’t want to accept an invitation, she

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Everything Changed
ALT="sunrise through a tree"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Everything changed at dawn. Light revealed the emptiness left behind when Life got up and walked out of the tomb. He does that, you know. Jesus does the unexpected. Even though He told His friends (and enemies) He wouldn’t stay dead, they were surprised. From

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Would He Ever Forget?
ALT="jar of perfume against rug"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer A.D. 33    Bethany, a village near Jerusalem Six days before Passover Asher pulled his cloak tighter, wishing he’d worn his heavier wool garment this evening. The short walk to his neighbor’s house warmed him some, but the air nipped around his ears. Much remained

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Go In Peace
ALT="worried man"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Two weekends this month I have a small part in a play* about the life of Christ as well as the life of a wizened old judge whose dead friend pays him a visit. It is the second production I have participated in over the

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The Refiner’s Fire
ALT="Mary's Moment book by Susan G. Mathis"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Please welcome my guest blogger today, author Susan G. Mathis, as she talks about something we all experience … The Refiner’s Fire Have you ever gone through the refiner’s fire? I’m sure you have, and so did my characters in Mary’s Moment who had just

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Not Without Horses and Women
ALT="woman riding a horse"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer It has been said that the American West was “hell on horses and women,” but without them, the Wild West may never have been. Fits right in with Women’s History Month, doesn’t it? Alice Marriott, author of a book with the same colorful title, Hell

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