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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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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One Thing
ALT="black button women's history"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer If you haven’t already heard, March is Women’s History Month. The button pictured above was left in my box in the teacher’s lounge when I taught at the college. I laugh every time I notice it on my “inspiration” board at home. However, I can

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Someone to Devour
ALT="a roaring lion"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Someone to Devour Sounds gruesome, doesn’t it? Like something out of a zombie or horror movie. However, there is more of that sort of thing going on than we realize. A friend of mine had her computer hacked the other day, and the culprit obtained

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In the Beginning Was the Word
ALT="In the beginning was the word"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Did you choose a “word for the year” at the beginning of 2023? Many people did. It has become a friendlier variation on the New-Year’s-Resolution theme. Researchers say resolutions last between two weeks and one month. I was surprised they lasted that long. However, a

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Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled
ALT="tin scrolled heart on saddle horn"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer A lot is said in February about the heart. A lot of money is spent too. Advertisers market flowers, candy, cards, and jewelry all connected to the little red or pink ♥-shape denoting love, affection, fondness, and fidelity. And of course the ♥ looks nothing

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Don’t Listen to the Doubt
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Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Have you ever suffered from “imposter syndrome?” Misgivings about what you’ve been called to do. “Me – teach?” “Me – sing?” “Me – help the sick/poor/lonely?” As an author, I know well the spidery footsteps of doubt crawling up my shoulder … “You – write?”

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Trust Like That
ALT="wine goblet with wine"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Most moms have a way of knowing what their children are capable of, whether it’s good or ornery. They also usually know what’s going on. Especially at important gatherings. One day in a small Middle Eastern town roughly halfway between an inland sea and the Mediterranean,

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Better Than What the Well Offered
ALT="clay water pot"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Do you ever get so busy that you ignore other people? In too big of a hurry to sense their need. So tied up in your own thoughts that you miss the obvious.  I do. Maybe that’s why I enjoy accounts of Jesus meeting people

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Expectancy Frees Us from Expectation
ALT="a road curving through grassland"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer When I was in elementary school, two of my classmates were identical twins. Even their names were nearly the same: Arlene and Darlene. I rarely knew who was who. As an adult, I’m learning the difference between two nearly identical words: expectation and expectancy. They

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Deep Calls Unto Deep
ALT="waterfall on Snake River in Idaho"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Iconic images of frozen Niagara Falls have hit the Internet as hard as a recent wintry storm hit North America. Amazing that the water’s thunderous, rushing journey can be stopped. I’ve never been to New York and the Niagara River, but I’ve heard the roar

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