Grief: The Intimacy of Suffering – Part 1 of 3
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Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Everyone faces grief at some point in their life. There is no right, better, or perfect way to deal with it. We just deal with it. In our own way. But there are many little broken bits we have in common with others, and we

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It’s Easy to Get Sidetracked
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Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Life speaks to us metaphorically all the time. Consider the word “sidetracked.” The Online Etymology Dictionary (not the bug book) says the word is from the old railroad days (1874) when a “side-track” or railway siding allowed train cars to move onto a sidetrack. The

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Celebrate Freedom
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Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer It is right to celebrate freedom. It is right to celebrate independence from tyranny. And it is right to remember those who paid the greatest price for that freedom and independence. Therefore, on this Independence Day for our nation, let us also remember the freedom

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A Sense of Place
ALT="a rocky cliff at Glen Eyrie"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Have you ever felt out of place, as if you didn’t belong? Have you ever thought a comment, piece of artwork, or something else was out of place? It just didn’t fit. A sense of place – belonging – is highly valued, and that’s why

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Tend to Your Herd: Tribute to a Dad
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By Jake Spencer Tend to Your Herd The sun comes up and the moon goes down, I roll outta bed, my feet hit the ground. I pull on my pants, ’n slide on my boots, The cowboy inside me comes from my roots.   Three kids in

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Hunger and Thirst No More – Guest post by Donna Schlachter
ALT="Donna Schlachter and book Calli"

 @davalynnspencer Please welcome author Donna Schlachter today as she shares unusual insight into hunger and gives us a peak at her historical, romantic-mystery novel, Calli. By Donna Schlacter             Scripture tells us that God will use an animal to get a person’s attention. The donkey talked to

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Can’t Be Forgotten
ALT="cowboy singing to girl with flowers"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Last Monday we commemorated those who died in the service of our country. We remembered their character, dedication, and sacrifice. But we remember other people as well, living and deceased, because they just can’t be forgotten. We all have them—individuals we remember who    

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How to Handle Faltering Faith
ALT= "Peyton's Promise Susan G. Mathis"

Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I am happy to welcome author Susan G. Mathis to my blog on this Memorial Day weekend. She survives her husband, Lt. Col. Dale Mathis who served in the United States Air Force 21 years and was a true officer and gentleman. Susan is

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One Letter Can Make All the Difference
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By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer As a writer, I spend a lot of time looking at words and how similar one can be to another, such as rapid and rabid. One letter can make all the difference. In my novels, do characters whimper or whisper? Do they pick up

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The Seeds of Creation
ALT="sunshine through green aspen leaves"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer It’s so easy to take certain things for granted when we’ve never known anything else. Like creation. Everything God started “in the beginning” continues today. The seed from the first tree and flower has reproduced kind after its kind over the millennia. The light

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Mom-Care

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer What is it about a mother that makes her do things for her children all the time? Even when no one knows—especially her children. I believe it’s the God-gene in her—not in a scientific, physiological sense, but in a spiritual sense. God’s fingerprint is

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On My Own
ALT="toddler on grass Always Before Me"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer When my youngest granddaughter was a toddler, I watched her one day each week. She slowed me down, thank God. She drew my focus to tiny hands, the floor I thought was clean, the lower shelves of my bookcase. She forced me to look

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For the Journey – Always Before Me
ALT="book cover for Always Before Me devotional book"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer The psalmist wrote: “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be moved” (Psalm 16:8). With God as his focus and companion, the psalm-singer knew he would not be shaken off his path. This

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WANTED: Jesus of Nazareth
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By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Slip out of time with me—more than 2,000 years back—and consider: Jesus was dead. Crucifixion will do that to a person. But all things are possible, right? Isn’t that what the angel told Jesus’ mother thirty-three years earlier? Clearly, she believed and proved it

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Would Jesus Have Social Media Accounts?
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By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Would Jesus have social media accounts? I believe He would. In first-century Palestine, Jesus participated in the social medium of the day: itinerant teaching. From hillsides, roadsides, tables, and wells He met the people where they were, where they were looking, and where they

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