Here's a thought that challenges me: "Prayer is bringing your wishes and worries to God; faith is leaving them there."[1] The "prayer" part is easy, but the "faith" part--that is, leaving our worries with God, is quite another matter, right?

[1] http://goo.gl/8qr7z3, accessed 7-27-2016.

"Just do the next thing" was the advice author Elisabeth Elliot gave to her daughter, Valerie, when she called on the phone one morning at a point of desperation. Homeschooling her eight children, Valerie had reached the end of her resources. "What do I do, Mom? I just can't go on."

Sometimes when you open Facebook Notifications on your phone or computer, you see a face you've never seen before--that is, until you glance at the name and realize it's someone you know well. The person has simply posted a new Profile picture--and you didn't immediately recognize who it is. Chances are it's a girlfriend of yours who has taken a new selfie in a stylish pose that she thinks makes her look prettier than the previous shot did. Come on, let's be honest: who ever posts an ugly picture of herself on Facebook?

Courtney Ellis tells of the time her family was driving down the highway when a deer darted out from the bushes, colliding with their car before her dad even saw the animal. The airbags deployed. The car was totaled. But fortunately no one was seriously hurt.

In a little book called "Diamond Dust," I found an anonymous quote that caught my attention. Here it is: "If, in spite of all your tears and prayers, God has left you in a dark place, perhaps it's because He knows there are still treasures to be found there."

I was always quite close to my Uncle Phil, so when he passed away, I grieved deeply. A few days after he was gone, a long-time mutual friend, Dr. Dorothy Jean Furlong, wrote these words to me, "Don't think I'm hard-hearted, but I think sometimes believers need to remember Paul's words 'to die is gain.'" She was referring to a verse in the first chapter of the apostle Paul's letter to the Philippians. The verse says, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (verse 21).

So much of life keeps us in turmoil. Have you noticed that just when you think you can't cope with another crisis, you're slammed with a new one? Like a ship tossed around in a storm, you struggle to deal with the latest urgent situation that challenges you.

In 2001 Charlotte suffered a major stroke that resulted in her losing not only her speech but the use of both legs and one arm. But Charlotte was determined not to give up on life. In spite of her disabilities, she believed she could still fulfill her desire to share the Gospel with those who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. She learned about a project to make leather bracelets that have five colored beads strung on them to represent five facets of the Gospel message.

Driving through rural Connecticut, I noticed highway signs directing people to the Thankful Arnold House—brown signs that denote a place of historical significance. I couldn't help wondering who Thankful Arnold was, what happened to him to make him thankful, and why his house is significant.

Eric Denton can't help all of the poor in Mexico, but he's making a tremendous difference for the ones he does help. He and a team of 28 people from the church he pastors in Riverside, California, went on a building mission. They started with just two homes in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the Mexican border town of Tijuana. One of the homes was for a family who was living under a tree—a single mom trying to raise 3 kids, working all day while the kids fended for themselves.