"I really need that!"  How many times have you said those words this past week?  Or maybe it was your eight-year old who has been impressed by the commercials on television who says, "I really need that, Dad!"  And, of course, we quickly think of Philippians 4:19, which brings God into the process of canceling out our need with His provision. But what really constitutes a need?

Abraham Lincoln, the American president who faced tremendous personal struggles in his life, once said, "I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go."

Are you a grandparent?  I am, and if I had known how much fun grandchildren would be, I would have had them first!  Grandparents, you can be a powerful force in the lives of your grandchildren.  You can be an important support and confidant, especially in the teen years.  When my first grandson was born, I wrote a letter that I’ve given to each of my eight grandchildren—although they’re not children anymore!

Learning to trust God is a habit that I will be working on from now until eternity.  For the first half of my adult life I don’t think I really had any idea what trusting God was actually all about. Oh, I prayed about things. I could quote Bible verses about faith. David may have been able to say, “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you” (Psalm 56:3) but I would have had to say, “When I am afraid…well…I’m just really afraid!”

Henry Ford, the industrialist who put the world on wheels, after fifty years of married life was asked how he managed to stay happily married.  His reply: "I've treated marriage like I've made automobiles--just stick to one model."  It's regrettable that he didn't follow his own advice.

When a youth lost his way and ended up having squandered the inheritance he had received from his father, he came to his senses and said, "I'm starving here; I'm going home to my father."  Jesus told the story.  We call it the parable or the story of the lost son.

Tears or temper?  It probably depends on your sex.  Women tend to cry; men tend to lose their temper.  It's one of the basic differences between the sexes, but in both cases, it is a manifestation of emotions that are deeply rooted within you.  Both tears and temper have their place in life.  A gentle river brings refreshing water to parched land and thirsty people, but out of control, an angry river becomes a rampaging flood producing death and destruction.

Your home can be an ark of safety or a prison of isolation.  What it is depends on what you want it to be.  Frankly, there’s a lot of difference between the two, but the darker the world and more violent our culture, the more important it is that your home be a safe zone, a place where your kids are physically, emotionally, and spiritually safe.

If you are good at riddles, see if you can unravel this one.  At one time I was undisputedly one of the four most beautiful women in the world.  I was the mother of three sons, the wife of one of the most assailed yet important men in the world.  History has ignored my name, the date of my birth and death, and my family background, yet my husband was quoted by Moses and Ezekiel in the Old Testament and by both Christ and Peter in the New Testament.

If you have an unsatisfied hunger for God deep down within your heart, no matter how far away He seems or how miserable you may be, be encouraged.  You are spiritually alive and God's Spirit is prodding you to seek and find Him.  But you may be thinking, "You don't understand.  I'd like to know God, but I'm not sure He's even there, so how can I find Him?"