By: Laura Jane Anslow It was the end of another long day. I was exhausted. I had spent the day saying the same things over and over to my children. Constantly reminding them to be kind and helpful. To show love to each other. I felt like I wasn’t making any progress. I whispered to the Lord, “When will they learn?” I was reading through Luke 5 and came across the story of the great catch of fish. Simon Peter had been fishing all night without catching a single fish, however, when Jesus approached him the next morning, He tells Peter to go out deeper and cast his nets again.…

By: Meghan Villatoro of Restore Amor, Certified Marriage Coach A few months ago, I had a baby girl. As a mom of three boys, having a little girl this time has been a nice change. Buying pink clothes and finding matching bows and shoes has been so much fun! However, my favorite thing about my baby girl has nothing to do with accessorizing! Every night when I feed her before bed, my daughter grabs my finger, and we hold hands. This is one of my absolute favorite things. When my little girl grabs my finger, it is a moment where all the other distractions are gone, and I can share…

I grew up going to church. I had a loving family that took me to Vacation Bible School and Youth Group. I grew up watching my parents read their bibles and pray. I recall saying the prayer of salvation a few times. I always thought that maybe the last time my heart wasn’t really into it, so every time they asked if we wanted to say the prayer I thought I had better say it again. You know, just to be safe. I held a “See You at the Pole” prayer event at my school and carried my bible with me to class. But I was lonely. Not many people…

One rather windy day I drove into our little town and could see whitecaps forming on the lake. I’ve always loved being near the water, so I decided to take a closer look by pulling into the parking lot of a restaurant right on the lake.   As I looked to my left, I saw the angry wind-tossed waves crashing into the breakwater sending droplets of water high up into the air. And then as I turned to my right, I saw all the boats safely secured within the harbor.   The boats seemed blissfully unaware of the turbulence all around them. The wind could not move them because they were tethered…

“Mommy can you pray for me?”, my daughter whispered. I placed my hand on her and prayed a quick prayer for God to help her fall asleep and keep her from having bad dreams. Then I gave her a hug and a kiss. And she went back to bed. My daughter has slipped into my room for years with this simple request whenever she has trouble sleeping or a nightmare wakes her. When she was younger, we talked often about God’s love, prayer, and how we can ask Him for anything. We talked about how she could trust God even on her darkest nights. And so she comes in my…