ldquo You rsquo re not what I expected I thought I rsquo d hate you but I don rsquo t rdquo The young man rsquo s words seemed harsh but they were actually an effort to be kind I was studying abroad in his country a land that decades earlier had been at war with my own We were participating in a group discussion in class together and I noticed he seemed distant When I asked if I had offended him somehow he responded ldquo Not at all And that rsquo s the thing My grandfather was killed in that [... more]

ldquo The baby birds will fly tomorrow rdquo My wife Cari was elated about the progress a family of wrens was making in a hanging basket on our front porch She rsquo d watched them daily taking pictures as the mother brought food to the nest Cari got up early the next morning to look in on them She moved some of the greenery aside covering the nest but instead of seeing baby birds the narrow eyes of a serpent met hers The snake had scaled a vertical wall slithered into the nest and devoured them all Cari was heartbroken [... more]

Tough words hurt So my friend mdash an award-winning author mdash struggled with how to respond to the criticism His new book had earned -star reviews plus a major award Then a respected magazine reviewer gave him a backhanded compliment describing his book as well-written yet still criticizing it harshly Turning to friends he asked ldquo How should I reply rdquo One friend advised ldquo Let it go rdquo I shared advice from writing magazines including tips to ignore such criticism or learn from it even while continuing to work and write Finally however I decided to seek the best [... more]

It makes no logical sense but when my parents died within a three-month period I feared they would forget me Of course they were no longer on earth but that left me with a large uncertainty I was a young unmarried adult and wondered how to navigate life without them Feeling really single and alone I sought God nbsp One morning I told Him about my irrational fear and the sadness it brought even though He knew it already The Scripture passage that came in my reading for the day was Isaiah ldquo Can a mother forget the baby at [... more]

At a children rsquo s music recital I watched a teacher and student seat themselves in front of a piano Before their duet began the teacher leaned over and whispered some last-minute instructions As music flowed from the instrument I noticed that the student played a simple melody while the teacher rsquo s accompaniment added depth and richness to the song Near the end of the piece the teacher nodded his approval The Christian life is much more like a duet than a solo performance Sometimes though I forget that Jesus is sitting next to me rdquo and it rsquo [... more]

In art exhibitions worldwide commemorated the five hundredth anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci While many of his drawings and scientific discoveries were showcased there are only five finished paintings universally credited to da Vinci including The Last Supper This intricate mural depicts the final meal Jesus ate with his disciples as described in the gospel of John The painting captures the disciples rsquo confusion at Jesus rsquo s statement ldquo One of you is going to betray me rdquo John Perplexed the disciples discussed who the betrayer might be mdash while Judas quietly slipped out into the [... more]

So many times we caregivers cry out to God for us to be delivered FROM these challenges Doing this for years however I'm learning that God meets us in it and delivers us THROUGH It In the process we discover our battle is not with our loved one's affliction but instead the battle is with ourselves From HOPE FOR THE CAREGIVER on American Family Radio JAN See the full transcript of the show below Brought to you by HFTC January Live on American family radio this is Hope For The Caregiver This is Peter Rosenberger This is the nation's number [... more]