We fought to swallow the lumps in our throat, and we blinked away the tears. Then, we said goodbye. Our daughter had always been our run-away bride. No man had been able to tame her.
Read moreSaying Goodbye: The Challenge of Change
Author: Martin Wiles
Martin is the Managing Editor for Christian Devotions and the Directing Editor for Vinewords.net. He is an author, English teacher, minister, freelance editor, and founder of Love Lines from God (www.lovelinesfromgod.com). His most recent book is Don't Just Live...Really Live. He and his wife are parents of two and grandparents of seven.
New Year, New Beginning, and New ID
Proving my identity proved difficult. The COVID pandemic made people crazy in more ways than one. Although we didn’t live in an area where cases were spiking or in a dangerous part of town, I
Read moreChristmas Surprise
As our extended family opened Christmas gifts, we never imagined the greatest gift wasn’t nestled beneath the tree. For many years, our family had gathered on Christmas Eve—or the day before depending on work schedules—to
Read moreThe Gathering
The annual gathering happened two days before Thanksgiving. Each year, most of the churches in the small town where I pastored gathered for a community Thanksgiving service. A different church hosted the event each year,
Read moreFlawed but Functional
Sin had ensnared another victim. I listened as the newscaster gave a piecemeal report. The leaders of a noted mega church met behind closed doors. The pastor had planted the church sixteen years before on
Read moreThe Spitting Image
“He is the spitting image of his mother (or father).” Image entails the physical characteristics found in a child that are also found in one or both parents. Most of the time, this involves body
Read moreMentored
Some were family and some were friends, but each one invested something different into my life. My first cousin mentored me. He was three months older than I and was the third born of my
Read moreWhat Freedom Means
On July 4th, the United States of America celebrates her freedom, a freedom won originally from England, but a freedom that continues to cost men and women their lives. Our original march toward freedom was
Read moreMen and Fathers Stepping Up
The evidence remains clear: children who grow up in homes with absentee fathers face greater challenges than those who grow up in two-parent homes. Twenty-three percent of children in America under the age of eighteen
Read moreDo Good
“Thank you for being a Good Samaritan.” Our pen sickness caused by Covid-19 grew, so my wife and I began searching for places in the great outdoors where we could take our two oldest grandboys
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