Study and believe the Scriptures.

And I pray, believing that God still answers prayers.

God, You alone are worthy of honor, glory, and praise. With You, we can overcome every storm—including COVID-19.

Right now, we are asking You to:

• Heal those who are sick and protect those who are not.

• Give our leaders extra wisdom as they navigate this pandemic and economic uncertainty.

• Strengthen Your global Church. Reveal to us how we can partner together to reach the needs of those around us.

• Calm our fears. Fill us with Your hope, joy, and peace as we continue to trust in You.

• Use this pandemic to pave the way for spiritual renewal. We want Your glory, power, and healing to be on display.

Come Lord Jesus, come.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

This prayer is from the You Version App. Please consider joining me in praying each day!

This Biblical Service Announcement is brought to you prayerfully in hopes that the power of the Holy Spirit will keep your minds and hearts steadfast in Him. Please read your Holy Bible daily and pray and worship daily. God is in control and will get us through this! Blessings, my friends for a huge dose of the belief that began your journey of faith!

FBI agent Jack Shannon is reunited with his childhood friend Aubrey Grayson in this thrilling suspense novel about spies, selling secrets and betrayal. Jack is supposed to be in Corpus Cristi investigating a spy ring that is passing secrets to both Russia and China. When Aubrey’s life is endangered, Jack jumps into action. I loved how their former friendship was revealed and how their current interaction is like prickly porcupines at first. I also enjoyed the storyline that is as relevant as possible in today’s world. I was totally enthralled with the family dynamics, too, especially the broken relationship between Aubrey and her father Charles. I liked how the author protected all of the innocents who were caught in the crossfires of the investigation and how she tied up all the loose ends in a believable and satisfying way at the end. This is a completely clean read, I’m happy to say, so that I can recommend it without reservation to all of my friends and, most importantly, to my teenaged granddaughters. Thanks to the author for a book worth reading that was clean! Fans of Christian romantic suspense will not want to miss this spy thriller that is spine-tingling, edge-of-your-seat reading!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher Revell via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Are you alone and afraid of the current pandemic? My advice is to turn off the ever blaring bad news on your TV, radio or electronic device and to turn to the One who has all of the answers and who cares for you.

There are sites online that are printing and sharing good news that will encourage you. I refer you to Dr. Denison’s article today.

Dr. Denison March 20, 2020

If you need help praying, I suggest you use the prayer part of the You Version App. Today’s prayer was beautiful and exactly what I needed.

I pray that you will remain healthy, calm and follow the government guidelines without complaining as the Israelites did in the wilderness. Blessings to you for contentment, peace and a spirit of power and love and self-discipline.

Yes, my dear readers, these are trying times. The lines in the grocery stores are still long and the supplies are still scarce. There is a general feeling of unease in the nation, of a people who have had their normal patterns of life disturbed. Nevertheless, there is good news if we just keep hold of our Lord and Maker.

These verses seem to have been written for such a time as this. We are all caught up in a stormy sea. But God is still good and is still working on our behalf. Instead of looking at the stormy sea, we need to keep our eyes on Him. For my part, I am praying and praising and praying some more. I am also looking for good news where I can find it.

For those of you with children at home, the Smithsonian has a webpage for distance learning. It can be found at:

Smithsonian

Also, for those of you with younger children, ABC Mouse is free now, during this crisis. Just use the code 7771. ABC mouse can be found at:

ABC Mouse Homepage

This resource is good for children ages 2-8.

Finally, if you are tired of all of the negative news, I suggest you try some good news at this site:

Good news

I hope that after reading my blog today, you are feeling more positive and more able to praise and pray and praise and pray. That’s what this is all about. I’m sure you are all familiar with the annoying blaring that comes on the television and radio occasionally. At the beginning and end of the most annoying noise ever is the voice that says, “This is a test. This is only a test of the emergency broadcasting system.” Well, folks, what is happening now is a test and how we respond to it will make all the difference. We, yes each of us, can make a difference by praying, asking God what He wants us to do today to help someone, and go out and show someone Jesus in action. Pray for the storm to cease, but while it lingers, don’t forget to keep your oars in the water and keep rowing!

Blessings, my friends, and prayers for a day of peace in your household and a day of resting in the Lord’s goodness, mercy and grace.

Well, here I am again. I’m not counting the days of self-quarantine because I really have just been living my life as normally as I usually do. You see, I am not much of a social person, so being told that I should not congregate in various places is not a big deal for me as I would just as soon stay at home anyway. My husband generally runs to town to the stores to run errands while I stay at home, under a warm blanket, reading. Right now, I am in Maryland visiting family and plan to head home in a few days. I’m slightly concerned about not being able to find a place to stop to go to the bathroom along the way. I plan to pack our lunches, so closed restaurants won’t be a problem. However, I consider these minor inconveniences compared to what others are dealing with. I don’t have children who can’t go to school or day care and have to find placement for them or someone to care for them while I work. I’m not ill with the potentially deadly virus. And I’m not an hourly employee who has no income right now because my employer has closed the business due to the virus. So, I’m thankful for what I do have in my life and waiting for God to tell me the next thing I should do.

All of that being said, I was inspired this morning when I read about Martin Luther King’s response to the Black Plague in Dr. Denison’s column. Perhaps we who are Christians should have the same response. We are to obey the laws and regulations set forth by the government to keep us safer, but we cannot help but offer assistance to others who need it.

Dr. Denison March 17, 2020

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

I know that you are all tired of hearing about the pandemic. I am, too, actually. But Dr. Denison had such a timely article and prayer that I just had to include it on my blog. I hope that you will join me in saying this prayer, for it is in the act of sacrificing our time to pray for others that we become more like our Savior.

Dr. Denison’s Prayer

I pray for each of you to be safe and well and to remember others who may be more affected by this pandemic than you are. To you, it may be an inconvenience. To others, it may be a life! Blessings my friends, and I pray that you may be more like Jesus each day.

More Like Jesus

This is a clean, sweet Amish story about a young woman who steps outside of her comfort zone and sets out on her own to establish a new life.  Eva Coblenz moves from Ohio to Maine to become a new school teacher.  A really new school teacher, since she has never been employed as one before!  Her neighbor in this new environment is Willis Gingrich, a blacksmith who has taken on the responsibility to raise his three younger siblings after the death of their parents.  I really enjoyed the scenes with Willis and the adorable children.  They weren’t afraid to tell how they were feeling and in doing that, they also kept revealing how their brother was feeling.  I enjoyed getting to know Eva, an independent and resilient young woman who faces new challenges with a can-do attitude that was refreshing.  The conflict comes in with Eva’s domineering brother and his lazy wife because they did not want Eva leaving Ohio to begin with and try to make her miserable enough that she will return.  I could tell that this book is from a series because there were new people introduced about whom I want to know more and expect the author to write more about them in the future.  Fans of Amish fiction will enjoy the story of the adventures of Eva and the trials of Willis.  
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”