26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” [...]
18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And [...]
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had [...]
There was never any peace in our family growing up. If you have kids, you know what I mean. I am 4 years older than my sister and I can tell you that we didn’t have much in common. I can remember our sock wars. Anyone else have those? You know what that is? In [...]
I love my dad, but we didn’t always see eye to eye. What a shock! When I was in elementary school, my dad spent more time disciplining me than most anything else. Here’s the way it worked. If I got in trouble with my mom, she would chase me all the way under my bed [...]
International travel is always just a little difficult. After traveling through 4 airports and 36 hours, a handful of people found themselves 4,300 miles away from their homes. They were now in Cachoeira, Brazil and were hoping God would use them to make a difference in the lives of people they had never met. This [...]
Mr. Etheridge was my guidance counselor in middle school. He was a kind man and always very patient. He continually gave me great advice and didn’t mind spending time listening to my problems, heartaches, and middle school woes. He was a great counselor and spoke the right words at just the right time. After all, [...]
Thunder and lightening are two things that always brought our family together when our kids were younger. I always knew when a thunderstorm was forecast, that our bedroom would have visitors. One flash of lightening and a crack of thunder would be followed by the thud of feet hitting the ground and the patter of [...]
Christmas is such a magical time of the year. Elves on the shelves, presents, family gatherings, ribbons, all the lights, decorated trees, and shopping tend to capture our imagination and time. For several months we become consumed with the magic of Christmas and all the other not so important things that accompany this season. With [...]
Selfishness is the root of a life that fails to show gratitude to God. Selfishness affects our view. Too often, it skews our view of God and our present circumstances. So, as a result, we look around at others with envy and jealousy for what they have without any thoughts about what we truly [...]