I recently talked to a woman who has been estranged from her father for many years. Her totally healthy father. She wasn’t abused or yelled at. She just wasn’t much seen at all.  

The story of her dad’s parenting could almost be told in one sentence, “He did nothing particularly bad and nothing significantly good.” He tried to add a daughter into his life without stepping into hers. He missed a chance to build and encourage her.  

Actually, he missed a million chances. Daily chances. And he missed nearly every opportunity to protect her from boys who also wanted to make her an accessory to their lives but not a prize.

Similar stories are everywhere. I know that dads are a popular scapegoat, and I’m not looking to castigate them here. But I will say: I believe the dad/daughter relationship is one of the most important  and foundational elements to our wellbeing as women.  

Our dads have the ability to teach without words. Regardless of their educational background, vocational success or communication techniques, they constantly teach us (maybe more than anyone) about our own worth as women. They teach us about beauty and how men view it. They teach us about body image and sexuality and marriage and safety and commitment. It’s ironic that men—who I think feel WAY in over their heads communicating to women—are holding so many of the cards when it comes to their daughters.

Today, I’m grateful for two things.

I’m so thankful for this guy and the way he’s fathered his girls.

The way he’s seen their unique beauty and helped them see it too. The way he’s shown them Jesus and strong leadership and love. The way he has taken care of their cars and killed the spiders and protected them from danger—sometimes the kind of danger that only a dad can see.

And even though he can’t do all those things with them now, he’s still their dad. His investment stands in their lives, and their love for him is obvious and outrageous. None of our three girls feels qualified or capable of being a caregiver (we’re all a little weak-stomached that way), but all of them have gladly stepped into that role with their dad. They tackle the hard stuff without a single word of complaint. He’s earned their trust, respect, love—and now he receives their compassion and care, and it’s a beautiful, humbling thing to watch.

So, that’s the first thing. The second thing I’m thankful for today is my friend, Michelle Watson, and her new book, Dad, Here’s What I Really Need From You. Michelle is a therapist whose specialty is the dad/daughter relationship. She leads groups of men through field training in how to improve their connection with their daughters and establish beautiful relationships. This book is written for men, in a way that men will enjoy. Michelle does not take cheap shots or ridicule or condescend. She respects men and the role they fill, and her writing proves it.

If you are a dad or know a dad struggling to connect with his daughter, grab this book. You won’t be sorry. Not ever.

Bo Stern is a blogger and author of Beautiful Battliefields (NavPress). She knows the most beautiful things can come out of the hardest times. Her Goliath came in the form of her husband’s terminal illness, a battle they are still fighting with the help of their four children, a veritable army of friends, and our extraordinary God. Bo is a teaching pastor at Westside Church in Bend, Oregon.

Sometimes I feel like a fairly intelligent person –able to manage a household and be a writer and teach a Spanish class.

Then there was last week when the fire alarm went off at school, and I could not for the life of me remember all of the procedures. The students and I left the room, and I closed the door and turned off the lights behind us (because that’s what the teacher across from me was doing.)

We walked outside and down to the end of the building, and that’s when I saw all the teachers holding up their colored cards that indicated to the administration all their students were accounted for. And yes, my stack of indicator cards was still hanging above my desk in the classroom.

Shouldn’t it be simple? Grab the cards. File out of the room quickly. Turn off the light. Close the door. Walk quickly outside. Hold up card indicating students accounted for.

That brings me to the 50 or so emotional emergencies I have in my heart every day.

Maybe 72.

All day long it’s like there’s that little red lever someone is pulling, and the alarm goes off: Not peaceful! Not peaceful! Not peaceful! 

And I ask, Wait, what do I do again?

I’m thinking specifically about the unrighteousness emergency –when I say the unkind word or tell the “white” lie or refuse sharing. The Spirit reaches for the lever.

Blaring alarm sounds: Bad! Bad! Bad! 

So I’m making this list of procedures for myself, and Lord willing I’ll remember them. You may read them if you would like.

IN CASE OF SIN:

1. Feel guilt. “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin…”  (John 16:8  NIV)
2. Feel sad. “Blessed are the poor in who mourn…”  (Matthew 5:3,4  NIV)
3. Make apology and amends. “…go and be reconciled…”  (Matthew 5:24  NIV)
4. Humbly accept consequences.  
5. Feel forgiven. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins…”  (1 John 1:9  NIV)
6. Feel loved. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…”  (John 3:16  NIV)

Number six is the hard one, you know.

Guilt? Easy –like remembering students should leave the building if it’s on fire.

But it’s the love part I tend to leave behind.

I’ve been asking God about the misery I feel all the time, and this was his answer to me –that I am living in procedures one through five and never in procedure six.

We are loved. We are loved. We are loved.

Love is the colored card stock the Spirit holds up to say, I can account for this one, and she is okay.

Never forget #6.

Christy Fitzwater is the author of A Study of Psalm 25: Seven Actions to Take When Life Gets Hard. She is a blogger, pastor’s wife and mom of two teenagers and resides in Montana. 

“I can do it myself.” How many times does a mother of toddlers, children and teens hear that statement? How many times have we as adults told that to God? The real truth is we just can’t, not without Him.

When a 3-year-old Sally wants to tie her OWN shoes, there’s no way Mom can effectively help her. She might as well sit back and wait.

One of two things will happen, Sally will miraculously get the shoes tied, or she will have a fit because she can’t do it, cry herself out and then ask Mom to do it for her.

Mom, who has been patiently waiting all this time making lunch or doing whatever, will gladly stop and show Sally step by step how to tie her shoes.

Did Mom have the power to tie Sally’s shoes all the time? Of course she did.

However, a wise Mom knows tying Sally’s shoes when she’s convinced she can do it herself would be akin to wrangling snakes. And if Mom did manage to hogtie Sally and get the shoes tied, Sally would probably untie them and try to tie them again herself.

The only correct course in this situation is to wait for the toddler’s surrender, so Mom can utilize her strength to either do it or teach Sally how to do it. Will she learn it the first time? No, Mom will have to help her, remind her of the steps.

The next time Sally will remember more and more, until eventually she’s doing it pretty much by rote memory.

I so relate to this illustration. I am Sally in most everything. And God is my patient Mom teaching me what to do in each situation until one day I can do it knowing He’s still there if I get in a bind.

Trying it my way

Being a super morbidly obese woman for at least 20 years of my life, I tried everything to fix my problem.

God told me the way I could begin to be healthy, but I wanted to tie my own shoes. I thought surely there is a better way, an easier way. Surely, that was just a suggestion. I can do it myself my own way.

I would go on a different diet, fail, regain the weight, and cry out to Him for help again. He would give me the same answer.

He had already shown me the plan. It never changed from the first time He told me. He was just waiting for me to get over my Sally fit and realize I really needed help.

I would get frustrated at my ineptness and so, of course, I would eat all the things I knew I should lay down if I really wanted to lose weight.

The problem was I had not really surrendered my weakness for sugar and breads to Him. Sure, I could give them up for short times, but I couldn’t fathom giving them up for the rest of my life.

God’s wisdom

I knew God told me in 1977 to “Stop eating sugar. Eat more meat, fruits and vegetables and stop eating so much bread.”

It sounded impossible. And yet I knew the Scripture, “What is impossible with man, is possible with God.”¹

I also knew, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”²

Still, there was a great disconnect about how all of this could and would happen in my life.

Time and again I would whine to God. He would either tell me what He’d just told me, or He would be silent. I felt I was talking to an empty sky and an impotent God.

In effect, I had rendered Him powerless with my I-can-do-it-myself attitude. See, even though I was asking for help, I hadn’t surrendered the one thing He had clearly showed me during my prayer time to stop.

I rationalized it as a suggestion because surely He couldn’t mean that I had to give up something I loved so much for the rest of my life.

The truth is, He knows me so well,³ that He knew the only way I would be successful in releasing the weight was giving up what I had become a slave to—processed sugar.

In His direction was embedded the message of free will. I asked what I needed to do. He told me. However, I have the freedom to choose to do it or not do it.

I didn’t feel I was cut off from God in other areas of my life, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, He was not willing to promote me in the areas of my dreams if I could not follow this directive.

God promotes those who are ready, those willing to follow His suggestions for abundant life.

My personal belief is this wasn’t an ultimatum. I wouldn’t go to hell for not giving up sugar. It was His wisdom and direction for my life.

Out of resources

It took me coming to the end of my resources before I surrendered processed sugar. It was with trepidation, but it was also with this total knowing that God has the resources to help me through this journey.

God knows us, and nothing about us is hidden from Him.⁴ “But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are not as they pretend to be.”⁵

I pretended to be surrendered. I sang “I surrender all.” I said I made Jesus my Lord, that I was filled with His Spirit. However, God knew there was a locked pantry of my heart I wouldn’t let Him in to purge and rearrange.

At that moment of surrender when I realized I was like an alcoholic only with processed sugar, I surrendered. I laid processed sugar on the altar. I clearly saw the life it had robbed me of.

Processed sugar was no close friend like I always saw it. It was my nemesis. And with God’s strength in this area I would overcome it.

Moment of Change

It is hard to explain the moment of change. It’s a moment when you are going one direction and you turn around and go the other. I was headed toward an early death by over indulgence. I turned around and headed toward life, overflowing.

I went home and the first thing I did was surrender my stash of candy to my son, who is very controlled in that area. I also knew if I told him to hide it and not give me any he would follow my directive. I did, and he did.

It was as if in that one act, God’s power kicked in for this area of my life. In my prayer time that day, I invited Him to remind me when I was going astray. He has done so many times on this journey; most of the time I follow.

There have been times I have ignored His still, small voice saying to me, “What are you doing?” I would know exactly what I was doing. During those times, His power for saying no never left me. It was always there to call on when I would take the first step and once again repent.

Tapping into grace

The times I’ve failed have been few, but there have been times. Each time when I would get back on the marked journey path, He would propel me forward even faster.

His grace was always there for me. As Kris Vallotton says, “Grace is the power to do what I couldn’t do one second before.”

Tapping into the grace is as simple as totally surrendering my way for His.

My favorite verse of late is where God tells Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in your weakness.”⁶

People have said to me, I can’t do what you did. I’m not that strong. My reply to them is, “No, you’re not yet weak enough for this journey.”

Our weakness is our strength. When we lay down trying to fix everything, control everything with our own limited resources, we fail miserably.

The Comforter

Most of us keep our stash in reserve even in our minds. God knows when we’re doing it. We aren’t hiding from Him.

We can’t have our cake and eat it too. We can’t say we’re giving up and ask for His help if we have no intention of walking it out.

He won’t do it for us, but He will do it with us when we have totally changed our mindset.

Laying down our own abilities, is when we tap into His strength. If we have even a modicum of strength, we try to do it our way instead of God’s. That’s why God left the thorn in Paul’s flesh. It was the one weakness Paul had that meant he had to rely on God.

God is a jealous God. He wants our attention. It makes Him sad when we worship false gods that we feel can give us comfort. Why do we do that? The Comforter has come.⁷ We don’t have to run to food or drugs, alcohol, pornography, tobacco and any other things we put in His place.

We have Him. He’s all we need.

I’d love to know if you’ve had your moment of change. Please share where you are on the journey, in the comments below.

¹ Luke 18:27 NIV

² Matthew 17:20 NIV

³ Psalm 139 NLT

⁴ Hebrews 4:12-13 NLT

⁵ Jeremiah 17:10 MSG

⁶ 2 Corinthians 12:9

⁷ John 15:26 KJV

 Teresa Shields Parker is an author, blogger, editor, business owner, wife and mother. Her book, Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds and Stopped Trying to Earn God’s Favor is available on Amazon in print, Kindle and Audible HERE. This story is from her blog, .

While their country is plagued with violence, drug cartels and poverty, many Colombians literally can see a brighter future, thanks to a Dallas-based ministry whose force is 90 percent volunteer.

Among the benefactors of Medical Ministry International (MMI) is Maria, who despite the risks of public identity as a Christian, wanted to overcome her poor eyesight to be able to read the Bible.

Then there is Antonio, 59, whose blurred vision left his wife struggling with a doubled workload. After his operation, he and his wife looked into each other’s eyes for the first time in three years: “I began to weep. The surgery had worked!”

Five-year-old Leslie was born blind because of cataracts. After corrective surgery in 2012, her mother says she is now able to do normal child-like activities.

Such stories abound in the files of MMI, whose health centers treated an estimated 543,000 people last year.

“We do 90 projects a year in 23 countries, so the stories are plentiful,” says CEO Sam Smith, who prior to 2012 served as CEO of Mercy Ships for four years. “We’re not about coming and doing good. Where we go and work, we’re not leaving.”

Founded in 1968 by missionaries in the Dominican Republic, MMI offers multiple medical services, including dental and vision care. It operates with a U.S. staff of just 12, plus some 200 internationally. Most of the 2,000-plus volunteers raise their own support annually.

A key to MMI’s approach is that it charges for its services. Smith says a leading complaint from pastors and government officials in other countries is Americans’ creating a “culture of beggars” by handing out free goods and services.

“We may only charge someone a nickel for a surgery that would cost $10,000 in the Western world, but that nickel is a lot to them. If they invest in something, they will deem it of value.”

In my last message, I described briefly how the rapture of believers and their sudden disappearance will impact the world. There will be unprecedented chaos and confusion. But will not be too late to turn to God.

If you find yourself left behind, call on Him. Cry out to Him. Just say, “God. Help me! Save me!” He is listening for your cry. It’s not too late for you to get right with God—to be on God’s side. But you must intentionally, deliberately place your trust in Him.

Confess your sin to God. Tell Him why you have not put your trust in Him until now. Tell Him you are sorry; you know you are a sinner. Tell Him you believe Jesus died for you, and ask Him to forgive you and come into your heart. He will. He will place His Spirit within you and will never leave you or forsake you. As you go through the terrible troubles ahead, He will be right there with you. And if you die before the Second Coming of Jesus, or if you endure to the end, God the Father will welcome you into His heavenly home, because you are now His child through your faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. And God the Father takes care of His children.

It’s critical for your eternal safety and wellbeing that you put your trust in Jesus right now. Don’t wait one more minute. Pray now. The following is a sample prayer you can pray:

Dear God,

I’m scared to death. My whole world has just come crashing down. I’m desperate for help. For someone to make sense out of this. To help me cope with the turmoil and confusion. I know I’m a sinner. I’m sorrier than I have ever been. I am willing right now to forsake my sin. I believe Jesus died for me. I’m asking You to apply His death to my sin and forgive me. I believe He rose from the dead to open Heaven for me. I’m asking You to give me eternal life in His Name. I invite Him to come into my heart and take control. Of everything. Please. In the days that are left until He returns, I will live my life for Him. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Amen.

If you put your trust in Jesus, He will rescue you. He will save you. At His Second Coming, He will deliver you from what seems like hell on earth.

Once you have established a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, you can talk to Him. Any time. All the time. Talking to God is called prayer. He is now your Father. Tell Him about your fears. Your confusion. Your anger. Your needs. Your desperation and hope. Ask Him to give you strength, wisdom, courage and direction as you live your life now under His authority. Ask Him to show you how to live in the midst of chaos. Talk to Him about anything. Everything. Nothing is too small for His attention. Or too big for His ability to do something about.

And He will have things He wants to say to you through His Word, the Bible.  If you don’t have a Bible, get one.  It will be the most important thing that you now own. Read the New Testament.  The first four books are biographies of Jesus.  The fifth book, Acts, describes the power of the Holy Spirit as He establishes the church. A power that is yours today.

The rest of the New Testament is composed primarily of letters that explain the teachings of Jesus. Except for the last book, Revelation, which is a prophetic account of what you are now experiencing. It reveals the end of God’s Story—the end of human history as we know it. Ask God to open your spiritual eyes and give you an understanding of the Truth as you read. Ask Him to speak to you as you read. He will give you promises and principles on which you can anchor your faith.

And if you need help expressing yourself in prayer, read the Psalms in the Old Testament, and make them your own prayers.

While the financial, institutional, national, personal, environmental storms will get worse during the next few years, your anchor of faith in Jesus that is rooted in God’s Word will hold. 

In the next and final message of this series, I will briefly describe where world events are headed.

Anne Graham Lotz is the founder of AnGeL Ministries. She is also the author of several books.

I love it when people say “Motherhood is a full-time job.” Full-time job? Try all-the-time job. The toys, dishes, laundry, ironing, cleaning and diaper changes never end. There is nowhere to clock out and go home. There is no vacation time or “Thank God it’s Friday.”

Not that I’m complaining.

I totally love my job.

But there is an element of motherhood that is often overlooked:

Missions

Missions? That sounds odd. Oh, but it’s true.

Our children are perhaps the smallest, but greatest mission field there is in the world.

Sometimes we place greater importance on the ministries outside of the home, but God has given us a ripe mission field right under our roof.

Our children need Jesus as much as the teenager sitting in juvie lockup. And a part of our task as mothers is to carefully disciple them and train them to follow the call God has placed on their lives.

This is so easy to forget as we work hard from dawn to long past dusk caring for our homes, preparing meals, and intervening in sibling rivalries; entertaining guests, preparing Sunday school projects, and running our children from football practice to piano lessons.

But we must ask ourselves three important questions:  

1. Do we view children as a mission field? It is so easy to to forget just how much our children need Jesus. We are taught that children are a blank slate, that they want to do good, and a myriad of other humanistic statements. Yet, Jesus said that there is no one who is good and that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God—including our children. They are a mission field that needs to be harvested!

 2. What are we doing to evangelize our children? It isn’t enough to take them to Sunday school and youth group. Even homeshooling isn’t enough. As good and important as these things are, they do not equal evangelism or discipleship. We must carefully train our children to listen for and obey God’s voice, to fear Him above all others, and the value of daily seeking His face.  

3. What are we modeling for our children? Do they see in us the importance of God’s Word?

Do they catch us on our knees in prayer in the early morning or late hours of night?

Do they know that when their feet stray that we will sacrifice sleep to intercede for their souls?

Are they assured that we will not compromise the Word or the standards we hold as a family?

Do they see us standing alone: refusing to laugh at a dirty joke, guarding our eyes from R-rated billboards, or telling the coaches that our kids will not play on Sundays?

Do they hear our tongues bless or curse, encourage or gossip?

What are our actions speaking to them?

In all honesty, the smallest mission field is the the hardest, because the ones we are evangelizing see us at our best and worst, strongest and weakest.

They see us when we fail the worst and fall the hardest.

But if we remain consistent and determined to follow God’s Word no matter the cost, the fruit we reap will be far greater than we could ever imagine! 

Rosilind Jukic, a Pacific Northwest native, is a missionary living in Croatia and married to her Bosnian hero. Together they live with their two active boys where she enjoys fruity candles, good coffee and a hot cup of herbal tea on a blustery fall evening. Her passion for writing led her to author her best-selling book The Missional Handbook. At A Little R & R she encourages women to find contentment in what God created them to be. You can also find her at Missional Call where she shares her passion for local and global missions. She can also be found at these other places on a regular basis. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google +.

In my previous message, I shared briefly with you about the Mystery of the Trumpet. That moment in time when Jesus descends with a loud command, the shout of the archangel, and the trumpet call of God. Then those who have placed their trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord, whether dead or living, will be raised up in the air to meet Jesus and be with Him forever.

While we, His followers, are experiencing the joy of His visible presence, those who are left behind are going to be plunged into chaos and confusion. Think about it with me for a moment in this second message.

Anne’s Messages to those Left Behind  | Second Message: Is the World Falling Apart?

Our disappearance from the Earth has been foretold in the Bible. It is an event that has been planned by God. Read the following Scriptures prayerfully.

Isaiah 26:19

1 Corinthians 15:51-52

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

These are truly stunning Scriptures. They sound somewhat like science fiction. Except they are God’s Word. They are true. This event will take place at a specific point in time.

There are other Bible passages that speak of this event, but these are the clearest and most familiar descriptions.  This event has been labeled the Rapture of the Church. It does not mean that everyone who is a church member will go to be with Jesus. It is not referring to an organization or denomination or religion. It is referring to the Body of Christ, which is made up of individuals all over the world who have placed their faith in Him as Savior and Lord.  When we disappear, remember, the world is not falling apart. It is falling into place according to God’s sovereign purpose. Don’t worry about those who have disappeared. Don’t grieve for us. We are safe with Jesus. We will not be coming back until He does, in about seven or eight years from the time of our disappearance.

Our disappearance signals The Beginning of the End. God’s final judgment on the world has now begun. The world will be plunged into chaos. You will witness very quickly political, financial, national and institutional collapse. Planes will fall out of the sky when pilots disappear; cars will crash on highways when drivers disappear; battles will be lost when soldiers disappear; crime will skyrocket as police officers disappear; patients will die when surgeons and nurses get the picture: Chaos.

But there is hope. This is my word to you in that chaotic moment: We have disappeared, but God has not. He is still right there. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is in control, and His love for you has not been diminished. He still loves you with an everlasting love. He is still the One who is watching over you, who even now is calling out to you through this message, inviting you to turn to Him—put your trust in Him—right now.

He will be with you 24/7 as you go through these terrible days. My prayer is that you will turn to God, which is the subject of my next message.

Anne Graham Lotz is the founder of AnGeL Ministries. She also is the author of several books.

…This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.  Acts 1:11

Several months ago, I posted a blog entitled, “Starting a Conversation: A Message for Those Left Behind.” In it I said that I could almost hear the Last Trumpet being tuned for the one blast that will announce the beginning of the end.

I asked readers in that blog, when that moment comes, and they are caught up to meet the Lord, what they would wish they could say to those who are left behind. I want to answer my own question now in a series of four messages in these days leading up to Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish Feast of Trumpets.

First Message: What is the Mystery of the Trumpet Call?

The Apostle Paul, in 1 Cor. 15:51-52, refers to a mystery when the trumpet sounds. He gives a little more detail in 1 Thess. 4:13-18, but once again refers to the “trumpet call of God” that announces the return of Jesus Christ for those who have placed their faith in Him.

Because of the reference to the “trumpet,” many believe when Jesus returns for those who belong to Him, He will do so on the Feast of Trumpets. It seems reasonable to assume that if He was crucified on the Feast of Passover, buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, raised on the Feast of the Firstfruits, that the pattern would continue, and He would return on the Feast of Trumpets. 

Interestingly, the Feast of Trumpets is also called the “Hidden Day,” because no one knows the exact day or hour of Rosh Hashanah. The only certainty is that it is one of the designated days. This year those days are Sept. 24, 25 and 26.

Whether or not Jesus returns on this year’s Feast of Trumpets, we do know without doubt that there is coming a day when all people in the world who have put their trust in Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord are going to be suddenly removed. Caught up in the air to be with Jesus forever.

While His followers will be experiencing the joy of His visible presence, those left behind are going to be plunged into worldwide grief and fear, chaos and confusion.

In light of this, God has placed on my heart several messages I want to give to those who would be left behind if the rapture occurred today. In addition to this message, I will post three more on the next three days.

Anne Graham Lotz is the founder of AnGeL Ministries. She also is the author of several books.

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn” (Zech. 12:10).

Thank you for joining me in prayer for Jerusalem on Sept. 1 in our 9-1-1 urgent prayer initiative. Those of you who prayed are familiar with my heart’s cry for the city, the people and the land that Jesus loves. 

But I’m not familiar with your heart’s cry for Jerusalem. What is it?

Would you share your own prayer below?  

Then would you continue to pray until our prayers are confirmed, and we are assured God has heard and has answered our prayers?  For the glory of His great Name. And may God bless you as you bless His Land and His people.

Anne Graham Lotz is the founder of AnGeL Ministries. She is also the author of several books.