Marti Pieper

As Irma was hitting the Florida Keys, I received a request from FoxNews.com to submit an article along the lines of what I would say to those after the storms passed. I agreed to do my best, but knew immediately that I didn’t want to write what I wanted to say, but what God wanted to say. And so I began to earnestly seek Him.

During and after the effects of Harvey and Irma, people helped people and strangers became neighbors. Good people did good things. God’s people did good things. Of course, this doesn’t diminish the reality of definite heartache. In addition to noticing the good that people did during hard times, let’s notice the good God did. Yes,

Do you need a miracle? Then it’s of utmost importance to seek out and surround yourself with people of faith. Why? In 1 Corinthians 15:33, we are warned about the people we keep company with. It clearly states, “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” This word “corrupts” in Greek is phtheirō and it means to

I was recently in a waiting room with three of my four children, and after I requested a “Yes ma’am” from them, another parent in the room thanked me. He thanked me for requesting respect and kindness from my children. I was taken aback as it was a blatant reminder that these things are no

Talking with children and teens about their interests is one way to develop strengths. It may be one of the most important ways to encourage children. Just look. Listen. What do they like doing? What do they talk about? Pay attention—what obviously gives them joy? Enter into conversations. Watch what happens. I recently spent some

Because of wounds we received at church, my family stopped attending when I was a child. As a teen, I occasionally went with a friend. It’s been many years, but I remember clinging to every word as a pastor shared how God spoke to him following a personal tragedy. While he was preaching a revival,

When I was young, I remember my mother telling my brother and me, “I just wish you two would get along.” We were constantly picking at each other and argued about everything. Now that I’m the parent of three strong-willed, opinionated children, I would like to offer my mother a formal apology. I am sorry.

God’s Word tells us that in this world we will have tribulation (see John 16:33). We will pass through difficult times, not because this is God’s will and plan for us, but because we live in a fallen world. But even during these very troubling times in life He promises to be with us. He

[I pray] that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to

“Live your life at full gallop,” the graphic said. A gallop, of course, is the fastest gait of a horse, but even a horse cannot run a full gallop for long stretches at a time. None of us can live our lives running all-out forever, but we can live limitless if we understand how. Limitless

There have been a handful of people in my lifetime who made me feel utterly and completely rejected. People whose hurtful actions, self-centered or thoughtless decisions and critical words caused me to doubt my worth in this world—as a person, a woman and even as a treasured child of God. I imagine you could say

When the attack of the enemy bears down hard and the reports shout death, I will not fear. I will put my trust in my God: “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory

While I was pregnant with my daughter, some friends threw me a shower. Everyone wrote random messages on diapers so my husband and I could have some laughs in the midst of the unpleasant work of cleaning tiny bums. The diaper messages have included things like “Oops, I did it again!” or “Hey, at least