Author Archives: karbly

God Can Show Up Even at the Eleventh Hour
Zeph Dim of Alagbado, Lagos, Nigeria

Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit and you shall have peace in me. -Doctrine and Covenants 18:2n

David, our little boy, was learning to walk. As he was standing, holding on to a chair, his mother walked past him to the balcony. He stretched his neck to see where his mother was. On sighting her, he released his hold on the chair and started walking towards her. First step, second step, on the third step he fell. He rested a while and looked around for help. No one came to his rescue. Where I stood, I held my breath. Then he got himself up to try again. After a few steps he fell again. Then came the screaming. That was when his mother rushed back to pick him up.

As I reflected over the incident, it got me thinking. If falling when learning to walk made babies not try again, then nobody would have ever learned how to walk. Our little boy who cannot walk now will soon walk and not fall, run and not stumble. That can only happen if he continues not minding how many times he has fallen. It is his persistence that yields the desired result.

This took my mind to the Bible story of the woman with the issue of blood. For 12 good years she had been spending all her money seeking a cure. Not minding all the disappointments, she still believed that her healing would come. That was her situation until the eventful day when she encountered Jesus and was healed. “…for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well'” (Mark 5:28).

I have been in trying times, when at the eleventh hour-when it seemed all hope was lost-God showed up. In our prayer lives, you observe that sometimes you have to encourage yourself to persist in believing even when it seems that the answer would never come. And surely in most unexpected ways, the answers do come. Though sometimes it may seem difficult, it often pays when we never give up on our faith.

Prayer Phrase

Let your world of beauty capture me.

Spiritual Practice

Growing a Gracious, Generous Heart

Open your heart to God’s grace and generosity with a “breath prayer.” Let your breathing slow and deepen. Be aware of God’s breath moving in and out of your heart. Spend several minutes focusing on breathing in God’s generosity. With each breath, silently name one gift for which you are thankful. Let your heart expand to contain God’s gracious outpouring of love. With each breath out, name one gift you want to share from the overflow of your heart.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Shine like the Sun
Janne Grover, Council of Twelve Apostles

Let both of them grow together until the harvest… -Matthew 13:30

As a youth growing up on a farm, my least favorite chore was walking rows of soybeans cutting out the weeds. I’m sure the only thing worse than my attitude toward the task was my reliability in completing the task. I had little understanding of methods for weed control or their impact on crops, the environment, or harvesting equipment. I only knew weeds were bad, I didn’t like them, and I certainly didn’t like being the one to take care of them.

Matthew 13:36-43 explains who is represented in the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds. The weeds represent those who act with evil intent. We see no shortage of such examples when violence is so disturbingly present in our world. The parable talks about the righteous shining like the sun; but the reality is that some violence is carried out by persons with distorted, extremist, righteous intent. Somehow the wheat and weeds get twisted together, and separation of good and evil seems less defined.

In a current context where fear, hate, and division are so prevalent, I am captured by the significance of verse 30. What does it look like today, metaphorically, to let the wheat and weeds grow together? I would not suggest that we view violence and evil as accepted reality. However, it does challenge us to work more intentionally toward unity in diversity through compassionate ministry, practicing non-violence, working for justice, and living Christ’s peace in a hurting world.

Perhaps one way to start is by considering whom the weeds represent in our lives. Rather than cutting them out, how are we called to tend to them as we grow together?

Prayer Phrase

Let your world of beauty capture me.

Spiritual Practice

Growing a Gracious, Generous Heart

Open your heart to God’s grace and generosity with a “breath prayer.” Let your breathing slow and deepen. Be aware of God’s breath moving in and out of your heart. Spend several minutes focusing on breathing in God’s generosity. With each breath, silently name one gift for which you are thankful. Let your heart expand to contain God’s gracious outpouring of love. With each breath out, name one gift you want to share from the overflow of your heart.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Trust for the Future
Kenton Cowick of Cary, NC, USA

How beautiful upon the mountains
  are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
  who announces salvation,
  who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices,
  together they sing for joy;
for in plain sight they see
  the return of the Lord to Zion. -Isaiah 52:7-8

In October 2019, Betty and I celebrated our 80th birthdays. I had a stroke 10 years ago, affecting my right arm and leg. My daily functions now are from a wheelchair. Betty assists me in my hygiene functions. Betty was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago and is currently receiving treatment from a daily chemo pill and a monthly chemo shot. She also suffers from asthma.

Earlier this month I was obsessed with the thought of our future, especially with one of us dying, leaving the other living alone. We have complemented each other in our life’s needs and with death that would create needs that would have to be met externally. The thought of a nursing home is disturbing after being independent for 58 years of marriage.

Then one day the words from Matthew 28:20 flooded my mind: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” I wept. I uttered the words, “Thank you, God, for your reassurance.” Knowing God’s love and God’s peace provides us hope for the future. We are not promised a life with no challenges; we are promised that God will be with us. Hallelujah! Hallelujah, Amen!

Prayer Phrase

Let your world of beauty capture me.

Spiritual Practice

Growing a Gracious, Generous Heart

Open your heart to God’s grace and generosity with a “breath prayer.” Let your breathing slow and deepen. Be aware of God’s breath moving in and out of your heart. Spend several minutes focusing on breathing in God’s generosity. With each breath, silently name one gift for which you are thankful. Let your heart expand to contain God’s gracious outpouring of love. With each breath out, name one gift you want to share from the overflow of your heart.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Learning Lessons
Katherine Stanford of Kirtland, NM, USA

Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
  to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
  and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
  and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
  and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
  and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
  neither shall they learn war any more. -Isaiah 2:3-4

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have all been asked to stay at home, work from home, and stay safe. Because of this, fewer people are “out and about.” My wonderful husband pointed out something he saw on Facebook. A series of photographs depicted deserted city streets devoid of pedestrians and cars. The gutters were clean; the air was clean. There were also pictures of the horizon showing the lack of the haze that usually covers the cities. It was beautiful. God is resurrecting the Earth. He is cleaning the air and taking care of the mess that we have made in it.

Are we learning anything from this or are we just like the spoiled child that expects our parent to clean up after us and then messes things up again? I hope that we have learned a lesson from this that goes beyond the idea of social distancing or complaining about restrictions placed on us. You see, what we do does make a difference to the world. That extra trip to the grocery store to get the one item we forgot changes our world just a little bit, but these things add up.

God is the parent that expects us to take care of what we are given. Let us start living up to God’s expectations.

Prayer Phrase

Let your world of beauty capture me.

Spiritual Practice

Growing a Gracious, Generous Heart

Open your heart to God’s grace and generosity with a “breath prayer.” Let your breathing slow and deepen. Be aware of God’s breath moving in and out of your heart. Spend several minutes focusing on breathing in God’s generosity. With each breath, silently name one gift for which you are thankful. Let your heart expand to contain God’s gracious outpouring of love. With each breath out, name one gift you want to share from the overflow of your heart.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

The “In Between”
Vickie Hollomon-Slappey of Braselton, GA, USA

These are portentous times. The lives of many are being sacrificed unnecessarily to the gods of war, greed, and avarice. The land is being desecrated by the thoughtless waste of vital resources. You must obey my commandments and be in the forefront of those who would mediate this needless destruction while there is yet day. -Doctrine and Covenants 150:7

I am writing this on Holy Saturday, April 11, 2020. My first waking thought this morning was that we are in the “in between.” As I pondered, I realized that we know something about this particular day that Jesus’ apostles did not. Have you ever wondered what they were thinking and feeling the day after the crucifixion of Christ? I suspect their inner dialogues sounded something like this: “I thought He would change things. Was He really our Messiah? What do I do now? I have been abandoned. Hide.”

The apostles did not yet understand that Jesus was behind the scenes, accomplishing great things in the spiritual realm while they hid in confusion mourning their loss. Stuck “in between” their darkest day and greatest miracle.

Holy Saturday is the day before our Easter celebrations. However, this year is uncommonly different. This year many of our churches are closed as the world battles a pandemic known as COVID-19. This year fear can easily replace our joy. Today many of our inner dialogues sound like this: “What if… What if I get sick? What if my child or loved one falls ill? What if I lose my job and cannot provide for my family?”

But just like the apostles, we do not know what Jesus is doing behind the scenes this very day. One thing I do know-it is something great! That is something to celebrate every day of the year! When you find yourself in the “in between” of any given situation remember you have a Savior who has promised to never leave you stranded there. Hang on to His promises and He will give you peace. His peace surpasses all understanding. Yes, peace be with you.

Prayer Phrase

Let your world of beauty capture me.

Spiritual Practice

Growing a Gracious, Generous Heart

Open your heart to God’s grace and generosity with a “breath prayer.” Let your breathing slow and deepen. Be aware of God’s breath moving in and out of your heart. Spend several minutes focusing on breathing in God’s generosity. With each breath, silently name one gift for which you are thankful. Let your heart expand to contain God’s gracious outpouring of love. With each breath out, name one gift you want to share from the overflow of your heart.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

The Power of Recognition
From Hospitality: Sharing God’s Welcome

[Excerpted from Hospitality: Sharing God’s Welcome, Tammy Lindle Lewis, Herald House, 2006, pp. 45-46]

For you shall go out in joy,
  and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
  shall burst into song,
  and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. -Isaiah 55:12

When we label someone a stranger, it is usually because that person is unknown or represents something different or unknown to us. If we think about it, we each are strangers, too. Even though we may be blessed with a multitude of resources and are surrounded by close connections through friends and family, there are many people in the world who don’t know who we are and who don’t know anything about us. As unlikely as it may sound to label ourselves, we must remember that to many people we are strangers.

However, strangers are not only people who are unknown to us; many times they are also those who are disconnected from basic relationships that give people a secure place in the world. They are often detached from family, community, church, and work. People without a place who are also without financial resources are sometimes the most vulnerable people. They not only lack supportive connections with other human beings, but they also are unable to purchase many of the basic necessities of life.

If we look closely at the specific categories of people who warrant hospitality in biblical texts, we will see that they have one thing in common: they are all vulnerable populations. They exist on the margins, both socially and economically. They can easily be ignored and seldom bring status of financial gain to those who reach out to them. Many individuals who are not valued by the larger community are essentially invisible to it. When people are socially invisible, their needs and concerns are not acknowledged, and no one even notices the injustices they suffer. Offering hospitality can begin a journey toward visibility and respect. When we offer hospitality to strangers, we welcome them into a place to which we are somehow connected-a place that has meaning and value to us.

When hospitality is offered, the stranger is welcomed into a safe, personal, and comfortable place, a place of respect, acceptance, and friendship. Even if only briefly, the stranger becomes the guest and is included in a life-giving and life-sustaining network of relations. Such welcome involves attentive listening and a mutual sharing of lives and stories. It requires an open heart, a willingness to make one’s life visible, and a generosity of time and resources.

Prayer Phrase

Let your world of beauty capture me.

Spiritual Practice

Growing a Gracious, Generous Heart

Open your heart to God’s grace and generosity with a “breath prayer.” Let your breathing slow and deepen. Be aware of God’s breath moving in and out of your heart. Spend several minutes focusing on breathing in God’s generosity. With each breath, silently name one gift for which you are thankful. Let your heart expand to contain God’s gracious outpouring of love. With each breath out, name one gift you want to share from the overflow of your heart.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Easter Rejoicing
Eric Wiant of Springfield, IL, USA

Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. -Ephesians 4:31-32, 5:1-2

After Jesus’ crucifixion, he was placed in a tomb but only remained there for three days. On the third day, He arose. Following the discovery of the empty tomb, the disciples rejoiced as they realized Jesus truly had risen, as He said He would.

It has been nearly 2000 years since this happened, and for centuries humankind has gathered worldwide at Easter, over-filling churches to worship and celebrate Jesus’ resurrection.

In 2020, t life has changed completely. Sadly, a terrible deadly virus has spread around the world, killing many and causing others to suffer dreadfully before recovering. Many of us are experiencing home quarantine because we’ve been ordered to stay at home for our own good.

Not being able to gather, socialize, or worship as usual may slow us down but that’s okay for now. Jesus is still Jesus, and he still loves us. He is with us especially during these trying and scary times. He will never leave us nor forsake us.

The time has come for us to rejoice. This year on Easter Sunday, sanctuaries around the world were empty and that’s all right, because the tomb is still empty! Life may change but our beliefs and our faith need not change. We are still children of God, and God still loves us. Instead of being sad and allowing ourselves to get stressed by this current situation, let’s put that energy into prayer and praise. My praise today is that I get to watch my grandchildren grow up. What can you praise God for this week?

Isaiah reminds of God’s care during these difficult and trying times: “Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

May God always bless you and keep you.

Prayer Phrase

Let your world of beauty capture me.

Spiritual Practice

Growing a Gracious, Generous Heart

Open your heart to God’s grace and generosity with a “breath prayer.” Let your breathing slow and deepen. Be aware of God’s breath moving in and out of your heart. Spend several minutes focusing on breathing in God’s generosity. With each breath, silently name one gift for which you are thankful. Let your heart expand to contain God’s gracious outpouring of love. With each breath out, name one gift you want to share from the overflow of your heart.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Walking in My Father’s Wisdom
Connie Hill of Richmond, VA, USA

When your willingness to live in sacred community as Christ’s new creation exceeds your natural fear of spiritual and relational transformation, you will become who you are called to be. The rise of Zion the beautiful, the peaceful reign of Christ, awaits your whole-hearted response to the call to make and steadfastly hold to God’s covenant of peace in Jesus Christ. -Doctrine and Covenants 164:9b

Now having lived at least half a century and reflecting on conversations with my now departed father, I am so very grateful for his guidance in many ways. Moreover, and most important, my gratitude really stems from the core of my father’s guiding hand, our Father in heaven as etched in Matthew 6:9 “…Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”

I recall memories of those important early years: riding with my father on his tractor as he plowed fields in Tennessee while enjoying the company of his only daughter, being scolded, being given a beautiful doll at Christmas. He was a tall, robust man. He also gave me “the talk” about boys during the turbulent teen years. He taught me to maintain good credit and to keep the oil changed in my car during my college years as he helped me buy my first vehicle.

I am most appreciative of his guidance, alongside my mother, in leading me and my siblings to the Lord and to depend on the Lord. Ephesians 6:4 teaches fathers to bring children up “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” He taught about knowing our heavenly Father and heeding God’s words.

Though attending church in my early years seemed somewhat ritualistic to me, I still sensed the importance of listening to what was being said. I sought to be a better person and to strive for the goal of joining our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, in heaven forevermore.

My father grew in his relationship with the Lord during the latter part of his life. I recall his many comments on the challenge of living his best for the Lord because of being human. He would emphasize this challenge for all of humankind. I am forever grateful for the best gift I received from my earthly father, the gift of the knowledge of God and how to live a life of purpose.

Prayer Phrase

Let your world of beauty capture me.

Spiritual Practice

Growing a Gracious, Generous Heart

Open your heart to God’s grace and generosity with a “breath prayer.” Let your breathing slow and deepen. Be aware of God’s breath moving in and out of your heart. Spend several minutes focusing on breathing in God’s generosity. With each breath, silently name one gift for which you are thankful. Let your heart expand to contain God’s gracious outpouring of love. With each breath out, name one gift you want to share from the overflow of your heart.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Hear the Word
Barbara Borkowski, Mission Support Ministers, team lead

And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!” -Matthew 13:3-9

Seeds are about potential. Within every seed is the mystery of growth and new life. That growth and new life is dependent on many factors: sunshine, fertilizer, water, soil cultivation, soil stability, and a method to spread or plant the seed. The gospel is a lot like a seed. It has potential. The potential is always present and, like a seed, is dependent on a variety of conditions and factors.

It begins with a friendship, reaching out in vulnerability to another person. That friendship deepens over time. Through conversations about what matters most, an invitation is extended; the seed is planted. The seed is a beginning, a potential, that is nurtured and shared. Some seeds take more time. Some seeds seem to take hold immediately. Each seed has future potential.

The gospel seed was planted early in my life. It was nurtured through friendship, mentoring, and opportunity. There are times when I have actively shared with others and planted the seeds of the gospel. There have been other times when I was too timid, too afraid of rejection; I neglected to share those gospel seeds. Sometimes I have played the part of the soil, carefully nurturing a seed that someone else planted. Regretfully, at other times I have been more like a thorn or a rock, unable to extend myself in vulnerability to someone in need.

The sower in this parable understands the seed as potential. The sower isn’t timid or afraid of what will happen once the seed is sown. The sower is unconcerned about soil conditions or planting methods. Instead, the sower continues to plant seeds, even in those unlikely places where it seems impossible for the seed to take root.

The world needs to hear gospel seeds. Be a sower. Share your witness and invitation generously, compassionately, widely, and joyfully!

Prayer Phrase

Let your world of beauty capture me.

Spiritual Practice

Growing a Gracious, Generous Heart

Open your heart to God’s grace and generosity with a “breath prayer.” Let your breathing slow and deepen. Be aware of God’s breath moving in and out of your heart. Spend several minutes focusing on breathing in God’s generosity. With each breath, silently name one gift for which you are thankful. Let your heart expand to contain God’s gracious outpouring of love. With each breath out, name one gift you want to share from the overflow of your heart.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.