Debi Tesser

In the spring of 2017, Mom was still at home, which is exactly where she wanted to be. I did my best to honor that, but I was cracking. Working a full-time job, commuting every weekend from where I lived, taking care of grocery shopping, doctor’s appointments, etc., I was getting physically, mentally, and spiritually weary. I was trying to control things and failing...

Sunflowers are unique in that they follow the sun. In the morning, they face the sunrise. As the sun moves across the heavens during the day, the faces of these flowers are always looking at the sun. In the evening, when the sun dips below the horizon, sunflowers eke one last glimpse of the golden orb in the west.

Gideon went on to do the Lord’s bidding and destroy his earthly father’s own altar to Baal. He led a few men to the demolition site during the dark of night. The altar to Baal was broken beyond repair. Using his father’s own livestock, Gideon then offered a sacrifice to God.

As a child, I dreamed of going to Africa as a missionary — never anywhere else — not Australia, Argentina, or Austria, always Africa. While God had given me a love for Africa, at that age I did not realize that it was His calling, His plan for me.

With no income, occasionally I did not even have a dollar to buy food to prepare the soup. However, God provided because this was His calling. He also knew before He called me that I would be short of funds and that preparing food would not be an option. He took care of everything. One weekend, the church had…

When I learned of her death, I prayed for her husband. She hadn’t spoken of their financial need of late, but I also sensed that there was a huge monetary obligation with medical expenses because of her stroke and the funeral. Just a few hours later I was going through some things when I opened an envelope from my bank. Inside was a crisp...

Even though there was no other vehicle within sight, out of the misty rain stepped a police offer. We were in the middle of nowhere, no houses, no traffic, no moose (fortunately), but there was help. He asked where we were going, and he pointed us down a road I had...

Freedom is not the independence to do what we want or the absence of distress. Real freedom is the deep-seated confidence that God does have our best interests at heart and will provide for all our needs, even if the ordeal is very uncomfortable and difficult.

The disciples had not seen much of Jesus since His resurrection. They wallowed in a mire of questions with no answers. They needed to do something. But what? “I'm going fishing!” Peter jumped up and stomped off with purpose toward the fishing vessel. Bewildered, the others followed.