enLIVEn Devotionals

Abiding in Jesus - Overflowing His Spirit

Faith

It seems that everyday my faith is tested. Each test seems a bit more challenging. About three years ago my brother was living with us in New Orleans. We added him on our car insurance and allowed him to drive our cars that we worked really hard to pay off. It wasn’t long before he totaled one. Good thing it was the car that started having problems, but still it was our paid off car. We were furious with my brother! We worried about our resources and having another car payment. Our insurance gave us $5900 to total it out and within a week we paid cash for a better car. We thanked God, ... Read the Post

Stuck

About six months ago my son moved from his highchair to a booster seat. We would buckle him into the seat and scoot him up to the table to eat. He started wanting to buckle himself into the booster seat, which was difficult because he had trouble clicking the latches together. When he finally learned how to do it, he was ecstatic! Every time we would try to buckle him in, he would throw a fit. He wanted to do it all by himself. He continued to buckle himself in every time he sat at the table, even when it was apparent that he no longer needed the support. My son didn’t care. He liked the ... Read the Post

Land Sold

When my father-in-law wrote his will, his first-born son (my husband) and I lived in Alaska, so his youngest son was named executor of his estate. We were back in Tacoma, Washington, when my father-in-law died in November 1988. Terms of his will required the real estate he owned be sold. Even though the property consisted of several lots with one large house and one smaller house, my brother-in-law used a residential realtor rather than a commercial one. No one asked either my husband or me to double check the property lines when the larger house was sold. The house was sold for $34,000 ... Read the Post

Parental Substitute

My mother passed away when I was one year’s old from a car accident. My Dad was young and overwhelmed by the thought of raising three children, so he gave us to his parents to raise. I can remember thinking when I was a child that my life was normal. Everyone had to know what it was like not to know your mother. As I started getting older, I realized that it wasn’t normal. All my friends had mothers and fathers and all lived together like one happy family. About 3rd grade, I can remember crying on Mother’s Day because I didn’t have a mom. My Grandparents would try to comfort me by telling ... Read the Post

Coming Home

My family and I recently moved back to our home town after being away for nine years. There was such an excitement to encounter new opportunities, to spend time with family again, to get back to our roots, and to see what God had in store for us. However being back home has brought a whole new array of insecurities that we weren’t prepared to handle. When we were in a city away from our hometown, my husband and I were able to establish a legacy all our own that did not revolve around family members. We love our families dearly; but living so close to them now, we have had to accept the ... Read the Post