by Marjorie Wingert
 
     Rain tap-taps against my window. I sit, an afghan wrapped around me. Veiled sunlight struggles through the glass panes. My dryer hums in the background. Yet my heart is heavy. Sometimes the motives and heart of man weigh me down. It consumes and overwhelms. It robs and drains.
     Toys lay strewn on my floor. Odds and ends sprawl over my dining room table. Even my bedroom is littered with laundry not yet folded. I should be surging forward with purpose and focus to rid my house of clutter. My mind should be a honed instrument with my feet marching to take the high ground. But here I sit. A weight presses against my heart. Feelings of paralysis threaten to overwhelm. I feel monsooned by the tidal waves of questions, doubts, and accusations. My mind struggles to make sense of it all, but I cannot. My spirit cries out to God.

by Sandra Julian Barker
​During these crazy days in which we are living, what do you find yourself thinking about? Are your thoughts fearful? Are you sad or depressed? Is this how God wants us to go through our days?
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God has given us some great pep talks in His written word the Bible. He knows that there will be days like this (along with weeks and months) and He wants His children to live in Victory - in spite of the circumstances. . . 

by Joan C. Benson
​Natalie stood sideways studying the long bedroom mirror. The slender brunette gazed at her slightly rounded belly so out of sync with her athletic physique. A former tennis champion in college, she was agile and fit, even five years later. Her brown eyes welled with tears as dark lashes fluttered to contain them.
A young and vibrant woman, Natalie was known for her devotion to her Reggie, a dashing hunk in a uniform. With the looks of a movie star and the body of a trained athlete, Reggie was the one all the girls wanted to date back in college. Natalie was the prizewinner. After graduation they tied the knot in a traditional June wedding. Reggie joined the Air Force with dreams of someday becoming one of their pilots.
“Nat? Where’d you go?” Reggie hollered while reaching for the door to the garage.
“We’ll talk tonight, K?”
“Sure,” Natalie mumbled, indifferent to whether or not he heard her.
Slam. The door to the garage was his signoff. The car engine revved noisily, diminishing in seconds as he drove away. Alone at last, Natalie sighed, welcoming the lulling silence. . .