The Connection Corner

Lifted Up With Love

Psalm 40:2 — He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.

Three teenagers were riding bikes when they heard faint cries coming from a storm drain below them. Most people would have just kept on going, but not these guys. They stopped, they listened closer, and they discovered a scared little puppy trapped below.

My heart would have been breaking watching that.

Well, these teen boys worked together using their hands, a stick, and a lot of patience to get that little pup to safety. And when they finally pulled him out, the animal just looked at their faces in pure joy.

That moment when fear turns into relief… even the smallest things feel beautiful.

And I can’t shake what that picture does in me. We don’t get rescued because we’re strong. We get rescued because Someone stronger stops, hears, and reaches down.That’s what Psalm 40 is describing—God drawing us up, not leaving us where we fell.

SAnd maybe you’ve felt that too—stuck in a place you didn’t plan for, wondering if anyone even sees you there.… stuck in life’s storm drains, buried under the weight of stress and anxiety and everything closing in. It’s the kind of place where it’s dark, where it feels like nobody notices, and where your voice sounds small even to yourself.

But what gets me most is this. Those boys didn’t just hear something and move on. They leaned in. They got low. They stayed, and little by little, they pulled that puppy up out of the muddy pit into something solid again.

Even when we feel trapped or overlooked in life’s darkest places, God sees, hears, and gently rescues us with compassion and faithful care.

That’s who He is. He doesn’t pass by. He hears what others miss, and He steps into the miry mess with a patience that doesn’t give up.

And I don’t know what you’re sitting in right now, but maybe there’s something here for you too… a quiet reminder that you are seen, heard, and not forgotten in the pit—and that God still knows how to bring people out of places they can’t climb out of themselves.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Have you ever felt “stuck” in a season where you didn’t know how to get out?
What does it mean to you that God doesn’t just notice your struggle but draws you out of it?
Who has God used in your life to “reach down” and help you in a hard season?
How does Psalm 40:2 change the way you see your current circumstances?
Where might God be trying to set your feet back on solid ground today?

June 12, 2026/by Brenda Price

From Compassion to Checkmate

Bri Dunn, Daily Devotional

1 John 4:11 — Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.

It started with a chessboard and an almost-missed moment.

I have a really good friend named Martina—she lives in Shreveport—and one day she went out to coffee at her favorite spot. There was a guy there who was sitting outside playing chess by himself, and he looked up and said, “Hey, do you want to play?”

She thought, “Not really.”

But then something inside her nudged her heart, and she said, “You know what? Yes!”

She sat down, and they moved the pieces back and forth. Little by little, he started opening up. You could hear the disappointment in his voice. As they played, he started opening up. He told her he’d drifted away from Jesus after his great-grandmother passed away. Somewhere in his grief, he’d stopped believing altogether.

And listen, grief is grief. It doesn’t matter how old someone is or how long you’ve had them. Loss hurts. But what struck Martina was that this woman had lived to be 112 years old. What had been an extraordinary gift somehow felt, in his pain, like something had been taken from him.

But Martina didn’t argue. She didn’t preach. She just stayed and listened. She played another round, and by the time they said check mate, she already made the decision to come back.

Every week, she would make it her mission to play another round of chess with him. She knew his grief tried to rewrite the story about who God is, but she became determined to introduce him to God’s real love that tells a different story.

And not just her. She began pulling in a few friends and sending them to go and play chess too. To be community for this man.

And when Martina told me that story, I thought, “This is what love looks like.”

Love doesn’t always show up with the right words, but it always shows up.

Love shows up because we’ve already been loved first. As Christians, we’ve experienced the greatest love of all through Jesus.

So maybe it looks smaller than you expected. Maybe it’s coffee. Maybe it’s a park bench. Maybe it’s you and a couple friends deciding to keep showing up for someone who’s silently drifting.

And somewhere between the first move and the next, a person who thought God had abandoned him might begin to see that God was pursuing him all along.

All because someone pulled up a chair.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Who in your life may need someone to simply show up and listen?
When has someone else’s kindness helped you see God’s love more clearly?
Are you waiting for the perfect words when God may simply be asking you to be present?
What “chessboard” opportunity might God be putting in front of you right now?
How can you intentionally reflect the love you’ve received from Christ this week?

June 11, 2026/by Bri Dunn

Detours Don’t Disqualify You

Daily Devotional, Denise Pagano

Proverbs 2:8 — He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to Him.

Okay, tell the truth. Tell me you don’t double and triple check your boarding passes.

So, my husband and I recently flew to Chicago for my now-daughter-in-law’s bridal shower. We weren’t going overseas. We weren’t crossing oceans. We were just going to Chicago. Yeah, Chicago. Not somewhere international. But I was not about to accidentally start a new life overseas, so I checked that grate screen like it was a final exam.

You might think I’m crazy for that, but did you hear about that passenger who thought they were flying from Los Angeles to Nicaragua with a layover in Houston?

Somehow, they ended up on a flight to Tokyo!

Uh, Tokyo? Yeah, they realized midair that Houston should not take 14 hours.

Well, the plane lands at Haneda Airport, and they spent two nights there waiting for the airline to sort it out.

I mean, that’s not exactly a layover in my opinion… That’s a plot twist.

And some people online were like, “Oh, well, I wouldn’t mind if I ended up in Japan.”

No, way.

Listen, I love an adventure, but I also like knowing exactly where I’m going.

It also made me think about how many times in life we assume we’re heading in one direction and then suddenly we’re somewhere we didn’t plan? And you’re sitting there thinking, Lord, this was not the gate I thought I was boarding.

Here’s what I’m learning: just because the destination changes doesn’t mean the direction is lost.

Proverbs says God guards the paths of those who are faithful to Him. Notice it doesn’t say every path will look the way we expected. It says He guards it. Sometimes the route changes. Sometimes the timeline changes. Sometimes life takes a turn we never would have chosen. But God’s protection and presence never leave the journey.

Because even there, even in the middle of a reroute you didn’t choose, God is right there guarding your steps with his steady hands. He is keeping watch over your path with the loving care of a Father.

See, God isn’t reacting to your detour; He’s already present in it.

So maybe today, if life feels a little like Tokyo when you expected Houston… you’re not off course the way it feels. You’re still being led. Still being guarded. Still being carried by a God who knows exactly where this journey ends—even when you don’t.

And maybe that’s enough to rest in, even before the plane lands.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Have you ever experienced a season where life took an unexpected turn?
How did God show His faithfulness in the middle of that detour?
What part of your current journey feels different from what you planned?
How does knowing that God guards your path change the way you view uncertainty?
What would it look like to trust God’s guidance even when you can’t see the destination clearly?

June 10, 2026/by Denise Pagano