The Connection Corner

How Grace Changes Everything

Daily Devotional, Lauren Kitchens-Steward

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

John Newton couldn’t outrun the weight of his past. At just eleven, he left school and stepped into a world of cruelty, selling human lives into slavery—decisions that would one day haunt him like a ghost he could not shake.

But one night, everything changed. A storm of unimaginable fury descended upon his ship. As monstrous waves threatened to sink the vessel, fear gripped his heart.

Desperate, he reached for a book—a Christian one filled with words about mercy, conviction, and a God who could redeem even the worst of men. As he read by flickering lantern light, something broke loose inside of him. If grace was real, maybe, just maybe, it could reach even him.

He survived the storm, but the man who stepped onto dry land was not the same one who had set sail.

Years later, as a pastor, Newton longed to help others grasp the mercy that had changed him. He saw that people needed more than rehearsed prayers and ancient psalms. They needed songs they could feel in their bones—songs that told the truth about being lost and found.

So, he began writing.

“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.”

Maybe you have believed the lie that your past defines you. That you have gone too far, done too much, or strayed too deeply into the mess of life to ever be redeemed. But if John Newton’s story tells us anything, it is that grace is real. It reaches into the darkest places. It finds the lost. And it is still as amazing today as it was then.

Lyrics:
Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I’m found
Was blind, but now I see

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

My chains are gone
I’ve been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

[2x]
My chains are gone
I’ve been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
Will be forever mine.
You are forever mine.

Music video by Chris Tomlin performing Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone).

April 27, 2025/by Lauren Kitchens-Steward

When God Says Go

Daily Devotional, Lisa Williams

Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

I have always admired people who have a plan—the ones with career goals, retirement savings, a five-step strategy for their life. But that was not me at 21. I was just a girl praying like my life depended on it and asking God what on earth I was supposed to do.

And then, out of nowhere, I heard one word in my heart: Radio.

It made no sense why God would say this. I had no background, no connections, and no idea where to even begin. But not long after, I was listening to a Christian station, and I heard them mention a position in Camdenton, Missouri.

Something about it felt important. So, I grabbed my trusty 1990s atlas, traced the highways with my finger, and found it. It was less than a day’s trip away. That was doable.

Monday morning came, and I hit the road to apply for the job.

Tuesday, they called me back for an interview.

Wednesday, they offered me the job.

And on Thursday? I was live on the air.

I still remember the feeling of sitting in that studio, headphones on, heart pounding as I opened the mic for the first time. My voice—broadcasting out to people I had never met. It was thrilling, terrifying, and absolutely right.

For five years, I showed up, spoke, and trusted that somehow, God was using it. Then, like all things, that season came to a close as God opened other doors in radio.

But even now, after all these years, I look back and think—what if I hadn’t gone to Camdenton, Missouri? What if I had let fear keep me from the road that led me there? But I did go. I showed up, scared but willing. And because of that, I got to step into something I never could have planned for myself.

Maybe that is where you are right now—standing at the edge of something big, uncertain, and maybe even a little terrifying. Maybe you don’t feel ready, or maybe the road ahead looks impossibly unclear. But the truth is, God doesn’t call us to have all the answers—He just calls us to take the next step.

And when you do? You just might find yourself in the middle of a story only He could write.

April 26, 2025/by Lisa Williams

Waiting for the Right Moment

Daily Devotional, Sarah Hall

Lamentations 3:25 – “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.”

All morning, I had been running around making sure every detail of my friend’s wedding day was perfect. Fixing flowers, adjusting the dress, calming nerves—whatever it took to make her dream a reality.

But this—this was the moment she had been waiting for.

Her first look.

She stood in the center of the room, back turned, hands clasped in front of her. Just waiting.

We bridesmaids clustered near the doorway while peeking through the cracked door and watched as the groom stepped in the room.

He did not say a word at first. He simply took her in, like he wanted to remember this moment, before the ceremony, for the rest of his life. And then, with a steady hand, he reached out, touched her shoulder, and turned her around.

Their eyes met, and her face broke into a smile. His eyes shone with unshed tears, and for a moment, the rest of the world disappeared. The weight of months and years of waiting for each other fell away.

It was stunning.

And I could not shake the feeling that this is exactly what God does for us.

He is the One who moves toward us with just as much love and intentionality, holding steady to His promises. He wants to sweep us into something more beautiful than we ever imagined.

He prepares us, leads us, and asks us to wait for Him with expectant hearts. And it makes me think, if I really believe that, then I want to wait for Him and trust him with my whole heart.

And when that moment comes—when I see what He has been working on behind the scenes—I want to be ready. Because one day, He will turn me around, and I do not want to miss the joy on His face when He does.

April 25, 2025/by Sarah Hall