The Connection Corner

Sox and All

Proverbs 3:27 — “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.”

I came across a story recently that’s been sitting with me ever since.

A woman named Jane Arndt was driving her regular bus route when she saw someone standing barefoot on the hot pavement. Her clothes were worn, her hair tangled—someone the world had stopped noticing.

Without thinking twice, Jane slipped off her own shoes and handed them to the woman. “They’re not new,” she said, “but they’ll keep your feet from burning.” Then she got back behind the wheel—socks and all—and kept going.

Another passenger, who had once been homeless, wiped a tear from her eye and whispered, “She sees her.”

That moment has stayed with me. Because love like that—love that notices, that moves, that gives—does something more than help. It heals. It tells someone they matter.

Proverbs 3:27 says, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.” Most days, we have more power than we think—a kind word, a small gift, a few seconds of courage. And when we use that power to see and serve someone else, we reflect the heart of Jesus.

So today, let’s not hold back.
Let’s not wait.
Let’s be willing to give up a little comfort, so someone else can take a step forward.

That kind of love? It changes everything.

July 14, 2025/by Linda Meyers

The Unbreakable House of the Lord

Daily Devotional, Heart of the Artist, Stories About Songs

1 Corinthians 3:16 — “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”

Do you remember the day the world shut down? It felt like a single, collective gasp. Stores closed their doors, streets emptied, and even the churches locked their gates.

I remember standing there, staring at my calendar that had just gone blank. Concerts, church services, small group gatherings—canceled overnight. Plans evaporated, and the sense of normalcy we clung to vanished in an instant.

I asked myself, “What does church look like now?”

But then I started to notice the small things. My wife’s smile as we walked the neighborhood. A neighbor’s wave from a safe distance. A phone call that turned into an unexpected lifeline. Even behind masks, I saw the same eyes of kindness and compassion that had always been there.

It dawned on me that the house of the Lord was not bricks and wood. It was us—ordinary people carrying God’s presence into the everyday. COVID-19 did not cancel that. It revealed it.

That was the moment my song “House of the Lord” came to life. I wanted to sing about the real church. It’s the one that cannot be shut down by a virus or anything else. It’s a family that laughs and cries together, that keeps showing up even when the world feels shaky.

Even with the “new normal” now behind us, I keep hearing “House of the Lord” on the radio, and I remember that the truest kind of worship is not found in the stage or the pew. It is found wherever we choose to love each other, to stand together, and to encourage each other in the Lord.

The body of Christ is a family that stands strong through every season. That is the house of the Lord, and it is waiting for you to find your place in it, no matter where you are today.

— Phil Wickham

Lyrics

Verse
We worship the God who was
We worship the God who is
We worship the God who evermore will be
He opened the prison doors
He parted the raging sea
Our God He holds the victory

Chorus
There’s joy In the house of the Lord
There’s joy in the house of the Lord today
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise
There’s Joy in the house of the Lord
Our God is surely in this place
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise
We shout out Your praise

Verse
We sing to the God who heals
We sing to the God who saves
We sing to the God who always makes a way
He hung upon that cross
Then He rose up from that grave
My God’s still rolling stones away

Chorus
There’s joy In the house of the Lord
There’s joy in the house of the Lord today
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise
There’s Joy in the house of the Lord
Our God is surely in this place
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise

Bridge
We were the beggars
Now we’re royalty
We were the prisoners
Now we’re running free
We are forgiven, accepted
Redeemed by His grace
Let the house of the Lord sing praise

Cause we were the beggars
Now we’re royalty
We were the prisoners
Now we’re running free
We are forgiven, accepted
Redeemed by His grace
Let the house of the Lord sing praise

Chorus
There’s joy In the house of the Lord
There’s joy in the house of the Lord today
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise
There’s Joy in the house of the Lord
Our God is surely in this place
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise

There’s joy In the house of the Lord
There’s joy in the house of the Lord today
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise
There’s Joy in the house of the Lord
Our God is surely in this place
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise
We shout out Your praise
We shout out Your praise
We shout out Your praise

July 13, 2025/by David Hall

Speak Even If They Aren’t Listening

Brenda Price, Daily Devotional

Colossians 4:5-6 – Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

I was on a flight from New York City, heading home to visit my family in Florida, and I remember the man sitting beside me as clear as day.

There he was—this big, friendly, joyful African American man with his Bible open on the tray table in front of him. He smiled and said hello, and we started talking like old friends. Turned out he was a pastor.

I was young then, rambling on and on about my dreams of becoming a movie star, and he listened like every word mattered.

Then he paused and asked the simplest, most disarming question: “Do you know who God is?” Not in a forceful way. Just kind and curious. Then he asked, “What if what you want is not actually the best thing? What if God has more?”

I laughed—not because it was ridiculous, but because I knew what I wanted. And I honestly did not care.

That sweet man did not even flinch, like he had seen a hundred versions of me before. He just smiled again.

“I’ll be praying for you,” he said.

That flight was twenty years ago, and I have thought about him more times than I can count. I never got his name, but I wish I could find him now. He was the first person who dared to interrupt my self-made plan with the possibility of something more.

And he did it with kindness.

I would love to tell him what God has done. I would love to tell him his prayer was not wasted.

So let me tell you—if you are loving someone, praying for them, or sharing what you believe and it feels like they are not listening, please hang in there. That moment matters more than you know. The kindness. The courage. The seed planted in faith. It might take years to grow, but God knows how to bring it to life.

Keep showing up. Someone like me is counting on it.

July 12, 2025/by Brenda Price