The Connection Corner

When God Gives You Pizza

Isaiah 65:24 – “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.”

Bonita was not in the mood to talk to anyone. She just wanted to pick up the pizza and go. One pizza. The cheapest one they had. She had double-checked the change in her purse before ordering just hoping she wouldn’t come up short.

On the outside, it probably looked like a normal day, but Bonita knew what it cost her to be there. Pride. Worry. Weariness. Trying to feed a family on fumes never got easier.

At the restaurant, she waited in the car, watching people walk in and out. Then a young employee stepped out, holding not one, but two boxes.

Her stomach sank. She didn’t want a scene. “Oh—I think there’s been a mistake,” she said gently. “I only paid for one.”

But the girl just smiled. “This one’s free. It was an extra. We were just going to throw it away, but we would rather one of our customers had it instead.”

Bonita didn’t know what to say. She just took the boxes and tried not to let the tears fall until she was by herself. No, she didn’t cry over pizza. She cried over the timing. The tenderness. She cried because it felt like God had looked right into her situation and said, I’ve got you.

She did not asked for two pizzas, but God gave her an extra one anyway.

Friend, it is easy to believe we are invisible in our everyday struggles—but God sees every detail. He even hears the prayers we don’t say out loud. He gives what we did not think to ask for. You are not forgotten. And your needs are not too small for Him to meet.

May 7, 2025/by Lisa Williams

When Hope Sits Beside You

Daily Devotional, David Hall

1 Thessalonians 5:11 – Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Rachel hadn’t planned to cry at the splash pad, but there she was—sweaty, hungry, and overstimulated as her toddler lost his mind over a graham cracker.

Her baby was asleep and wrapped against her chest, but everything else was a mess. She sat down on the nearest bench, defeated. Her body ached. Her mind raced. She wanted to feel grateful. Instead, she just felt alone.

She watched other moms—some with iced coffees, some chatting with friends—and wondered if she was the only one barely holding it together.

Then a woman slid onto the bench beside her. She was older, maybe in her 50s.

“It’s so hard when you’re in it,” she said, “but it won’t always be this way. You’re doing good.”

Rachel looked over, surprised. The woman gave her a small smile. “I remember thinking I would never make it through either, but I did. You will too.”

Rachel didn’t answer. She just nodded. Her throat tightened, and her eyes stung.

The woman stayed a minute longer, then got up and walked away. But her words stayed. Rachel looked down at her baby, still sleeping, and up at her toddler, now giggling as he splashed again.

What she said didn’t fix the hard, but it reminded Rachel of something she had not felt in a while: hope.

The exhaustion was temporary, and in the meantime, she could encourage herself and others who were facing their own tough moments.

Maybe that is why we go through hard things. Not just so we will survive, but so we will have something realto offer someone else when it is their turn.

If you’re in it right now, don’t pull away. Lean in. It will not always be this way, and when the time comes, let your story become someone else’s strength.

This is hard. But you are doing better than you think. Keep going.

May 6, 2025/by David Hall

Love Always Finds a Way

Daily Devotional, Lauren Kitchens-Steward

1 John 4:16 – So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

My mom hated flying.

She would grip the armrest during takeoff and talk too loudly over the roar of the engine. She prayed from the moment the plane took off until the wheels were safely turning into the gate.

At the time, I lived across the U.S. from her, and she came to see me often. I can still see her walking down the hallway of my home, suitcase wheels bumping behind her. Her perfume arriving a few seconds before she did. She would give me a big hug and ask what we were doing for supper.

That was the thing about her. She never made a big deal out of it. For years, she just came to see me. Now, her visits live in my memory like golden light. They were acts of love wrapped in plane tickets, missed sleep, and nerves she never let keep her away.

She came anyway.

That simple truth is what undoes me. The fact that she loved me enough to push past her fear.

And that is what helps me begin to understand God’s love.

Because He comes, too. Even when we are messy. Even when we don’t appreciate it. He still shows up. It is not because it is easy, but because we are His kids.

Maybe today is a good day to look at your life and ask: where is God showing up, even when I am not looking for Him?

His love is steady. Relentless. Brave. I don’t ever want to miss that again.

May 5, 2025/by Lauren Kitchens-Steward