The Connection Corner
A daily source of encouragement and inspiration to connect your heart to hope and faith.
Daily Devotional
Hope in Life’s RiptidesAugust 6, 2026 - 7:00 am
Kindness Delivered to Your DoorAugust 5, 2026 - 7:00 am
The Greener Grass TrapAugust 4, 2026 - 7:00 am
Fireworks Fade, Freedom LastsAugust 3, 2026 - 7:00 am
The Power of a PauseAugust 2, 2026 - 7:00 am
What To Do with Unanswered PrayersAugust 1, 2026 - 7:00 am
Rescued From Life’s RiptideJuly 31, 2026 - 7:00 am
Clear Truth in an Upside-Down WorldJuly 30, 2026 - 7:00 am
Wisdom Works When You ListenJuly 29, 2026 - 7:00 am
Trusting God in the FreefallJuly 28, 2026 - 7:00 am
HEART OF THE ARTIST
Holding on Through HeartbreakJuly 5, 2026 - 7:00 am
Faith That Falls ForwardJune 18, 2026 - 7:00 am
From Dusty Bibles to Daily BreadJune 14, 2026 - 7:00 am
Leaving No SurvivorsJune 7, 2026 - 7:00 am
When Joy Fills RoomsMay 31, 2026 - 7:00 am
STORIES ABOUT SONGS
One Way Through the ChaosJuly 26, 2026 - 7:00 am
The Gospel Still Changes EverythingJuly 12, 2026 - 7:00 am
The Beauty in the Broken RoadJune 28, 2026 - 7:00 am- From Dusty Bibles to Daily BreadJune 14, 2026 - 7:00 am
- Leaving No SurvivorsJune 7, 2026 - 7:00 am
Stories About Songs
- One Way Through the ChaosJuly 26, 2026 - 7:00 am
- The Gospel Still Changes EverythingJuly 12, 2026 - 7:00 am
- The Beauty in the Broken RoadJune 28, 2026 - 7:00 am
- From Dusty Bibles to Daily BreadJune 14, 2026 - 7:00 am
- Leaving No SurvivorsJune 7, 2026 - 7:00 am
Prioritizing Peace in Pressure
Daily Devotional, Sarah HallEight days. Just eight more days until I walk down the aisle and say, “I do.” Eight days until a thousand tiny details—flower arrangements, last-minute Amazon deliveries, and seating charts—would either come together or fall apart.
And I felt like I was drowning in all of it.
I would wake up each morning before the wedding already feeling behind. My mind would sprint through the day’s tasks before my feet even hit the floor. I wanted to start my mornings with God—I knew that was the right thing to do—but instead, I reached for my phone or for my planner for control.
Then, one morning, in the middle of my mental storm, a thought cut through the chaos:
“Is this how you want to enter marriage? Frazzled? Exhausted? Trying to hold everything together by yourself?”
I sat there, phone in hand, convicted. I had been so focused on making everything perfect that I had left God out of the picture. I had forgotten to take a moment to breathe and center myself on Him.
So, I did something different. I put the phone down. I closed my eyes. And I prayed, not for my list to magically disappear, but for my heart to be re-centered on Him.
I reminded myself that with Him, I could face anything.
It is funny—nothing about my circumstances changed in that moment. But I did. Whenever I placed God as my priority, the knots in my stomach loosened, and I felt strengthened to tackle each day’s task.
Is there something in your life that is weighing you down? Perhaps it is a to-do list or an overwhelming task you’re trying to manage on your own. If your mind is crowded and your heart overwhelmed, take a step back. Pause. And give it to God.
Because when we put Him first, everything else falls right into place.
Love that Lifts Us Up Again
Andy Youso, Daily DevotionalHadassah sat at the top of the hill, gripping her handlebars with all the confidence in the world. Her legs bounced with excitement, her feet barely staying on the pedals. I crouched beside her.
“You ready?” I asked, resting a steadying hand on her back.
She nodded eagerly. “I’m ready, Daddy!”
“Okay,” I said. “Just remember—”
But before I could finish, she launched forward, her laughter trailing behind like a banner. For a few glorious seconds, she was weightless. Fearless.
And then I saw it—the hesitation in her shoulders, the slight panic in her grip.
She did not know how to stop.
“Hadassah!” My voice cut through the air. “Squeeze the brakes!”
She didn’t. Instead, her feet shot out, dragging against the road.
“Not your shoes!” I winced. “Those are brand new!”
Her bike wobbled and swerved, and then she crashed. I was running before she hit the ground. By the time I reached her, she was crumpled in a heap. Her scraped knees were pulled up to her chest, and hot tears spilled down her cheeks.
I knelt, scooping her into my arms. “Oh, sweetheart. I’ve got you. You’re okay.”
Her sobs hiccupped as she clung to me. I held her close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“That was scary, huh?”
She gave the tiniest nod. I squeezed her a little tighter. “I know. But you were so brave.”
She sniffled. “I didn’t know how to stop.”
I smiled, smoothing a hand over her back. “That’s okay. You’ll get it. You’re still learning, and that’s what matters.”
And isn’t that how life goes? We take off, thinking we have got everything figured out. We stumble. We fall. We scrape ourselves up in ways we never saw coming.
But, every single time, our Heavenly Father comes running.
Not with anger. But with arms open wide. His grace meets us in the dirt, not with disappointment, but with love.
Hadassah would ride again, and next time, she’d remember how to stop. And when life throws you and me off balance and we stumble, I believe we will too because…
“You’re still learning, and that’s what matters.”
How Grace Changes Everything
Daily Devotional, Lauren Kitchens-StewardJohn 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).