The Connection Corner

A daily source of encouragement and inspiration to connect your heart to hope and faith.

Shame Says Run & Grace Says Come

Psalm 103:13 — The Lord is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him.

I have an uncle I adore. His name is Uncle Wayland.

Yeah, kind of like Waylon Jennings, if you will, right? And if I did something I shouldn’t have as a kid, he didn’t yell at me or lecture. All he had to do was look at me and say, “Denise, I am so disappointed.”

That was it.

Instant tears. Every single time. I’m a 54-year-old woman, and if he said something like that to me, I’d still be sobbing.

It’s because when you love somebody, and they’re disappointed in you… oh man, that hits deep.

We tend to project that same disappointment onto God when we fall short. I think we imagine Him talking to us the same way. Like when we mess up or lose our temper or doubt or just feel like we’re not doing life very well, we picture Him shaking His head saying, “Ugh, I expected better out of you.”

But that picture of God isn’t actually the one we see in Jesus.

Because that’s not the way Jesus responds to people in the Bible. When people were struggling or failing or exhausted, He moved towards them, not away. And not with crossed arms or a heavy sigh, but with something steadier… something that feels a whole lot more like a good father kneeling down, softening his voice, and pulling his child in close instead of pushing them away.

God doesn’t respond to our failures by pushing us away. Instead, He meets us with compassion and invites us closer, even when we feel least deserving of it.

So, if today feels like one of those days when you’re convinced God must be disappointed in you, remember this: the voice of shame pushes you away, but the voice of Jesus always calls you closer.

And maybe the next time that old, familiar feeling creeps in, you don’t run the other direction like you used to. Maybe you stay. Maybe you lean in just a little.

Not because you’ve got it all together, but because you’re beginning to believe that He already knows you don’t.

And He loves you still.

He hasn’t stepped back an inch.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

When you make a mistake, what do you tend to assume God is thinking about you?
How does Jesus’ treatment of struggling people in the Gospels challenge that assumption?
Is there an area of your life where shame has made you pull away from God?
What would it look like to move toward Him instead of away from Him today?
How does seeing God as a compassionate Father change the way you approach Him?

June 16, 2026/by Denise Pagano

Not Too Late Now

Brenda Price, Daily Devotional

Ecclesiastes 3:11 – Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

Addiction is never easy. It’s not easy for the person struggling. It’s not easy for the family. It’s not easy for the friends who love them.

It’s painful for everyone.

But God.

Here’s a story about a father overcoming addiction. It’s set on the day of his son’s birthday.

“I almost didn’t send the card.

It felt too small. After everything I’d missed—his birthdays, his games, so much of his life—what could one little birthday card possibly do?

’90 days sober.’

That’s what I wrote inside.

‘And happy birthday. I’m proud of you, son.’

Because I am. I am proud of him.

Even if I haven’t been there like I should have. Even if I don’t know whether he’ll believe a word I say.

But recovery has taught me something. It’s never too late to tell the truth. It’s never too late to take a step toward healing. And it’s never too late for grace.

Even when addiction and regret have created distance, God’s grace still makes room for new beginnings.

So I prayed over that envelope.

I asked God to do what I can’t.

I asked Him to bridge the distance between my son’s heart and mine. To take what feels broken and unfinished and begin making something beautiful from it.

I don’t know if he’ll write back.

I don’t even know if he’ll open it.

But I sent it because healing has to start somewhere.”

I love that.

Because sometimes healing starts smaller than we’d like.

It’s one honest conversation. One apology. One phone call. One card dropped in the mail.

One faithful step.

And often, we can’t see what God is doing with those small acts of obedience. We can’t see the whole story from beginning to end.

But He can.

That’s why we keep trusting Him with the pieces.

Maybe today you’re carrying something that feels broken, distant, or beyond repair.

Take the next faithful step.

Offer the apology. Send the message. Have the conversation.

And trust God with what happens next.

Because He has a way of making beautiful things from places that once seemed hopeless.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Is there a relationship in your life that needs a first step toward healing?
What small act of obedience might God be asking you to take today?
Where have you been tempted to give up because you can’t see the outcome?
How does it encourage you to know that God sees the whole story, even when you can only see a small part of it?
What would it look like to trust God with the next step instead of the entire journey?

June 15, 2026/by Brenda Price

From Dusty Bibles to Daily Bread

Daily Devotional, Heart of the Artist, Stories About Songs

Matthew 4:4 — But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

There’s something haunting about the phrase “dusty Bibles.”

Like… I can remember to charge my phone every night, but my Bible can sit untouched on a shelf for weeks. That image is what sparked Josiah Queen’s song “Dusty Bibles.”

And the song isn’t really condemning technology. After all, social media helped launch Josiah Queen’s career. Instead, it asks a harder question: what has our attention?

Because attention is never neutral.

Whatever consistently fills our minds eventually starts shaping our hearts. And that’s why so many people feel exhausted right now—not just physically tired, but spiritually drained.

You know what I mean. Constantly connected. Constantly consuming. Constantly scrolling… yet still somehow hungry for peace.

Maybe that’s why this song has resonated with so many young adults. Underneath all the noise, there’s still a hunger for something real.

Jesus once reminded people that life is more than bread. Human beings carry a deeper hunger—one that food, success, entertainment, or distraction will never satisfy. Souls were made for truth. Souls were made for the voice of God.

And here’s the tension: it’s possible to feed every appetite and still starve spiritually.

But the good news is this—God doesn’t wait for people to get it all together. He meets us the moment we turn our attention back to Him.

Not when we become perfect. Not when we finally “fix everything.” Just when we turn.

And the beautiful part is this: the moment we return our attention to God, we realize He never stopped giving His attention to us.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

What tends to consistently capture your attention most throughout the day?
How has constant “consuming” (social media, news, entertainment, etc.) affected your peace or focus?
What would it realistically look like for you to give God your attention first—even in a small way this week?
Where do you notice a “spiritual hunger” in your life right now?
What might change if you believed God has been fully attentive to you all along?

LYRICS:

We got dust on our Bibles
Brand new iPhones
No wonder why we feel this way

Hey, how you been?
It’s been a while and I’m just checking in
I miss the way things used to be back in 2017
And I just miss my friend

Hey, I’ve been fine
I’ve been struggling to find some peace of mindFrom Dusty Bibles to Daily Bread
It’s the problem of our nation and in our generation
We’re too busy and can’t find the time
Are we busy or is it all a lie

We got dust on our Bibles
Brand new iPhones
No wonder why we feel this way

We walk with our eyes closed blind leading blind folks
I’m done with those idols and dusty Bibles

We only get this one life
I don’t want to sit and watch it pass me by
I’m so done being complacent
There ain’t no replacement
For a life in the light of your way
Oh I’m done, had enough of my way

June 14, 2026/by David Hall