The Connection Corner

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

A Snow Day for the Soul

Titus 2:11-13 — For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.

I don’t remember much from 2010—except snow, applesauce, and the way waiting felt like electricity in my bones.

North Louisiana Februarys are built for crawfish boils and short sleeves, not winter weather. A single icicle can shut the place down. So when classes didn’t just pause but stopped, we knew this wasn’t normal. Teachers rushed to grade papers. Parents got early pickup calls. The Weather Channel flickered on the classroom TV.

This time it was the real thing. Snow.

I knew something else too. Tomorrow was my birthday.

My almost-eight-year-old brain filled with questions the way only a kid’s can when something good feels close. What does snow taste like? What does it smell like? Does it taste as good as it smells?

That night, sleep never stood a chance. Everything felt charged—like the world was holding its breath.

Before bed, Mom called me to the front door. We slipped outside quietly, leaving my brother asleep. The cold didn’t matter. Standing there, watching flakes drift down under the porch light, I realized I was seeing something I’d only heard about until then.

It was real, and it was incredible.

Mom wrapped me in a tight hug and leaned in close, her voice barely louder than the falling snow. “Happy Birthday.”

Years later, I think about that night often—not just because of the snow, but because of the waiting. The joy that showed up before the gift fully arrived.

Scripture names that longing. Titus 2:11–13 says that “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people… training us to wait for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Grace doesn’t just rescue us; it teaches us how to wait.

Isn’t it amazing that God builds anticipation into our faith on purpose. Right now, we only catch hints. We taste and touch and smell traces—like snow the night before your birthday. But one day, we won’t be reaching for shadows of His goodness anymore. We’ll live inside it.

God gives us small joys to prepare us for greater ones. The preview is not the prize—but it keeps us leaning forward. And those moments aren’t random. They are reminders.

Grace doesn’t just save us; it sustains us while we wait. It trains our hearts to live faithfully in the present while keeping our eyes on what’s still ahead.

God gives us glimpses—not to tease us, but to prepare us. So maybe today isn’t about chasing the next big thing. Maybe it’s about noticing the quiet ways God is teaching you to hope.

Because the best really is coming, so let anticipation do its work.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Where in my life am I tired of waiting?
Do I see waiting as wasted time — or as training?
What small glimpses of God’s goodness has He already given me?
Am I living only for what’s next, or faithfully in what’s now?
How is grace shaping the way I live today?
What would it look like to let anticipation deepen my hope instead of frustrate it?
Do I truly believe that the best is still ahead?

February 18, 2026/by Brendan McClain

Better Than Yesterday

Daily Devotional, Jeff Connell

Colossians 2:6-7 – And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

The locker room smells like sweat and disappointment.

A few boys stare at the floor, as if it might explain what just happened. The scoreboard still glowing in their minds, even though they’ve walked away from it. This is that painful place after a loss where nobody’s sure yet what this game says about them.

Their coach stands in front of them. They brace for correction. Maybe frustration. A breakdown of everything that went wrong. Instead, he pauses and reframes the moment.

He doesn’t deny the loss. He doesn’t soften it either. They didn’t play well. Mistakes were made. But he refuses to let the loss be the final word.

“You didn’t win today, but you didn’t walk away emptyhanded.” He says, “You’re better today than you were yesterday.”

Not because they won. They didn’t. Not because it feels good—it doesn’t. But because today gave them something yesterday couldn’t. Experience. Exposure. Clarity. They saw how another team exploited their weaknesses and their lack of miscommunication. They saw what pressure does to their focus.

Later—after the noise fades and the bus ride home goes quiet—that same truth shows up again. This time in an email from their coach. Near the bottom, it reads, “You are better today than you were yesterday.”

Even on a bad day. Especially on a bad day.

Because this is a Christian school, he goes one layer deeper. He reminds them that how they process the loss matters. God is shaping their hearts in real time—using disappointment and perseverance as tools. They now have more to work with than they did yesterday.

More roots. More depth. More formation.

That’s the hope of the Gospel—that it meets people who are unfinished and failing and still becoming. Before Jesus, failure only meant shame or finality. But now, even our missteps can be redeemed and repurposed.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6–7).

Real life faith feels a lot like that locker room. We are all learning to move forward. No one graduates from growth. Layer by layer, root by root, God is working on us and helping us to become more like Him.

So today doesn’t have to feel like a win to be a step forward. Stay planted. Keep walking. Take the next faithful step of obedience that you can see.

Because growth counts—even when the scoreboard says otherwise.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Where in my life does the scoreboard feel discouraging right now?
Have I been measuring growth only by visible wins?
What might God be forming in me through disappointment?
Am I rooted in Christ — or in outcomes?
How do I typically respond to failure: with shame, frustration, or growth?
Where is God inviting me to stay planted instead of walking away?
What would it look like to choose gratitude, even in a season that doesn’t feel like a victory?

February 17, 2026/by Jeff Connell

Persuasively Persistent

Daily Devotional, Kirstie Ford

Matthew 7:7 — Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.

As a mom of two young children, I would be rich if I got a dollar every time I heard the phrase, “Mom, can I have ______?” Even after saying the dreadful, life-altering, meltdown provoking word, “NO,” my children relentlessly approach me- asking the same question. They simply won’t take no for an answer.

While they’re learning to respect boundaries, I’ll admit that sometimes I give in—not because thea answer changed, but because they didn’t give up. Watching them has taught me something about faith. They ask boldly and don’t assume “no” means never.

God used my children to gently remind me of his fatherly character, and I began reflecting on the way I have approached God. More times than I’d like to admit-I asked once, hear no—or silence—and quietly retreat. Maybe you can relate?

Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:7 began to challenge that pattern: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

That’s not a one-time request. It’s not a hesitant whisper. No, it’s a continual posture of asking, seeking, and knocking. It is trusting the heart of the God who wants to answer us.

There is no coincidence that Luke chapter 18 consecutively tells of the parable of the persistent widow and the story of the little children coming to Jesus. God encourages us to always pray and not give up; the same way the widow approached the judge with her plea.

She persisted instead of retreating, until she got justice. Our Heavenly father tells us to approach him the same way the little children approached Jesus; with childlike faith instead of hindrance.

The next time you pray, I challenge you to approach God more like little children approach their parents and the widow approached the judge. Bold. Persistent. Willing to ask again. And to approach our Heavenly father with the childlike faith the little children approached Jesus with; confident that even when the answer isn’t what we hoped for, He is still listening—and still good.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Where have I stopped asking God because I didn’t like the first answer — or the silence?
Is there a prayer I quietly gave up on that I need to bring back to Him?
Do I approach God with hesitation… or with childlike trust?
Have I mistaken “wait” for “no”?
What would it look like for me to keep knocking instead of walking away?
Do I truly believe my Heavenly Father is good — even when His answer isn’t what I hoped for?
Where is God inviting me to be bold and persistent in prayer right now?