The Connection Corner

Planning What Matters Most

1 Corinthians 16:14 — Let all that you do be done in love.

My dad has retired, but he hasn’t stopped. I got to catch up with him on vacation.

And he was talking about how… “Yeah, I’m not working eight to five anymore, but I’ve scheduled in time in my day to help others.”

He said, “Maybe it’s somebody in my community who needs a ride somewhere. Maybe they need help moving. I don’t know, whatever it is, I prioritize it and schedule it in my day.

That really touched me.

He didn’t just retire. He reorganized his life around people.

And I thought, “Okay… that is a whole new definition of being the hands and feet of Jesus.”

It’s not serving spontaneously or only when it’s convenient. It’s not squeezed in if there’s extra time.

No, it’s chosen. It’s planned. It’s built in.

It’s letting everything you do be shaped by love.

Because following Christ doesn’t just change what we believe. It reshapes what we prioritize. It changes what makes it onto our calendars, into our budgets, and into our everyday lives.

My dad understands something that can be easy to miss: love isn’t just a feeling. Love is an action. And sometimes the most loving thing you can do is make room for people before they ever ask for your help.

So maybe today is a good day to ask yourself: Who has God placed in my life that I can serve?

Maybe it’s a neighbor who needs a hand. Maybe it’s a friend who needs a phone call. Maybe it’s someone who’s been carrying a burden alone.

Whatever it looks like, don’t wait for someday.

Make room for love today.

Because when love becomes a priority instead of an afterthought, people notice.

And so does God.

A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Who has God placed in your life that may need encouragement or practical help right now?
Do you tend to view serving others as something spontaneous or something worth planning for?
What would it look like to intentionally build acts of love into your schedule this week?
How has someone else’s consistent kindness impacted your life?
What’s one practical way you can let “all that you do be done in love” today?

June 17, 2026/by Bri Dunn

Shame Says Run & Grace Says Come

Daily Devotional, Denise Pagano

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