The Connection Corner
A daily source of encouragement and inspiration to connect your heart to hope and faith.
Daily Devotional
The Hot Water TestSeptember 16, 2026 - 7:00 am
Don’t Rehearse The RegretSeptember 15, 2026 - 7:00 am
Look Up, It’s Not OverSeptember 14, 2026 - 7:00 am
Come As You AreSeptember 13, 2026 - 7:00 am
Leave Hope Wherever You GoSeptember 12, 2026 - 7:00 am
United We Still StandSeptember 11, 2026 - 7:00 am
Jesus Cares About That TooSeptember 10, 2026 - 7:00 am
Don’t Judge the Book by its CoverSeptember 9, 2026 - 7:00 am
A Refreshing Plot TwistSeptember 8, 2026 - 7:00 am
Can You Sit with MeSeptember 7, 2026 - 7:00 am
HEART OF THE ARTIST
The Secret to Being BlessedSeptember 6, 2026 - 7:00 am
The Hardest HallelujahAugust 30, 2026 - 7:00 am
Meet Me in the ValleyAugust 9, 2026 - 7:00 am
Holding on Through HeartbreakJuly 5, 2026 - 7:00 am
Faith That Falls ForwardJune 18, 2026 - 7:00 am
STORIES ABOUT SONGS
- Come As You AreSeptember 13, 2026 - 7:00 am
- The Hardest HallelujahAugust 30, 2026 - 7:00 am
The Fight Nobody SeesAugust 23, 2026 - 7:00 am
One Way Through the ChaosJuly 26, 2026 - 7:00 am
The Gospel Still Changes EverythingJuly 12, 2026 - 7:00 am
Stories About Songs
- Come As You AreSeptember 13, 2026 - 7:00 am
- The Hardest HallelujahAugust 30, 2026 - 7:00 am
- The Fight Nobody SeesAugust 23, 2026 - 7:00 am
- One Way Through the ChaosJuly 26, 2026 - 7:00 am
- The Gospel Still Changes EverythingJuly 12, 2026 - 7:00 am
Miles and Miles of Wonder
Daily Devotional, David HallThe sky never repeats itself, and somehow that says everything.
Right after college, home still meant my childhood bedroom. My sister Lindsay had just started at ULM, and I was in that strange in-between—done with college, grateful to be home, but not quite sure what came next.
So I made a habit of escaping.
My sister and I would hit the interstate and head west toward Ruston. Windows cracked, music up, we’d talk about everything and nothing—classes, dreams, the future waiting somewhere out there. We had no plan. No destination.
Just one goal.
Chasing sunsets.
Have you ever done that? You can almost feel it before you see it.
The sun dipping low, stretching gold across the fields. Then orange. Then streaks of violet painting the horizon. It never rushed, but it never lingered either. You had to pay attention or you’d miss it.
It never gets old.
We started those drives knowing what we were chasing, but never really knowing what we’d get. And that was the thrill.
Somewhere along those miles, it became clear—our God is a master creator. His handiwork fills the sky every evening. And if you take a moment to notice, there’s more beauty than you can predict, and more wonder than you can control.
The heavens are always saying something, if you’re willing to look up. His glory stretches farther than your plans and bigger than whatever you’re trying to figure out next.
Creation keeps pointing back to Him.
And maybe that’s the invitation. Not to have it all mapped out. Not to rush past the moment. Just to notice. Because even now, His colors are breaking out all around you— unmistakable and daily.
And if you lift your eyes, even for a second, you might catch it.
He is still the God of wonders, and His glory still fills the earth.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
The Backseat Smoothie Sermon
Daily Devotional, Kirstie FordRushing out the door, I hurried all the way to my car—smoothie in one hand, tote bag and purse in the other. I was feeling the weight of the morning hustle and bustle. And because it’s me, I rarely leave any margin for time.
You know the feeling, right?
I drove less than a mile down the road when I heard a funny sound inside the car. I wasn’t sure where it came from until I glanced behind me and saw my smoothie splattered across the backseat. Oh no.
Raise your hand if you’ve ever been driven by your emotions like that? Pun intended. Well, you’re not alone.
I said, “It’s okay, Kirstie. It’s totally fine!”
My eye twitched as I continued, “No, my breakfast is just splattered across my entire back seat, and it will have to sit there all day. It will just smell like mildew later. No big deal. Really. It’s fine!”
Fast forward to that afternoon when I was using all my strength to remove the smoothie stain from my seat. Yet no matter how hard I scrubbed, the stain would not come clean.
But do you know what? Some stains don’t come out no matter how hard you try.
In that moment, I felt reminded that I too was once stained with sin. I could never scrub it away no matter how hard I tried. I needed God, in His mercy, to blot them out. Now my sin-stained heart has been washed white as snow by the precious blood of Jesus.
Still today, the stain from the smoothie is on the seat of my car. But guess what? That’s okay with me because every time I see it, I remember that no earthly effort can remove the stain of my sin either.
And maybe that’s where this meets you—in the places you’ve been scrubbing, striving, trying to make things right on your own.
There’s a better way… one that doesn’t depend on how strong you are but on how willing your heart is to be held in mercy. Only the blood of Jesus can cleanse and restore us completely. He can cover your sin, restore your heart, and make you new—not because you cleaned yourself up, but because you finally surrendered to the One who could.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Rainy Days to Redemption
Brenda Price, Daily DevotionalSeventeen years ago is when I hit rock bottom. I was addicted to drugs and far from Jesus. Those were my rainy days. And you know, rainy days… they have a way of doing something to you. They strip you down. They show you what’s real.
I was a crazy party girl. And somehow, that’s the very place where everything started changing. Not all at once—but enough for God to get my attention.
I heard someone say once that the valley of weeping is what we must pass through on our way to God. And oh boy… I lived there for a while. Long enough to know what it feels like when the tears don’t fix anything. Long enough to know what it feels like to be completely empty.
But when I look back now, I can see it—God was pursuing me the whole time.
People ask me if I would change anything. And it sounds crazy, but no… I wouldn’t. Because it was there—in that lowest place—that everything changed.
When I almost died from an accidental overdose, I was in a coma. The doctors said I wasn’t going to make it. I opened my eyes just long enough to see my brother saying goodbye to me.
But Jesus had other plans. And in that moment—somewhere between life and death—He came to me.
Clear, personal, and close.
He asked me, “Are you done?”
I knew exactly what He meant.
I said, “Oh yes. I am.” Because I was. Done running, done numbing, and surviving the very life that was killing me.
And I woke up. Not just physically. Something deeper than that. Something I can’t fully explain, but I know it when I see it now.
Ever since then, my life has been different. Not perfect, but different. There’s a gratitude in me now that I didn’t have before. There’s a kind of love in me now that runs deeper than emotion—like my whole life finally has direction.
And when I think about it, it’s like my heart learned how to thank God from the inside out because I was rescued from a place I couldn’t escape on my own.
And He can do that for you too.
Maybe things in your life aren’t as extreme as mine were… or maybe they are. Maybe something in you feels like it’s flatlining. But here’s what I know.
There is no place too far gone for Jesus to step in, no life too broken for Him to restore when you finally surrender it to Him. So, if there’s anything you’ve been trying to manage, numb, or outrun… you don’t have to carry it anymore.
Sometimes the simplest surrender looks like “I’m done.”
And right there—in that surrendered place—He meets you.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT