The Connection Corner

Running Back to Love

Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I wasn’t always the frilly-dress type. When I was eleven, I was happiest with a BB gun in my hand, barefoot in the backyard, trying to see how many things I could hit before supper.

My daddy had built our barbecue grill out of a 55-gallon drum. It was welded together like a tank and sat right next to the sliding glass door leading into our living room.

For some reason I decided it would be a good idea to aim at that old drum grill.

So, I aimed, I fired, and I missed.

That BB zipped past the grill and hit the sliding glass door square-on. It exploded and shattered into a kaleidoscope of a million pieces. The bang rang out across the whole yard, and my stomach flipped.

I dropped the gun and took off running, full speed, to my friend Tracy’s house next door. Now, we lived out in the country so her house was about half a mile away. But I decided that I would now need to live with Tracy and her family. I knew Mom and Dad were going to be furious.

You can guess what happened next. Tracy’s mama called mine. And Mama, in the most calm, matter-of-fact voice, said, “Send her back.”

I walked home slowly. Shoulders tight. I was ready to pay the piper, and I figured I had it coming. But what met me was not the fury I expected—it was love.

Sure, my parents were upset, but they wrapped me up in their arms and said, “That glass can be replaced. You cannot.”

There are some lessons you carry into adulthood, and for me, that is one of them.

I still mess up and still flinch when I know I have let someone down. But the older I get, the more I see it—God is not watching from a distance, waiting to punish me. He is the One who meets me at the door with love. Every time.

He knows what shattered, and He still wants you.

You are not replaceable. You are not forgotten. You are loved beyond measure, and you always have a place to come home.

July 15, 2025/by Tammi Arender

Sox and All

Daily Devotional, Linda Meyers

Proverbs 3:27 — “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.”

I came across a story recently that’s been sitting with me ever since.

A woman named Jane Arndt was driving her regular bus route when she saw someone standing barefoot on the hot pavement. Her clothes were worn, her hair tangled—someone the world had stopped noticing.

Without thinking twice, Jane slipped off her own shoes and handed them to the woman. “They’re not new,” she said, “but they’ll keep your feet from burning.” Then she got back behind the wheel—socks and all—and kept going.

Another passenger, who had once been homeless, wiped a tear from her eye and whispered, “She sees her.”

That moment has stayed with me. Because love like that—love that notices, that moves, that gives—does something more than help. It heals. It tells someone they matter.

Proverbs 3:27 says, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.” Most days, we have more power than we think—a kind word, a small gift, a few seconds of courage. And when we use that power to see and serve someone else, we reflect the heart of Jesus.

So today, let’s not hold back.
Let’s not wait.
Let’s be willing to give up a little comfort, so someone else can take a step forward.

That kind of love? It changes everything.

July 14, 2025/by Linda Meyers

The Unbreakable House of the Lord

Daily Devotional, Heart of the Artist, Stories About Songs

1 Corinthians 3:16 — “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”

Do you remember the day the world shut down? It felt like a single, collective gasp. Stores closed their doors, streets emptied, and even the churches locked their gates.

I remember standing there, staring at my calendar that had just gone blank. Concerts, church services, small group gatherings—canceled overnight. Plans evaporated, and the sense of normalcy we clung to vanished in an instant.

I asked myself, “What does church look like now?”

But then I started to notice the small things. My wife’s smile as we walked the neighborhood. A neighbor’s wave from a safe distance. A phone call that turned into an unexpected lifeline. Even behind masks, I saw the same eyes of kindness and compassion that had always been there.

It dawned on me that the house of the Lord was not bricks and wood. It was us—ordinary people carrying God’s presence into the everyday. COVID-19 did not cancel that. It revealed it.

That was the moment my song “House of the Lord” came to life. I wanted to sing about the real church. It’s the one that cannot be shut down by a virus or anything else. It’s a family that laughs and cries together, that keeps showing up even when the world feels shaky.

Even with the “new normal” now behind us, I keep hearing “House of the Lord” on the radio, and I remember that the truest kind of worship is not found in the stage or the pew. It is found wherever we choose to love each other, to stand together, and to encourage each other in the Lord.

The body of Christ is a family that stands strong through every season. That is the house of the Lord, and it is waiting for you to find your place in it, no matter where you are today.

— Phil Wickham

Lyrics

Verse
We worship the God who was
We worship the God who is
We worship the God who evermore will be
He opened the prison doors
He parted the raging sea
Our God He holds the victory

Chorus
There’s joy In the house of the Lord
There’s joy in the house of the Lord today
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise
There’s Joy in the house of the Lord
Our God is surely in this place
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise
We shout out Your praise

Verse
We sing to the God who heals
We sing to the God who saves
We sing to the God who always makes a way
He hung upon that cross
Then He rose up from that grave
My God’s still rolling stones away

Chorus
There’s joy In the house of the Lord
There’s joy in the house of the Lord today
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise
There’s Joy in the house of the Lord
Our God is surely in this place
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise

Bridge
We were the beggars
Now we’re royalty
We were the prisoners
Now we’re running free
We are forgiven, accepted
Redeemed by His grace
Let the house of the Lord sing praise

Cause we were the beggars
Now we’re royalty
We were the prisoners
Now we’re running free
We are forgiven, accepted
Redeemed by His grace
Let the house of the Lord sing praise

Chorus
There’s joy In the house of the Lord
There’s joy in the house of the Lord today
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise
There’s Joy in the house of the Lord
Our God is surely in this place
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise

There’s joy In the house of the Lord
There’s joy in the house of the Lord today
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise
There’s Joy in the house of the Lord
Our God is surely in this place
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise
We shout out Your praise
We shout out Your praise
We shout out Your praise

July 13, 2025/by David Hall