The Connection Corner
A daily source of encouragement and inspiration to connect your heart to hope and faith.
Daily Devotional
The Treasure You Can’t SeeSeptember 19, 2026 - 9:00 am
Healing the Hidden HurtSeptember 18, 2026 - 7:00 am
Stop Second GuessingSeptember 17, 2026 - 7:00 am
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
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
How Two Wheels Touched Two Families
Daily Devotional, Sarah HallMy dad has this cool story. One December, while he was on patrol, a call came in about a stolen bike. When he arrived, the little boy stood beside a patch of flattened grass where his bike used to be.
The boy was calm, but my dad could see the disappointment in his eyes.
What he later found out was that the boys family had no money to replace the bicycle. They were just trying to make it through the holiday season, the same as most people. He drove away feeling the weight of it.
That evening, on his way home, he called Mom. I can picture her leaning against the kitchen counter, listening quietly while he told her about the boy. Money was already tight for them too.
But she agreed. They could do without a few comforts this year to help that boy. They bought the boy a new bike—bright, simple. It was the kind any kid would be proud of.
They delivered it a few days later, and Dad said the boy’s whole face lit up.
A few weeks later, a letter from the state showed up. Dad opened it at the kitchen table, probably expecting some form he needed to sign. Instead, he found a tax refund they had not known about. The amount inside nearly matched the cost of the bike.
He held it for a long moment, then handed it to Mom. They laughed together, astonished. It was impossible not to feel that God had met them in that small act of generosity.
It reminded me of Proverbs 11:25: “The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” My parents had stepped into someone else’s need, and in turn, they had been met in their own.
That story stays with me because it reminds me to pay attention to the needs around me. Even a small act—helping a neighbor, giving a gift, offering encouragement—can become someone else’s Christmas miracle. And sometimes, the blessing comes full circle, lifting our own hearts along the way.
So, who might God be calling you to bless this season?
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Jesus Is Worth the Wait
Daily Devotional, Tammi ArenderBefore a single light twinkled on the tree, Jeannine set a small wooden manger on the coffee table. Nothing inside it but straw.
Her four little ones tore through the house, loud and curious.
“Where’s Mary?”
“Where’s Joseph?”
“Where are the animals?”
Jeannine just smiled and told them everyone was still on their way.
She wanted her children to feel the story, not just hear it. So she tucked the nativity pieces all around the house—behind books, under dish towels, perched on windowsills—each one waiting for its turn to move.
Every day, the figures inched closer to the stable. The kids checked on them like detectives, noting even the tiniest shift.
Before long, the slow journey became more than a game. It became a way for the whole family to enter the story—step by quiet step—feeling the waiting and the longing that God’s people carried for generations before the Messiah arrived. Every movement built anticipation. Every pause whispered that some promises unfold slowly.
Scripture describes waiting on God in the same way: not as passive or powerless, but as hope with its eyes wide open.
“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.” — Psalm 130:5
Waiting isn’t losing time. It is trusting that the God who promised is still at work, even when we can’t see movement.
On Christmas Eve, after the children finally drifted off to sleep, Jeannine placed the tiny baby in the manger. She rested her hand on the roof of the little stable and let the weight of that moment settle in.
And on Christmas morning? The kids flew right past the presents and ran straight to the manger. Their joy was bright and unmistakable. There He was. And somehow the waiting made His arrival feel even sweeter.
Every year since, Jeannine still sets up that slow-moving nativity. There’s something about those “we’re almost there” days that has changed them. The journey is no longer frustrating—confident hope is stitched into their hearts as they wait.
So how about you? Is there any area of your life where you feel like you are still waiting for God to move? The waiting is not wasted. Like Jeannine and her kids discovered, Jesus always arrives right on time—just as He promises.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Listen to the Bells of Hope
Daily Devotional, Heart of the Artist, Stories About SongsThe fire consumed everything. His wife’s screams still haunted Henry’s mind. That was two years ago, but grief has no calendar. Sitting in his study on Christmas morning, Henry’s world still felt like ash.
War raged across the nation, and his eldest son, Charles, was recovering from a near-fatal bullet wound. The bells outside chimed peace on earth, goodwill to men, but they only deepened his bitterness. How could those words ring true in a world like this?
Yet the bells refused to stop. They tolled relentlessly, refusing to be ignored. Listening, he felt it—a faint, rebellious hope.
That morning, he took up a pen—not because he had answers, but because he had to confront the questions. As he wrote, the words to the now famous carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Morning” came slowly, painfully:
“Then rang the bells more loud and deep:
‘God is not dead, nor doth He sleep.’”
This Christmastime, may those same bells find you too. When grief feels endless and joy feels far away, listen. Hope has a sound—it’s faint at first, but it grows stronger the longer you lean in.
The psalmist once wrote, “I will be glad and rejoice in Your unfailing love, for You have seen my troubles, and You care about the anguish of my soul.”
Maybe that’s what Henry heard that morning—the reminder that God had seen it all. And maybe this Christmas, it’s time for us to believe it again. To let hope keep ringing, not because the pain has ended, but because it hasn’t taken us under.
Because even now, hope will not let us go.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Heard The Bells On Christmas
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet their songs repeat
Of peace on Earth, good will to men
And the bells are ringing (peace on Earth)
Like a choir they’re singing (peace on Earth)
In my heart I hear them (peace on Earth)
Peace on Earth, good will to men
And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on Earth, ” I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on Earth, good will to men
But the bells are ringing (peace on Earth)
Like a choir singing (peace on Earth)
Does anybody hear them? (Peace on Earth)
Peace on Earth, good will to men
Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep
(Peace on Earth)
(Peace on Earth)
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on Earth, good will to men
Then ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on Earth, good will to men
And the bells, they’re ringing (peace on Earth)
Like a choir they’re singing (peace on Earth)
And with our hearts, we’ll hear them (peace on Earth)
Peace on Earth, good will to men
Do you hear the bells, they’re ringing? (Peace on Earth)
The light, the angels singing (peace on Earth)
Open up your heart and hear them (peace on Earth)
Peace on Earth, good will to men
Peace on Earth
Peace on Earth
Peace on Earth, good will to men
TRADITIONAL VERSION: