Her Sides

This past year can be summed up in one word: shifts . Shift after shift, wave after wave—life kept moving, giving barely a moment to catch our breath. Many of us have felt stretched, shaken, or even uprooted. Foundations we thought were solid were exposed as fragile. Questions we never imagined facing became part of our daily reality. Yet, as the year turns to December, there is a sense of calm that reminds us of the shepherds hearing the angels declare, “Joy to the world.” Even after storms, peace can arrive. God uses life’s shifts—not to break us—but to purify, redefine, and rebuild us into stronger foundations.   Shaking That Strengthens Scripture says God will “once more shake the heavens and the earth” so that the things that can be shaken will fall away, but what cannot be shaken will remain (Hebrews 12:26–27). Life’s storms often reveal: a belief to surrender, a fear to face, an identity to release, a strength we didn’t know we had. The shaking isn’t the...

One evening, I sat down with my family to read the second chapter of the Book of Joel from the NLT translation. As we made our way through the verses, we paused at verse 25, where we found ourselves caught up by the play on words:  “The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts.   It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.” The reason we got stuck on this verse was, admittedly, because of a cheeky question from one of my kids: “Just how many locusts are there?” We laughed at the detailed descriptions: swarming, hopping, stripping, and cutting locusts. Each type seemed to add to the gravity of the destruction described. But beyond the humor, the verse resonated with me on a deeper level. It reminded me of how challenges can come at us relentlessly, often in different forms but with the same destructive intent.   After our brief sidetra...