Author: Sandra Bivens Smith

  • Passing the Test: Turning Trials Into Triumph

    Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4) Although I have been out of school going on 60 years, I can still recall…

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  • Lessons From the Garden

    He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit. -Jeremiah 17:8 Full disclosure. I am not a…

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  • Who God Is

    Lately I have been troubled concerning how our world, even our Christian world, seems to have either forgotten, or chosen to ignore who God is. In Revelation 2:4 Jesus reprimands the church at Ephesus for having forgotten their first love. As the scripture reads, they were doing all the “right things” but, apparently, not from…

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  • Christmas Memories

    Christmas Day. That day of the year when all the excitement, anticipation, and expectation of the recent weeks comes to fruition. Families and friends will gather.  Songs will be sung.  Stories will be told.  Gifts will be exchanged.  Meals will be shared.  Common family traditions, held each Christmas season to honor the memories of Christmases…

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