While growing up in rural North Georgia, I knew a bit about my local area but naïvely assumed that people and places in the larger world were similar to those in my world.

But after graduating from high school, I moved from the mountains to attend college in the central portion of Georgia that had a very different landscape. Later, my husband and I traveled throughout the United States, Canada, and a few of the Caribbean islands. As we also vicariously traveled around the world through print and audiovisual media, and then the Internet, I gained a greater understanding of what the world is like. To my astonishment, it is so much larger and so much more diverse than the small area where I was born.

That process of exploration and learning reminds me of connecting-the-dots puzzles. The more dots you connect, the more recognizable the big picture becomes. In like manner, I started where I was born and moved on from the familiar "here" to one astonishing "there" after another. The people groups and places I’m continuing to learn about have been there for a long time, despite my lack of awareness. Such gradual illumination fills me with ever-increasing wonder.

Similarly, the Gospel story has been slowly, yet consistently, revealed to me. As a child, and for many years later, I knew little about the Bible, which contains the stories of the triune God and His dealings with all the diverse people living in the physical world He created, as well as how we will live in the hereafter — in the world He also has created and over which He will reign forevermore.

But through the years, I’ve been privileged to learn more of the Gospel story. For example, just recently, I listened as Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth connected even more of the dots in the Gospel story. 

 https://www.reviveourhearts.com/podcast/revive-our-hearts/the-incomparable-incarnate-christ/

Yes, there is more, so much more, to His story than the familiar stories and songs and dramatizations of the birth of Christ on which we focus on at Christmastime. Although that awesome portion of His life is an essential part of the story, it is not the true beginning of His life. He, like God the Father, has always existed and will always exist. Thus, there’s more, so much more, to the story of who He was, who He is, and who He will always be.

Since I’m eager to learn more and more about Him and believe more deeply and confidently in all that He is and does, I benefit from reading the entire Bible, which contains the larger story. As I read and reflect on various passages, including one of the apostle Paul’s prayers that’s found in the first chapter of the book of Ephesians, I receive insights to include in my prayers. For example:

I bow before You -- the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory __ and humbly ask You to give me a spirit of wisdom and of revelation that will provide true and ever-increasing knowledge of Jesus. I ask You to continue to enlighten my heart, so that I will know more and more about You and about the glorious hope and abundant riches Your boundless power and grace give to those who believe in Jesus.

I make these requests not only for myself but also for others. Enable us to know You, the triune God, more and more fully so that we might truly love You and worship You with glad and grateful hearts, always eager to share with others what we have come to know and believe about You.

Thankful for HIM

 

Do you ever ask yourself, Do people like me? Enjoy me? Appreciate me? Or do they keep me around because I help them?

I often ask such questions — and I admitted that one day when talking with a friend. She replied, “I feel the same way!”

A few days later, while reading some of the apostle Paul’s letters to individuals and to people groups, I noticed that he often said things like, “I thank God upon every remembrance of you.” Then, he would mention specific things they had said or done that caused his heart to overflow with gratitude. For example, some had participated with him in his God-given ministry. Some had shown various kindnesses to him and to others.

As I pondered these things, I realized afresh that it’s hard to separate the individual from the things they do since the kind of person we ARE is reflected in the actions we take. Even so, I think everyone longs to be loved for WHO they ARE, for their essence, rather than for what they possess or how they look or the contributions they make, etc.

As I delved deeper into such thoughts, I asked myself, Do I truly love God for who He IS — apart from all the blessings He bestows on me? If He withheld the blessings, would I continue to love Him?

I pray that my answer to both questions is a resounding YES! But I fear that my love for Him might wane if the blessings were to diminish. That seems to be what happened to people whose stories are told in the Old Testament. As long as God gave them what they wanted, they, like spoiled children, stayed near Him, acknowledged Him as their God, tried to please Him ... But if He didn’t do what they wanted Him to do or if He seemed too slow in meeting their expectations, they’d turn away and begin to worship other gods, whom they believed would meet their needs. They didn’t realize that those gods, formed by human hands and made out of earthly things, had no power to help them any more than a glove can act apart from a hand inside it.

I long to love Him and to praise Him for who He IS. I also want to thank Him for all He does, for all He provides. I hope that your heart, dear reader, wants to do the same — and in that order.

Journey On!

 When I see a road or path, it may cause me to wonder where it leads. It may beckon me. Or it may cause me to say, "No way am I going there!"  

I’ve taken dozens of photographs of roads and paths. One of my favorite images is this one I took while hiking in the Grand Teton National Park. 

As I look at the images I’ve captured through the years, I often think about other kinds of roads we have to journey on—the difficult roads of life that none of us want to travel on. For example: Disease Drive. Cripple Court. Ruin Road. Shame Street. Bitter Boulevard. Agony Avenue. Dead End Street. Despair Drive. Poverty Court. 

As we travel through life, we certainly don't want to leave Easy Street. Yet, few, if any, of us can avoid Heartbreak Highway. The best thing to do while on that route is to relax, as much as possible, and enjoy that part of the journey as best we can, confident that our Heavenly Father knows where we are and stays close by all the time, loving us, encouraging us, guiding us along that difficult stretch of road. Although Heartbreak Highway has no mileage signs, our Father knows how long the route is. He also knows where the road leads and all the places we'll pass through. We will get to the right destination eventually if we don't take a wrong exit.

If we say, “I hate this road! I don’t want to travel on it anymore!” we must keep on traveling, while keeping an eye out for “pleasant spots” along the way. And every road, even a tough one, has some of them. Right?

For example, when we’re struggling with things that frighten us or threaten to overwhelm us, we may receive encouragement from family and friends who stand with us in the difficulty. We may also learn valuable lessons, such as learning to recognize the people and things in life that are truly important and to cherish them all the more. 

So...when the road is difficult, as it surely will be from time to time, let’s journey on, grateful for whatever blessings are along the way and for the assurance we feel when our Father says to us, "Don't be afraid. I am with you.* I know exactly where you are now and where I’m leading you. Just trust Me.”

*Isaiah 43:5

©2025 by Johnnie Ann Gaskill,

Freedom

The July 2025 issue of the monthly newsletter published by the Bible Broadcasting Network (BBN) contains an article written by Carl Redemann, who is the Executive Director of that multi-faceted ministry. 

He began the article with a reference to the long-ago night when General George Washington led a daring crossing of the Delaware River and launched a surprise attack that reignited the American Revolution. 

Redemann writes, “They were not fighting for territory, but for a dream–the dream of a land, where men and women could live freely, speak freely, and most importantly, worship freely.”

Although many of those brave men would not live to see the freedom they were dying for, they fought bravely in the monumental battle that changed history.

But, as Redemann points out, there is another battle with even greater impact. That battle was waged on a hill called Calvary where God’s Beloved Son was nailed to the cross. As the beaten and bleeding Son hung there, He was fighting for freedom for guilty sinners like you and me: freedom from the chains of sin, freedom from the curse of death, freedom from the power of hell itself. As that battle of all battles continued, the sky turned black. The earth shook. With one final breath, Jesus cried out in victory, “It is finished!“

That greatest of all battles for freedom had been won, not by the sword, but by the sacrifice of Jesus.

On Independence Day, may we give thanks for all the courageous men and women who have battled bravely for the cause of freedom. May we be even more grateful for the One who shed His life’s blood to provide freedom from the power of sin, freedom from the penalty of sin, and, ultimately, freedom from the very presence of sin.

Powerful Symbols

 

I made this Resurrection Garden
during a Circle of Love (widows) meeting
at my church.

Create!

While shopping at the local Dollar Tree store, I spotted the mug that is now in the photo shown here. I liked its message ("Live life in full bloom") and the delicate flowers surrounding it. I bought it, along with a packet of small styrofoam blocks and a handful of assorted silk flowers. 

As I arranged the flowers (and then photographed my creation), I thought, This is so much fun--and so relaxing. Indeed, whether I’m arranging flowers, rearranging decorative items on a table, photographing various subjects, experimenting with a new recipe, designing greeting cards in Canva, writing, etc., I feel so content--and alive. That makes me wonder, Why don’t I exercise my God-given creativity more often?

If that’s true of you, let’s make sure we do at least one creative thing every day. Since we are made in the image of God,* who is the awesome Creator, we’ve been endowed with the desire and the ability to create. Let’s exercise that gift! Doing so can be done on a shoestring budget—or even for free! Therefore, we have no excuse for not creating, do we?

*Genesis 1:27

Blanketed

Note: The following is an edited version of a fiction story I wrote on February 20, 2025, in 10 minutes, using the one-word prompt ("blanket") I was given.

The photo was taken in 2005 at Montecito Lodge in the Giant Sequoia National Forest in California. Although the details in the photo don't align with every detail in the story, I'm posting it anyway because it's a photo I enjoy seeing again and again.

Fluffy snowflakes float effortlessly toward the ground. As the hours pass, accumulated snow conceals still-brown grass and shrouds limbs of leafless trees. The drab winter canvas outside disappears, hidden under a blanket of pristine snow. 

The covering will melt away as soon as temperatures rise above freezing. The world will return to its ordinary-ness, the magic of freshly fallen snow gone until another day, perhaps even another year. And I will resume my hectic schedule.

But for one day, this day, the world has been made exceptionally beautiful. So white. So quiet. So still.

I am warm and cozy inside a climate-controlled house where a furnace purrs like a contented kitten. Decaf coffee brews and drops into the carafe from which I pour a cup of comforting warmth. I lounge in my jammies and feel no need to rush off to work or do anything other than relax.

I realize I’ve been given a perfect day to curl up on the sofa beside the fireplace and cover myself with the comfy throw my neighbor gave me for Christmas. Before I reach for a nearby book, I bow my head and say, “Thank You, Father, for this unexpected—and undeserved—day of pure bliss, a day You have created, a day You have provided for me. I am awed by how You cover me with Your love even more gently and completely than You’ve covered with snow this little part of the world I call home.”

Points of Joy

While walking on my driveway a few months after my husband passed away, I noticed how beautifully the early morning light was falling on my house and on the small crepe myrtle bush blooming beside my driveway. I couldn't resist stopping three or four times to take photos with the camera on my cell phone. 

I thought, My senses are waking up like they do whenever I become sleepily aware of my surroundings after a sound sleep. Indeed, I felt more alert than I had in weeks.

As I savored those feelings, I recalled having heard a guest on a podcast say, "Don't set a goal of being happy. Happiness is an illusion. It comes and goes, depending on the circumstances. Instead, look for points of joy throughout your day. The more points of joy you experience, the happier you'll feel. To experience more points of joy, use your five senses." 

That's what I did as I continued my morning walk. Sure enough, I experienced points of joy as I felt the gentle breeze on my skin and heard the chirping of birds as they flew around the yard. 

I did this pointillism design
while chatting on the phone with a friend.
It won't ever win an award,
but it brought me joy as I created it.

I suddenly remembered watching a friend create a stunning portrait of Jesus by using a technique called pointillism. Using a felt tip pen, he'd dot-dot-dot the ink on paper. By strategically placing hundreds of small dots, he created the illusion of lines and shapes without actually drawing or painting them. 

Just as hundreds and hundreds of small dots can form a beautiful image on paper or canvas, many points of joy can create a happier life. Dot. Dot. Dot. Joy. Joy. Joy. Voila!

To learn more about pointillism and see how the "masters" did it, click here: 

https://puntillismo.org/en/pointillism-for-kids 

https://finearttutorials.com/guide/pointillism/

Freely Given Gifts

Are you wondering how you’ll afford to buy gifts this Christmas? Are you weary of shopping for gifts for people who have all the stuff they need—and even more?

If so, I hope you’ll find an idea or two in this post that you can use to create memorable gifts for others either in lieu of or in addition to those items you'll place inside beautiful bags or pretty packages.

My daughter Jena said, “There are two wonderful ways to give a FREE gift this Christmas season! Although neither one will cost you a cent, both are life-saving and life-changing: (1)Share Jesus. Tell others about Him. (2)Donate blood, platelets, or plasma."

As I thought about what she’d said, I began to think of other FREE gifts, not as life-changing as those two, of course, but ones that do impact others.

As I pondered, I recalled that author Leslie Fields had reminded the recipients of her email to “give generous words generously.” After reading the examples she provided, I came up with my own words of sincere affirmation, gratitude, and praise. 

A Gift of Gratitude

For example, in a Christmas card I sent to a family member, I wrote, “I'll always be grateful for your being an ‘angel of mercy’ to so many in our family. May God continue to richly bless you and supply strength and wisdom for each kindness.”

A Gift of Encouragement

While talking with a friend who was struggling to handle the financial responsibilities normally done by her husband (who had recently passed away), I said, “I’ve always admired the God-given strength I’ve observed in you as you’ve dealt with previous difficulties. I have no doubt that He will continue to enable you to do the things you think you can’t do.”

A Gift of Praise

In a text message to a grandson, I said, “Thanks for always being willing to help.”

Let’s resolve to give gifts such as these (and countless others) regularly and liberally throughout the year, not just at Christmastime. After all, they’re guaranteed to please any day of the year.