Nancy C. Williams

“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’” (Romans 8:15) In 1999, my beloved husband and I journeyed halfway around the world to Siberia—to adopt a little boy named Alexei. Our lives changed forever. It’s a “God…

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:10) Burned, bombed, belittled, beheaded. These are just a few of the awful consequences of claiming the name of Jesus Christ in countries where oppressive regimes or cultures reign. Yesterday, the first Sunday of November, was International Day of Prayer for…

“Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” (Acts 14:17) Our mountains are exploding.  Those of us who live in the Appalachians (by the way, here in the South, that’s APP-uh-LATCH-uns) have been treated to spectacular leaf-peeping…

 “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Matthew 9:38 I didn’t expect them to live. They were spindly, fragile seedlings—like green angel-hair spaghetti, less than an inch tall.  Our daughter, Elizabeth, brought them to us in little trays after carefully starting them in Indiana, launching the Lenten season of preparation for Easter…

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ ” (Mark 1:17) Do you enjoy fishing? I’ve discovered people either love to fish or could care less about it. I’m on the former side, my husband on the latter.  However, my beloved Mark surprised me this summer with a…