Lent is a season of spiritual growth and change. So it might help to look at it through God’s rainbow of colors. In particular, five hues are associated with this holy time of year on the liturgical calendar. The five Lent colors are:

• Green
• Purple
• Blue
• Yellow
• Red

But what do these colors mean? How can we think about them as we move through our Lenten journey, and how can they help us better understand the meaning of Lent?

READ MORE: Is Lent in the Bible?

The Meaning Behind the Lent Colors

1. Green: New Life

The very word “Lent” means spring and as the cool of winter fades, we look for all the green signs that the season of hope and redemption is at hand. The grass comes up, the leaves slowly burst forth on the trees. Bulbs that we planted in the fall, digging deep into the earth, push up and show their true colors. As you pray in Lent, you are looking to be fertilized and watered with God’s purifying love. You’re not green with envy; you’re green with new life. May it come.

READ MORE: 10 Ways to Observe a Green Lent

2. Purple: God’s Love

Purple has always been the liturgical color associated with Lent, when ministers of God wear purple vestments and the altars where we worship are often decorated with purple cloth. Purple has long been the color linked with royalty and nobility. Why? Because it was especially expensive to produce, made from thousands of mollusk shells. Only the rich could afford it. If the kings could wear it, shouldn’t it be appropriate for the King of Kings?

God came down to Earth and was reborn in Jesus as we become reborn in Him. Purple then becomes a link to what God put in our reach. We all deserve the purple, crowning ourselves with God’s infinite love.

3. Blue: Reflection

Lent is a time of deep reflection. When we offer ourselves up to the Lord in contemplative prayer, it is common to tap into sorrow and sometimes painful memories. We see our dark side. We remember our losses. We can be smitten with unexpected sadness. We find ourselves singing “the blues,” literally. But that very process is a letting go. We feel God’s forgiveness. The very singing of the blues becomes a way of healing. The clouds disappear. The blue skies open up. The air shimmers. Blue becomes crystal clear vision.

READ MORE: 20 Lent Bible Verses for Reflection and Guidance

4. Yellow: The Light Within

We are nothing without the warmth and golden light of the sun, waking us up in the morning, following us through the day, dropping over the horizon at day’s end, God with us always. Yellow is that God-given hue that when mixed with blue forms green or mixed with red becomes orange. It is the very light within.

In our Lenten meditations we stop whatever we are doing at different times during the day and connect directly to God who is always there to connect to us. Like the sun. There’s nothing soft about yellow. It is strong, life-giving, life-sustaining. With Lent you see how each moment is golden, not to be missed.

READ MORE: 20 Beautiful Lent Quotes to Inspire You

5. Red: Importance

Red is often the color associated with martyrs of the faith, those who gave their life over to the Lord. Red can symbolize the Passion of our Lord who gave His life for us and is often used on Palm Sunday. Later it invariably marks the feast day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down and filled Jesus’s followers as it fills us, giving us the power and strength to do what we might never have thought we could do.

Red is the color of the stop sign or that red light that made you halt. Like you halted for the 40 days of Lent. But it was only to remember what was and is most important in life. True red-letter days. May each day bring you the colors of your true Self.

No matter how you celebrate this Lent—whether you are giving something up, growing closer to God through Lenten prayers, or making the time to celebrate Lent as a family—think about the meaning behind these Lent colors. As you see the trees bud with green, think about new life. When you see the purple vestments at church, pray about God’s love. As you gaze up to the blue, spring sky, reflect on your progress this Lenten season. Do your Lenten prayers or meditations under the yellow light of the morning sun. If you see the color red throughout you day, take a second to think about the most important things in your life. How can you include all the Lent colors in your celebrations and prayers?

READ MORE ABOUT THE LENTEN SEASON:

• 20 Unique Lent Gifts
  
• 7 Favorite Hymns for Lent
  
• 15 Inspiring Bible Verses for Fasting
• 5 Fun, Easy and Faith-Filled Ideas for Lent

The post What Are the 5 Colors of Lent? appeared first on Guideposts.

It seems appropriate that she was born on Valentine’s Day because she exuded love. For her family, for her colleagues, for the subjects of the countless stories she wrote and edited, for Guideposts readers, for her faith community, for God’s beautiful world and the people in it.

A founding contributor, it’s hard to imagine how Guideposts would have ever happened without her; because of her contributions, it became a much-loved venue for true personal stories of faith in action. She was the embodiment of hope and inspiration. Those of us who have worked for the organization and written for it all learned from Tib. In fact, she was not only a model of a compassionate storyteller but a wonderful teacher of writing.

A Natural Gift of Writing

Back in 1951, when Guideposts was a fledgling publication, her husband, John, was hired as an editor. A natural at chasing down true first-person inspirational stories, he naturally shared with his wife what he was doing and discovered in the process what insights she had to offer, along with hr natural gift for writing.

Of course, she would never have put it that way. Modest in the extreme, self-effacing and glad to cede the limelight to others, she found a perfect calling at this little magazine in coaxing stories out of others and then helping them share their highly personal accounts of God at work in their lives for an audience of millions. She brought empathy and spiritual depth to what otherwise might have remained commonplace testimony. She never forgot the needs of the reader.

She and John met shortly after the war, in which he had served bravely with the American forces in Europe. They had both, independently, decided to go to university in Switzerland in those bleak post-war years, and they met aboard the ship en route. Clearly it was love at mere glance because the two students were soon to be husband and wife.

Meeting Eleanor Roosevelt

Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt happened to be in Geneva at the same time—working, as always, on the peace between nations—and wanted to meet some young Americans. She was introduced to Tibby.

It’s a scene I can easily picture, the two soulful women sharing their views for hours, both of them with extraordinary gifts of listening. Both slated to fill deeper roles as women than the culture would have ascribed to them.

John would bring home stories, and Tibby—the writer, not just the ‘50s housewife—would polish them up. First quietly and then not so secretively, the two becoming a dedicated team. Len LeSourd, then editor of Guideposts, soon realized he had two fine writer-editors in one husband-and-wife team. Couldn’t they do more? And indeed, they did. So much more.

From Stories to Books

Not only were they writing for Guideposts, their stories often expanded beyond the magazine. There was David Wilkerson, a dynamic young preacher in New York reaching out to the gangs of the city; his story, with the Sherills’ help, became The Cross and the Switchblade. There was Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch woman who had shielded Jews and Dutch resistance workers during the Nazi occupation; her story became the best-selling The Hiding Place, co-written with John and Elizabeth Sherrill.

There was God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew with the Sherrills and They Speak with Other Tongues, John’s own coming-to-faith story. The two were spiritual pilgrims, endlessly curious wanderers who visited virtually every continent on earth and always brought home stories.

Tibby was at her most profound and her most deeply personal in the hundreds of devotions she wrote for Daily Guideposts, now Walking in Grace. The spiritual insights she fearlessly shared with devoted readers over five decades reverberate to this day. Indeed, she set the standard for Guideposts devotions and for the writers who followed in her footsteps.

The Consummate Writing Teacher

In 1967, when Guideposts launched its first Writers Workshop, bringing the winning aspiring writers to New York for a week of intensive training, the magazine staff turned to Tibby. Would she help as a teacher? I can imagine her saying modestly, “Well, I’ll try.”

Not only did she try but she succeeded in extraordinary ways and for the next few decades she would be the guiding light of those workshops, not only for the winners but for all of us who’d come to Guideposts to work on staff. Her toughness as an editor was belied by her soft voice. After you spent a week learning from Tibby, you couldn’t sit down and write without her words and guidance swirling in your head. It was true for workshopper Sue Monk Kidd. For Marion Bond West. For Roberta Messner.

Editor-in-Chief Edward Grinnan, who came to the workshop shortly after he was hired at Guideposts in 1986 as an assistant editor, had a master’s degree and awards in writing from top-notch schools, and as he’d tell you today, he learned more from Tibby in that one week—more useful, practical advice—than he had in years of writing programs. “She was by far the best writing teacher I ever had.”

Tibby and John, Together in Heaven

Tibby and John moved to a retirement community in 2009 and John died in 2017, an insuperable loss for Tibby. She missed him every day. When I would call her up, we often spent much time talking about him and typically, she asked about me and about the Guideposts staff.

I can picture the two of them together now, inseparable in death as in life. Their timeless Guideposts stories, their memorable books, their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren survive them. For those of us blessed to know Tib professionally, her voice will be with us forever, in our hearts and our work.

More Elizabeth Sherrill Stories You May Enjoy 

• 10 Inspiring Articles and Books by Elizabeth Sherrill
• More Guideposts articles by Elizabeth Sherrill
• Elizabeth Sherrill: 70 Years a Guideposts Icon
• Prayers for Elizabeth Sherrill

The post Elizabeth Sherrill: Remembering a <em>Guideposts</em> Legend appeared first on Guideposts.

What I couldn’t let anyone—even myself—see was that inside I felt inadequate and vulnerable, like the seven-year-old boy I used to be. A boy who was desperate for his parents to stop fighting, desperate for his father’s love.

I grew up in Flint, Michigan, the middle child of three. One of my earliest memories was of seeing my father, drunk, knock my mother to the floor. This happened regularly. Even so, I was considered lucky by neighborhood standards because my father was around and didn’t beat us kids. He was a foreman at the GM plant, a hard worker and a good provider.

My mother would say things to lay him low. She liked to scream about what a sinner he was. She was a devoted churchgoer, and she took us kids for hours-long services and Bible school. But her church was as dysfunctional as her marriage.

The pastor didn’t preach about God’s love and grace. Instead, he preyed on his congregants’ shame about their weaknesses and their fear of hellfire. What I learned was that you didn’t ever cross God. His wrath and judgment came quickly. I wanted to hide from God. He was even scarier than my earthly father.

Still, I loved my dad and yearned for him to love me. What boy doesn’t? I would watch him get ready for work. I’d try to make conversation about how he shined his shoes (he had served in the Army and still dressed with military crispness) or whatever else I could think of, but he’d give clipped answers, as if to say, “Leave me alone.”

After finishing his shift at the plant, he’d go to the American Legion hall and drink, come home, fight with my mom, yell at us kids or just sit in his chair in a stupor.

One Friday night when I was in second grade, my dad stomped into the living room, put on some sad soul music and slumped in his chair. He looked so pitiful sitting there all alone, listening to Bobby Womack. My heart ached for him. I tiptoed over, put my arms on his broad shoulders, leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

He turned and stared at me in shock, as if my love was the last thing he wanted. I backed away so fast, I almost tripped. I decided then and there that I could never let myself be vulnerable again, as if I had discovered the key to my survival. Not that I knew the word vulnerable but the message was unmistakable to me: “Squash your feelings. Get tough or get eaten alive.”

Getting tough meant getting bigger. I loved art. I would sit at the kitchen table and draw superheroes with bulging muscles. I dreamed of becoming strong and powerful like that.

There was a community rec center down the street from Flint Academy, the magnet school I got into in seventh grade because of my artistic talent. At 13, I discovered the gym in the rec center’s basement. I lifted weights every day. I liked being able to control something in my life, even if it was just the way my body looked.

I could make myself look fearsome. Muscles were my superpower. Somehow, I knew my father would go too far one day, and I would need to be strong enough to take him out. No boy should have to grow up thinking like that, but at the time, I didn’t know any different. It was my reality.

I threw myself into sports. My muscles served me well, especially on the football field. Being an athlete also got me a pass from the gangs in the neighborhood. I entered Western Michigan University on a partial-tuition art scholarship. I made the football team as a walk-on.

It was there, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, that I met Rebecca King. A friend from my dorm invited me to go to church with him and his girlfriend. I was leery, given my experiences at my mom’s church. But this place had a totally different vibe, starting with the music.

Then I saw the piano player. I felt drawn to her in a way I couldn’t explain. After the service, my friend introduced us. Rebecca was a single mom with a baby. She had her own apartment, worked in a hair salon and played piano on the side. She was way more mature than I was. Still, she gave me a chance.

I had no idea what a healthy relationship was, but I knew I needed to be with Rebecca. On one of our first dates, I told her, “I don’t know where this is going to go, but I want you to know I’m willing.” It wasn’t something I planned—I never would’ve planned to open up like that. It just came out. We got married a year later, in July 1989, and started a family.

I spent seven years as a journeyman player in the NFL, a lonely existence that reinforced I could never show fear or weakness. Vulnerability and pro football don’t exactly mix. My career dictated where our family lived. I thought as husband and father I should dictate what we did. The one thing Rebecca insisted on was raising our kids in the church. In every city, she’d find a church for our family to go to. And I’d go. For her and the kids.

A year after I left pro football, we were living in an extended-stay hotel in Los Angeles, broke, mainly because I was a big spender and wouldn’t listen to Rebecca, who was frugal. (“The borrower is servant to the lender,” she’d say, quoting Proverbs.)

I got a job as a security guard on movie sets. People in the business told me I belonged in front of a camera. With Rebecca’s encouragement, I auditioned for a new reality show, Battle Dome, and landed my first TV role.

We finally had enough money to fly back to Flint for Christmas. One night, Rebecca and I let my parents babysit while we went out to dinner. My dad promised not to drink around the kids, and I decided to trust him. Big mistake. My parents got into one of their epic fights, my dad punching my mom and knocking one of her teeth sideways. My sister-in-law called and said my mom and our kids had fled to my aunt’s house.

That terrible moment I fantasized about as a kid had finally come. I broke every speed limit between the restaurant and my aunt’s. I dropped Rebecca off and rushed to my childhood home. I burst in and found my dad in the kitchen. “What the hell do you want?” he snarled.

“I’m grown now,” I told him. “And you will never lay hands on my mother again.”

Then I punched my father in the face. Hard. Years of anger were bound up in that fist.

All the impotent rage I’d felt as a child came pouring out. I hit him again and again. Finally I was spent. I stared at my father, lying on the floor, whimpering.

I’d dreamed of this moment, how good it would feel once I showed how strong and powerful I was. How I was in control now. But all I felt was empty. Hollow. My dad wasn’t the only one crying. I bawled like a baby, full of shame and remorse. I’d never felt so vulnerable than at that moment, worse than when my dad had shunned me all those years before.

We went back to L.A., and I went right back to being the alpha male with my wife and kids. I never raised my hand to them, but I tried to control them just the same. Like buying my kids the toys they wanted, then using that as leverage to lay down the law. If that didn’t work, I’d lash out verbally.

Or like the time I traded in Rebecca’s car and got her a brand-new Escalade after I got a lead role on Everybody Hates Chris. It had rims, tinted windows and everything. She didn’t want a new car, let alone something that flashy. I wanted my wife to have this status symbol because it would make me look like a big shot. I told myself I was being generous, but really, I was trying to earn Rebecca’s love with gifts. Deep down, I didn’t believe I was worthy of her love or anyone else’s—especially not God’s. I’d sit in church hoping he didn’t notice me.

The more success I had, the more bad-tempered and controlling I got, fearing it would evaporate any minute. Rebecca begged me to tell her what was going on, but I kept it all inside, all my fear and confusion, until the feelings were like a dam about to burst.

One day in February 2010, I was on location in New York City. Rebecca was home in L.A. We were arguing on the phone, and I finally broke down and told her everything I’d tried to keep hidden, emotions I didn’t even understand why I was having. Primal fears of vulnerability and loss of control that my muscles could no longer conceal.

“I love you, Terry, but if you don’t get help, I don’t see us working this out,” she said, then hung up.

I needed guidance. I picked up the phone and did something the younger me would never have considered. I called my pastor. We’d been going to Faith Community, led by Jim and Marguerite Reeve, for a while. I still thought of church as something I did only for my wife and kids. Yet somehow I knew I could trust Dr. Jim Reeve with the darkest parts of myself, as if I were being led to him.

I told him everything I’d told Rebecca, my darkest secrets, the muck of my soul. Jim listened. Then he said, “Terry, I can’t promise you you’re going to get your wife and your family back, but I can tell you that you need to get better for you.”

I had thought you did good things to avoid punishment and earn approval. Now here was a man I respected telling me to be a better person simply for the sake of being a better person. It wasn’t about what others thought of me. It was about what I thought of me. Like a burst of light, that simple wisdom changed my life.

That and a lot of therapy. Therapy helped me understand that words can hit as hard as fists, and I’d hurt my family deeply with my words and toxic behavior. I went to Rebecca at last and said, “I want to start over. I want to change.” I got on my knees. “I’m sorry. I had it all wrong.” Then, humbly and sincerely, I asked her for forgiveness.

For most of my life, something like that would have been an unbearable humiliation. Now I work every day to become a better husband and father. Rebecca and I talk to Jim and Marguerite Reeve often. We call them our spiritual parents. They’ve shown us that a loving marriage starts with God at the center.

I have discovered strength in vulnerability, for who was stronger and yet more vulnerable than Jesus, who loved the poor and weak and defied the Pharisees. Who sacrificed his earthly life so we could live with him in heaven. What requires more vulnerability than to forgive and be forgiven? Well, I’m working on that.

In the meantime, I remember that love conquers fear—always—and that to be a man means accepting myself, weaknesses and all. That’s my true superpower.

For more inspiring stories, subscribe to Guideposts magazine.

The post How Terry Crews Discovered His True Superpower appeared first on Guideposts.

Kristin knew God had given her the gift of hospitality, and she tried to connect with her new neighbors by hosting Bible studies and playgroups. But those activities required planning ahead and coordinating schedules, not to mention cooking and cleaning.

One day, Kristin needed backyard furniture for a party and bought a few picnic tables from Lowe’s. The delivery driver set one table down in her front yard by mistake, and Kristin couldn’t get the image out of her head. “After the party, I painted the table turquoise—my favorite color—and put it in the front yard, just a few feet from the sidewalk,” she says.

WHAT SHE DOES That turquoise table became the place where Kristin and her kids hung out. Activities they used to do at the kitchen table, they now did out front at the picnic table. They played games, did crafts and ate snacks. “We got intentional about where we spent our time,” Kristin says. “We became ‘front yard people.’”

Neighbors began to stop by to introduce themselves and sit down for a chat. Kristin invited people to join her at the table for coffee or iced tea. “It was a simple way to slow down and connect with others,” she says. The turquoise table was inviting and had a communal feel.

Construction workers on jobs in the neighborhood took their lunch breaks at the table. A babysitter walking by with her young charges sat down to rest. Then neighbors asked Kristin if their family could put a picnic table in their front yard too. A movement was born.

WHY SHE DOES IT People often hesitate to invite others into their homes. They think their house is too messy, it’s not big enough or they don’t have enough time. “Our perfectionism can cause us to miss out on the joy of connecting with others,” Kristin says. Her picnic table takes away the excuses—and the pressure.

“I’ve learned that hospitality doesn’t always mean entertaining people with a meal or a big party. At the picnic table, all I have to do is show up.” She likes how it enables her to take a small step toward easing loneliness and building relationships in her community. “People’s greatest need is to know that they are loved and that they belong,” she says.

HOW SHE DOES IT A decade after their Texas beginnings, thousands of Turquoise Tables exist in all 50 states and in 13 countries around the world. Not all of them are actually turquoise. Texas Christian University in Fort Worth has several purple tables to match their team colors, for example. “No matter what color it is, it’s a friendship table,” Kristin says.

HOW YOU CAN DO IT TOO Want to build relationships in your community with your own Turquoise Table? You don’t even need a front yard to do it! You can set up a table in the courtyard of your apartment or senior living complex, at a community center, in a neighborhood garden or at your church. Anywhere people naturally gather makes a wonderful spot for a Turquoise Table. For morce information on joining the movement, visit theturquoisetable.com.

The post Everyday Greatness: Tables Where All Are Welcome appeared first on Guideposts.

1. Invite someone to Easter dinner at your house

Easter dinner is a wonderful tradition that brings the whole family together for good food and cherished memories. Why not share the love this season? Make a tradition of inviting someone to your Easter dinner every year. Pick one of your kids’ friends, a coworker, a friend you haven’t seen in a while, or a neighbor. Keep in mind that holidays can be lonely when someone doesn’t have family to spend it with. Share the gift of your family with someone else. Plus, sometimes it’s a rare treat for folks to have a home cooked meal. Even if your family traditionally heads to a restaurant for Easter, you can still invite someone along.

2. Ask someone to go to church with you on Easter Sunday

Does your family have a tradition of attending church service on Easter Sunday? Every year, invite someone you know who goes to church alone or wants to attend a service in a new place. Ask them about the traditions at their own church or the kind of Easter services they attended as a child. Share what your own church does so they can get excited. For example, many churches have dramas about the Easter story or special choral presentations. It’s a great time to take a friend with you to hear the message of Easter.

3. Take a meal to someone alone on Easter

Many of us know someone—a neighbor, a coworker, a family friend—who will be spending Easter alone. Even if you are not able to invite them to join your own festivities, you can still brighten their day with acts of kindness on Easter. Find out their favorite foods and cook them a delicious Easter meal. Drop it off on Easter Sunday morning and spend some time with them before heading to your own celebrations.

4. Fix Easter baskets for your friends and family

Nothing brings joy like receiving an Easter basket, even if you are an adult. Take on a tradition of putting together Easter baskets for your friends and family, not just the kids. See the smile it will bring to their faces. You could put the usual jellybeans, Easter eggs, and chocolate bunnies in the basket, but here are some other ideas:

• A pot of cheery flowers that will keep on blooming
• A “gift card” to mow their lawn or clean their house
• A small decoration for their home
• A gift card to a local restaurant

5. Share your bounty

Do you know a family that’s going through difficult times financially? If you have the means, offer to help make this an Easter season they will love, even if times are hard. Give them a sweet Easter gift, offer to help them around the house or with babysitting. Take the kids shopping for an Easter outfit or for some treats for an Easter basket. See how even small acts of kindness can make a difference on Easter. If we all took the time to help someone this Easter (and all the days after) how much more hope and love could we be sharing throughout our communities?

READ MORE: 7 Ways to Support a Loved One in Financial Trouble

6. Volunteer your time

Easter may be a Sunday, but there are plenty of jobs that still need doing. If you have some free time over your Easter weekend, sign up to volunteer within your community. See if a local food shelter is doing a canned food drive. Check for a nearby soup kitchen and see if you can help serve Easter dinner to those less fortunate. Look up your county’s parks department and volunteer to plant some new spring flowers in the parks around the area. No matter how you do it, spending your time serving others will truly put you in the Easter spirit.

7. Pray for others

Never underestimate the power of praying for others. This year, as you hunt for eggs, sit down for Easter dinner, or attend a church service, take the time to show someone acts of kindness by praying for them. Let your Easter prayers for others focus on what this season is all about: hope, renewal, and new beginnings. Here are a couple Easter prayers to get you started:

• Lord, the resurrection of Your son has given us a new life and renewed hope. Help us to live as new people in pursuit of the Christian ideal. (From New Saint Joseph People’s Prayer Book)
• Glory and praise to you, Risen Savior, for you bring light to our darkness, joy to our sorrow, and the fullness of love to our reluctant hearts.

8. Organize a neighborhood Easter egg hunt

Do you live in a neighborhood with lots of kids? Consider starting a new Easter tradition the whole block will love. Hide Easter eggs all over the area and then invite the nearby kids to join in and hunt. Make a map to help them search. Offer up a fun prize for the winner and be sure to have other prizes for everyone who participates. Encourage them to help each other as they run around the neighborhood and maybe even make new friends. Invite all the parents to join in or watch the childhood memories being made from your porch.

9. Donate to an animal shelter

The days after Easter can be a difficult time for animal shelters, particularly ones that take in rabbits. Because people want to give rabbits as an Easter gift (without learning how to care for them), many shelters report high numbers of rabbits being abandoned. To help, consider doing an Easter act of kindness for the animals. Donate your money or time to an animal shelter or rabbit rescue. Your gift will help these rabbits get healthier, find forever homes, and bring joy to others even after Easter is over.

10. Share the message of Easter with your family, friends and children

Don’t forget what Easter is all about. Share the message of Easter with everyone in your life. Read the Easter story in the Bible. Put some coins in a plastic Easter egg and then tell your children about the price that Jesus paid for us. As you dye eggs, talk about how the red eggs represent God’s sacrifice for us, the blue eggs are a reminder of the sky He made, the green eggs represent the grass He created, and the white eggs are a symbol of having a pure heart for God. And as they enjoy their candy, talk about the sweetness of Jesus. Make the fun traditions a celebration of God’s amazing gift of love for us—His Son.

Make any of these Easter acts of kindness a part of your yearly Easter traditions or try a new one every year. Easter is the season to be grateful for the blessing of a risen Lord, and for the opportunity that gives us to be a blessing to others.

The post 10 Acts of Kindness to Do for Easter appeared first on Guideposts.

In kindergarten, a classmate stole my favorite toy, a small cat figurine. I never forgot it. Even though decades had passed, that awful feeling of being wronged pulsed through me when I saw her at my twentieth high school reunion. Then I found myself on the buffet line beside her. “I remember you,” she said. “I almost didn’t come tonight. I hated school. Glad I’m here, though.” She smiled and I forgave her. Just like that, the resentment I’d harbored for years disappeared. Sometimes forgiveness just happens; other times it takes effort. Here are 12 tips I’ve learned since then to let go of anger and grow a more forgiving heart.

The post How to Grow a Forgiving Heart appeared first on Guideposts.

William asked Camran’s mom for permission to take him fishing. Camran was “hooked” from that first trip. The two fished together several times a week, and William saw positive changes in Camran’s behavior. “That’s when I realized that God was calling me to help fatherless kids,” he says. Soon William was teaching Camran’s friends and other kids in the neighborhood to fish.

WHAT HE DOES During the week, William works as a tire salesman. On weekends, he and a few other volunteers, mostly people from his church, take 20 to 25 kids out fishing on a charter boat. William reaches out to local foster homes and group homes to invite the kids to spend the day on the water. Many have never been fishing or even on a boat, so William—or Big Will, as the kids call him—starts by teaching the basics. Then come the life lessons that fishing offers: patience, teamwork and the simple joy of relaxing in the outdoors. Take a Kid Fishing, Inc., has taken more than 600 fishing trips with almost 2,000 kids who don’t have a father in their lives.

WHY HE DOES IT William grew up in Miami in a rough area. His dad ran a lobster business in the Florida Keys, and William helped with it. He and his dad had a great relationship. Fishing was a huge part of that. “Fishing was so peaceful,” William says. “It was like an escape.”

He wants to share his love of fishing with kids who don’t have a father to take them. “I just want to show them that I care about them, that I’m there for them,” he says. Because many kids go on multiple trips, William is able to build relationships with them. He and Camran, now 20, still regularly fish together, and Camran sees Big Will as a father figure.

HOW HE DOES IT When William explained his mission to the captain of the Double Eagle, a charter boat in Clearwater, the captain offered him a great deal. Take a Kid Fishing, Inc., pays only $25 per kid to spend the day on the boat. Many kids opt to catch and release, but on a recent trip with kids from a group home, they kept the fish and enjoyed some delicious fish tacos that night.

Take a Kid Fishing, Inc., has corporate sponsors, including Planet Fitness and L. L. Bean, which has donated rods, reels and clothing. William welcomes donations from individuals too. “My church, the Family Worship Center of Lakeland, has really come alongside me in this ministry,” he says. “Anything we need, they help.”

HOW YOU CAN DO IT Take a Kid Fishing, Inc., has a huge impact, but it started because William wanted to help one kid. Do you know a child who might benefit from your friendship? Introduce them to fishing or another hobby you enjoy. The activity doesn’t matter as much as your presence in their lives. For more information, visit takffl.com.

For more inspiring stories, subscribe to Guideposts magazine.

The post Everyday Greatness: Caring for Fatherless Kids by Taking Them Fishing appeared first on Guideposts.

A voice interrupted my daydream. “Young man, could you tell me where you got these beautiful paintings?”

“These aren’t paintings, ma’am,” I explained to the elderly woman in a wheelchair. “They’re carvings that are tinted on natural, white marble. That’s why the colors are so vibrant.”

My answer seemed to please her. “My name is Katherine Ashworth,” she said. “May I hold one if I promise not to break it?”

“The only way you will break this is with a hammer, Mrs. Ashworth,” I said, handing her a bird carving.

She traced the outlines of the picture with her finger. “Do you think you could carve an English cottage?”

“I’m positive I could,” I said. “Do you have a photograph I can work from?”

“I only have my memories,” she said. “But perhaps together we could come up with a sketch?” I’d never worked from just a memory. Not even from one of my own. I wasn’t sure I could do it.

A young man came over and leaned down to speak to her. “Ready to leave?” he said. “We must be home by six.”

Mrs. Ashworth smiled. “They call the place where I live a home,” she said. “We residents call it assisted living. The house I’d like you to draw is the cottage in England where I grew up. If you decide to help, here is my address. There’s no need to call first. I’m always there.”

I was worried. “That cottage was her home,” I said to my wife, Arbutis, that night. “I’m sure she can describe every detail. I just don’t want to disappoint her.”

“Doug, if it’s at all possible, you should carve her that cottage.”

The very next afternoon I drove to the assisted living center with a sketch pad and pencils. I signed in as a visitor of Katherine Ashworth. The woman at the front desk was surprised. Apparently, Mrs. Ashworth didn’t get many visitors.

Her room was beautiful, full of paintings and photographs of pastoral scenes, flower gardens and animals. “They remind me of my childhood. Many of the flowers grew around the cottage I want you to carve.”

I took out my sketch pad. Mrs. Ashworth closed her eyes. “It had a thatched roof,” she began, “with a fieldstone chimney…”

I started sketching. “What brought you to the United States?” I couldn’t help asking.

“I married an American soldier during World War II,” she said. “William and I met just before the invasion of Normandy.” Her voice sounded younger as the memories rose in her mind. “Many American soldiers were billeted in the homes of English farmers like my father. William came to stay with us on the first of May, 1944. I was 20 years old. He was so handsome in his uniform, and I fell in love almost immediately!”

Mrs. Ashworth told me about the day William left to return to his unit after they’d spent only the month of May together. “He was wounded storming Omaha Beach that June. Grievously so. I went to visit him in the hospital and prayed every day he would get better.”

Our conversation turned back to the thatched cottage. She described the different wildflowers that surrounded it, the wooden fence beside it, the wooden doors and red brick.

She might as well be describing heaven, I thought, listening intently to her words.

“I’m so sorry,” Mrs. Ashworth said. “I do chatter on sometimes.”

“Not at all,” I said. “There’s such life in your stories.” I showed her what I’d come up with on my pad. “Does this sketch resemble your cottage?”

She examined my work, took my pencil and adjusted the position of the chimney. “There,” she said. “It’s perfect.” I couldn’t wait to get to work.

When the carving was completed, I brought it to her in her room, along with a small standing frame. I found her sitting by the window wrapped in a blanket and handed her the carving. “This is so much more than I hoped for,” she said, tracing the outlines on the marble. “You have a God-given talent. What do I owe you?”

“Nothing at all, ma’am,” I said. “Your stories were more than payment enough.”

We found the perfect spot to display her carving, right next to her bed where she could see it before she closed her eyes at night. I spent the rest of the afternoon with my new friend. When I signed out at the front desk, the receptionist thanked me for my visit. “It means a lot to her, I’m sure,” she said. “Mrs. Ashworth stays to herself most of the time.”

I decided that was going to change. Although I would soon be leaving Tennessee, I could enjoy Mrs. Ashworth’s company until then. I returned to the assisted living center the following week to see her.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Clark,” said the lady at the desk. “Mrs. Ashworth passed away in her sleep just two days ago.” She pulled something out of a drawer. “We thought you might like to keep this.”

I returned to my car with the carving and sat for a long time, tracing the lines of the thatched roof, the stone chimney and the wildflowers. Memories were our ties to heaven on earth, ties that were as strong and unbreakable as the marble in my hands. I had no doubt that when Mrs. Ashworth entered the pearly gates, this cottage was waiting for her, its wildflowers all in bloom. Just as my own Smoky Mountain cabin would be waiting for me in my one true home.

For more angelic stories, subscribe to Angels on Earth magazine.

READ MORE BY DOUGLAS SCOTT CLARK:

• The Inspiring Tales of Douglas Scott Clark
• God Sent a Boy’s Big Sister to the Rescue
• Angelic Treasure in the Henhouse
• An Angelic Bright Light Protected Him from Danger

The post How Memories Become Our Ties to Heaven on Earth appeared first on Guideposts.

Many of my students were living in poverty, which could make every aspect of their lives more difficult. I knew that going in, but I thought I had the tools to reach any child. I didn’t. I failed to keep the class focused. Students ran around, sometimes got into fights, then flew out the door the second the bell rang.

One child in particular really concerned me. I pushed in the chair at his empty desk. He barely paid attention and sometimes fell asleep on his books. I suspected he wasn’t getting enough to eat at home. Other children made fun of his dirty clothes. How could I begin to make a difference?

It was tempting to think my job was impossible, but I knew that wasn’t true. I had proof right across the hall, in Marcia’s classroom. Marcia taught third grade. She was a bundle of energy, a ray of sunshine in her kids’ lives. The children ran up to her in the hall, gave her hugs. My kids don’t even like me, I thought, turning out the lights in my room.

“See you tomorrow!” Marcia called as I passed her door.

Tomorrow, I thought. Is there something I could do differently? I’d already tried every prompt and technique I’d learned in school. Maybe I had more to learn from the best teacher I knew: Marcia.

The next day, while my children were at gym class, I asked Marcia if I could observe her for a while. What a contrast. “How about a song,” she said, taking out a guitar. “A song about verbs!” The children cheered.

Who had time for singing? How would Marcia ever get through her lessons? I spent my whole day watching the clock, watching the minutes slip away without progress. Marcia seemed to have all the time in the world—not just for singing, but for each child. When one even looked a bit lost, she walked over to the student’s desk and dropped to her knees to give up-close attention. And that was just the beginning. Her students were engaged, always interested in the lesson. The only difference between our classrooms was Marcia herself.

I couldn’t wait to put some of the things I’d learned into practice. It wasn’t easy at first, ignoring my lesson plans. But I discovered I enjoyed walking from desk to desk, talking to my students one-on-one, getting to know them as individuals. They responded in kind. Following Marcia’s lead, I broke them into small groups to work together, and moved desks around in clusters for special projects.

Marcia liked what she saw when she came to my room at the end of the week. But even with all my new skills, it wasn’t enough to reach the student I was most worried about. “He just can’t focus, won’t do his homework,” I told her in private.

“Friend,” Marcia said seriously, “this might not be easy for you to hear. But if he’s not learning, you’re not teaching.”

“What more can I do? I fear he won’t pass the state test at the end of the year. I don’t know how to make the lessons any simpler—”

“You’re not teaching a lesson,” said Marcia, cutting me off. “You’re teaching a child. The child comes first, every time. He’s more important than reading or writing or any state test. You have to give him whatever he needs to learn.”

“But how?”

“We start with his physical needs,” Marcia said. “Then we get to know him.”

“I have his records from last year…” I said.

“Don’t bother with that. He needs a fresh start. On Monday, I want you to come to school with a loaf of bread, peanut butter and jelly. Set up a special place for him—that closet is a good spot, if you move your supplies. Bring a bar of soap and a washcloth for him to use at the sink. Collect some clean clothes for him.” Marcia gave me a wink. “That’s your homework.”

I was prepared on Monday. At recess, I asked the young man to stay inside with me. “I have a surprise,” I said. I led him to the sink and offered him the washcloth for his hands and face. Then came the difficult part. “Your momma needs your help,” I told him. “I’m going to help you help her by teaching you how to stay clean and make a sandwich. Do you think you can do that?”

He nodded. I showed him where I’d set up a desk, a place where he could go if he wanted to take a break or even a nap, or to change into the fresh clothes I’d brought. “This is your spot whenever you need it,” I explained to him.

The other children noticed him in his special place when they returned, but they understood he wasn’t in trouble. Later on, I sent him to the office with a note so I could talk to the class about how bad it feels to be made fun of. Once the children imagined how they would feel in his place, they didn’t want to tease him anymore. There would be no state test on compassion, but I couldn’t think of a more important lesson for anyone.

Marcia’s advice wasn’t just for students in dire circumstances. Every student had things going on in their life that affected their progress. I started paying attention to expressions and body language. If I saw frustration, we’d all gather on the floor for a story or a snack. Most times, the kids returned to their lesson rejuvenated.

I began to look forward to work each day. I arrived early, but never before Marcia. One morning, I noticed her standing by one of her students’ desks.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Every morning I stop by each desk to pray for the student who sits there,” she said. Leave it to Marcia to have one more lesson to teach me, perhaps the most important one of all.

Marcia left our school at the end of the year, but her legacy lived on in the students she prepared for the world, and also in me. She inspired me every day of my 40-year career, as I thanked God for giving me the chance to teach each child, and for sending Marcia to teach me.

For more angelic stories, subscribe to Angels on Earth magazine.

The post A First-Year Teacher Learns an Important Lesson appeared first on Guideposts.

The heart has been a powerful symbol for centuries, used in spiritual texts and religious art—particularly within the Christian faith—and as a sign of emotion and love across popular culture. But where did the heart shape come from?

While the Catholic Church often points to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque’s 1673 vision of Jesus’ Sacred Heart as the origin of the heart-shape, evidence suggests the heart-shape was in use prior to her vision. Archaeological artifacts uncovered from the Indus Valley civilization—a Bronze Age society that flourished from 2600-1900 BCE in what is now Pakistan and western India—include a pendant embossed with a heart-shaped fig leaf.

Although the use of the heart shape predates Christianity, it is within this religious space where the symbol grew in popularity. It continued to gain momentum in Europe during the Middle Ages, becoming increasingly popular through works of art, such as stained-glass windows and sculptures found in churches or monasteries. It was during this period that various authors began making reference to the heart shape when discussing themes like courtship and marriage.

Lady Mary Wroth, some suggest, was one of the earliest adopters, referencing hearts in her 1621 piece, The Countess of Montgomery’s Urania. Similarly, William Wordsworth penned lines like: “Oh! How do I love thee? Let me count thee way; I love thee with a love that grows ever stronger day by day.”

The Heart Shape from Christian Iconography to Today

The Heart shape has been used for centuries across many cultures. What once served primarily as religious iconography has become one of today’s most iconic symbols; representing everything from faithfulness and devotion to compassion and joy—all with just one simple gesture: drawing a heart.

READ MORE ABOUT LOVE AND VALENTINE’S DAY:

• 6 Stories of Heaven-Sent Valentine Angels
• 25 Valentine’s Day Quotes to Inspire Your Love
• 7 Stories of Unexpected True Love
• 9 Famous Love Letters To Inspire You

The post A Brief History of the Heart Shape appeared first on Guideposts.

I’ve always found Lent to be a meaningful season. On occasions when my home church didn’t offer Ash Wednesday services, I would find a church that did—and wear the ashes on my forehead the rest of the day. If my church didn’t emphasize fasting, I would choose a fast for the season. And though I maintain a devotional habit of prayer and Bible reading all year, I would often alter my habit to make it more appropriate for Lent. Such adjustments can enrich anyone’s experience.

But what to do when, because of illness, travel, or other circumstances, we can’t get to church for Lenten observances? How to observe Lent wherever you are?

It may take a little more intentionality to observe Lent if you can’t gather and worship with others, but your Lenten journey can be even richer for the effort you make. Especially if you emphasize four areas.

1)  Humble Yourself

Confession and repentance are important facets of this special season. Seek to obey the Scriptural imperative to “Humble yourself in the Lord’s presence” (James 4:10 NCV). Some suggestions:

• Bow or prostrate yourself as you begin your prayer time each day.
• Place a handkerchief or napkin on your head (instead of ashes!) as you pray to symbolize your submission to God.
• Spend some time in silence, head bowed, meditating on a verse such as James 4:10 or Matthew 23:12.

2)  Remove Something

Many Christians abstain from eating meat during Lent or on Fridays through the season. You can do that or choose to give up something else—perhaps something unhelpful—from your daily life (and don’t forget that Sundays don’t count during Lent). For example:

• Give up something that distracts from your relationship with God or others, such as social media, televised sports, or a favorite video game.
• Remove tempting sweets from your diet.
• Try “fasting” from all electronics for a length of time.

READ MORE: What to Give Up for Lent: 15 Meaningful Suggestions

3)  Add Something

In addition to removing something unhelpful, try adding something helpful—something that might strengthen or deepen your faith during this season:

• Read a Lenten devotion
• Practice Lectio Divina daily, or the practice of spiritual reading, prayer, and meditation
• Watch some of the inspirational videos on the Guideposts channel on YouTube

READ MORE: 5 Things to Do (Not Give Up) for Lent

4)  Serve Someone

Lent is not only about self-denial but also service. Why not start a new role or routine of reaching out to others? Adding one of these activities might make this Lent a blessed one for you—and someone else.

• Tutor a student.
• Visit a nearby nursing home.
• Call or email a lonely relative or invalid on a regular basis.
• Mail a handwritten card to someone you haven’t connected with in a while.
• Do something for the planet and commit to being more green during the Lenten season.

Before you get overwhelmed with Lent ideas, keep one good rule in mind: start small. Trying to do too much will be counterproductive. Instead, choose mindfully from these four intentions, maybe just one a day.

It’s possible to observe Lent wherever you are. Even if you’re not in church, making just one small gesture on each of Lent’s 40 days can enlarge and prepare your soul for the beauty and blessing of the Resurrection morning that is to come.

READ MORE ABOUT HOW TO DO LENT:

• 8 Meaningful Ways to Observe Lent with Your Family
• Fun, Faith-Filled Lent Activities for Christian Moms
• 20 Beautiful Lent Quotes to Inspire You
• Pray the Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem
• 20 Unique Lent Gifts

The post 4 Ways to Observe Lent Wherever You Are appeared first on Guideposts.

To followers of Jesus, Easter is the most important day of the year…or should be. It’s the day we celebrate the central event of history, the moment when Jesus rose from the dead to make eternal life possible for human souls like you and me. What if we truly prepared for Easter this year? The Lent season is coming to an end. Now is the perfect time to focus on rebirth and new beginnings.  The first Palm Sunday in the Bible and Palm Sunday Scriptures can guide us in approaching the coming resurrection celebration.

READ MORE: What is a Palm Sunday Parade?

Palm Sunday in the Bible

What if we prepared ourselves and our souls in meaningful ways, ways that can be found in the Biblical accounts of the days leading up to the first Resurrection Sunday? Here is what the first Palm Sunday in the Bible can teach us:

1. Luke 19: 29-31—Do What Jesus Says

Luke the historian records the first Palm Sunday, a week before the resurrection:

As [Jesus] approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it’” (Luke 19: 29-31, NIV).

Jesus sent two of His disciples on a strange little mission. We don’t know which two disciples went, nor do we know what they talked about on the way. But it wouldn’t be surprising if they wondered, “You really think we should just untie the colt and take it?” “You think the Master knows the owner?” “You think this is a test of some kind?” “What if somebody takes a swing at us?”

You see, we typically read the Bible like a play, as if all the characters knew the script. But they didn’t. And yet, whoever they were, those disciples did what Jesus said. And their simple obedience brought glory to God. The Bible says that shortly after they completed their mission, “the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices” (Luke 19:37, NIV).

That’s a good model for the week before Easter. We could do no better than to follow the example of those two unnamed disciples. Your obedience probably won’t involve a donkey. Only you and God know what it WILL involve. Is He calling you to repentance and faith in Him? Is He telling you to forgive someone? To help someone? To give something up? To say yes to something? To say no to something?

Whatever it is, you may be surprised—like the disciples Jesus sent to Bethphage—at how your simple act of obedience will bring glory to God.

READ MORE: 5 Palm Sunday Devotions

2. Luke 19:41-44—Feel What Jesus Feels

Another part of the first Palm Sunday in the Bible clues us in to a second way to prepare for Easter:

As [Jesus] approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side…because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you” (Luke 19:41-44, NIV).

We tend to forget that this event was even part of the Triumphal Entry. We get caught up in the crowd, the shouts, the emotion, and excitement—while Jesus’ tears go unnoticed.

But apparently the crowds and the disciples didn’t pay much attention to His tears, either. Matthew didn’t record it. Mark didn’t mention it. Luke is the only writer to record this event.

But don’t let it pass you by today.

The Greek word Luke used to say Jesus “wept” signifies more than tears; it suggests the kind of soul-wracking, gut-wrenching sobbing a person does at the tomb of a friend. It is the word used of Mary’s sobs at the tomb of her brother Lazarus, of Mary Magdalene’s sobs at Jesus’ tomb, and of Peter’s “bitter” weeping after he denied Jesus and heard the cock crow.

Jesus wept violently for the people of Jerusalem.

Not for Himself. Not for the cross that awaited Him. But for the fate that would come upon that city, when Roman armies would invade in 70 A.D., raze the city, destroy its glorious temple, and brutalize its rebellious people. Everyone else was having a party, and Jesus was filled with compassion for the lost sheep of Israel who didn’t even know their own sad condition.

That, too, is a good model. We could do no better than to prepare for Resurrection Sunday by letting ourselves feel what Jesus feels for those who are hurting, wandering, searching—those who don’t even know they’re searching. For lost sheep, many of whom don’t even know they’re lost sheep.

3. Matthew 21:10-11—Tell Who Jesus Is

Matthew’s Gospel concludes the story:

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee” (Matthew 21:10-11, NIV).

When Matthew reports that the city was “stirred,” he uses the word, seio, from which we get our word “seismic.” It’s the same word he used later in his Gospel when he said that at the moment Jesus died on the cross, “The earth shook and the rocks split” (Matthew 27:51, NIV).

The city was stirred as an earthquake “stirs” the ground.

Isn’t that what needs to happen in your community this Easter: to be stirred? Isn’t that what your community is longing for? Waiting for? To see if the people who fill the churches and sing Jesus’ praises really know Him? To fulfill the promise of the first Palm Sunday in the Bible?

To prepare for Resurrection Sunday, tell who Jesus is. Find ways to share with friends, neighbors, family members, classmates, coworkers—anyone for whom we can feel what Jesus feels—the news that we proclaim on Easter Sunday, in the age-old confession of the church: “He is risen, he is risen indeed!”

More Palm Sunday Scripture

Use these 12 more Palm Sunday Scriptures to kick off your faith journey through Holy Week.

Reading Bible verses that get to the very heart of Palm Sunday can help us feel more connected to the biblical story. Reflect on this Scripture as you pray or meditate on Palm Sunday, whether you are doing it alone or with friends and family. In addition to thinking about the original story of Jesus’ arrival to Jerusalem, share what these verses mean to you in your life right now.

1. The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!” —John 12:12-13
2. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. —Psalm 31:24
3. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. —John 3:16
4. When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” —Luke 19:37-38
5. Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs. —Proverbs 10:12
6. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you. The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine on us. —Psalms 118:26-27
7. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. —Act 4:32-34
8. We love because He first loved us. —1 John 4:19
9. The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. —Psalm 92:12-13
10. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. —Romans 5:8
11. Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” —John 12:35-36
12. You are my God, and I will praise you; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. —Psalm 118:28-29

READ MORE ABOUT PALM SUNDAY AND HOLY WEEK:

• 3 Ways to Celebrate Palm Sunday
• 8 Prayers for Holy Week
  
• A Devotion for Holy Week
  
• How The Miracles of Holy Week Fortified His Faith

The post Palm Sunday in the Bible: 15 Palm Sunday Scriptures appeared first on Guideposts.