A while back, my daughter created a few comics as part of a school assignment and in the process, discovered she had a knack for telling visual short stories. It’s our hope that these comics will bring a little joy to what has been a difficult time for many. We will share one comic a month until we run out 🙂
Enjoy!
By Steve Laube from the Steve Laube Agency
With a new year upon us it can be a a good idea to find your “word of the year.” For 2021, my word is “yet.”
I was reminded last year to focus on what we have and not on what we’ve lost. It was a hard year for so many. Today, with the sinful world continuing to exhibit its need for a savior we should always contemplate the incredible gift of Jesus and the salvation He has brought to us. If you will indulge me, I’d like to do a little Bible word study with you.
I began looking at the word “yet” in Scripture (used about 400 times) and found it to be apropos to our discussion. (Too bad it wouldn’t work in a book title because one would think I was writing about Bigfoot [Yeti].)
Look at the following passages for a moment (emphasis mine).
Lamentations 3:20-22 (NLT)
“I will never forget this awful time,
as I grieve over my loss.
Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.”
Matthew 7:24-25 (NIV)
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
The rain came down, the streams rose,
and the winds blew and beat against that house;
yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”
Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NIV)
“Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.”
Psalm 42:11 (KJV)
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
2 Corinthians 4:16 (NASB)
“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day.”
In every sense Jesus is our “yet.” Everything before Him pales when compared to the after.
John 1: 11-12 (NIV)
“He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
John 11:25 (KJV)
“Jesus said unto her, ‘I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.’”
He is our hope.
He is our sustenance.
He is our redeemer.
He is the reason for all we do.
If all seems overwhelming…
If all seems impossible….
Remember, God is not finished….yet.
He is our “Yet.”
Soli Deo Gloria.
This post first appeared on the Steve Laube Agency blog on January 11, 2021. Used with permission.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Matthew 10:29-31
Karen: I’ve spent my whole life devouring books. I fell in love with Christian fiction several years ago, when I realized I could draw closer to God through the lives of the characters I read. Now I create those characters myself in hopes my readers will feel the same way. I’ve spent most of my life in Pennsylvania where I live with my husband and two sons. I spend my days working as a scientist, and my off hours trying new recipes, playing games with my family, reading, or writing!
Karen: God, the infinite Creator of the universe, knows us so intimately he has all our hairs numbered. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less, and even more amazingly, there’s nothing we can do to make Him love us more. In a fickle world where we can be unfriended, unfollowed, or laid off with no notice, it is such a source of comfort to rest in the knowledge our Heavenly Father loves us unconditionally.
Karen: Yes! This is part of the message of my debut novel Following the Sparrows. It is a story of people who either struggle with finding God’s will for their life or struggle with accepting that God even has use for them. Many of us fall into one of those two categories. I pray that if you’re in the latter category, you’ll fall into the former soon!
Karen: In Following the Sparrows, Kathryn Baker is trying to escape her past. After the tragic death of her husband, Kathryn throws herself into her scientific career. She hopes to right the wrongs of her past before they catch up to her. But when she runs into a handsome stranger, she discovers he just might hold the key to her future.
Karen: Adam Harrison is tired of running from his past. After losing everything he worked for in life, Adam is finally ready to follow the path God has for him. When a series of chance meetings brings him to Kathryn, he considers the possibility of loving again. But Kathryn is still on the run from God and from her past.
Can Adam convince Kathryn to stop running and trust him with her secrets, or will her fear make it impossible for them to have a future together?
Karen: Sure, here is an excerpt.
“One of the officers who worked on the scene of Robert’s accident is a member of this church,” Mark said.
Kathryn’s pulse quickened. “Did they find out something more? Was it not an accident?”
“No, they are convinced it was an accident. Robert was on the phone, and was a little distracted, but the other driver ran the red light.”
“That’s what they told me, too. But what about the other driver? Did he hit Robert on purpose?”
Mark’s eyes narrowed. “Katie, it’s not normal to think someone would hit Robert on purpose. The other driver was a teenage boy. He simply didn’t have much driving experience.” His eyes bore into hers. “Why do you believe someone has a reason to hurt Robert?”
Kathryn paled. This conversation wasn’t going the way she expected. “I, I don’t…” she stammered. “I simply asked the officers why the wreck happened.”“Does this have something to do with what happened in California?” Mark asked.
Kathryn’s head jolted up, her eyes wide. “How could you possibly know?” She clapped her hand over her mouth, willing the words back in, but it was too late.
Mark folded his arms across his chest. “Katie, I need you to tell me if there is a reason why you, Robert, or anyone else in my family might be in danger.”
Kathryn’s insides twisted into a knot. Guilt and dread filled her. She never thought about her connection to the Campbells. If anything happened to those kids because of her stupid mistake…
Mark put his hand on hers. “Katie, you can talk to me in complete confidence.”
Kathryn met his eyes, hers filling with hot tears.
“What do you know about California?” she asked.
“Only that Robert was worried about you. The last year you were out there, he said you grew distant, almost paranoid. He said he tried to ask you about it, but you always found a way to avoid the conversation. You were always away from home, spending all your time at the university. At first he thought there was another man, but later he thought there was more to it.”
Kathryn slumped against the chair as Mark continued.
“He confided in me because he needed someone to help him process it all. We talked about it a lot when you first moved back here, but he seemed to think it was no longer an issue since you moved. Now with the way you’ve reacted to the accident, I put two and two together and assumed it was related.”
Kathryn’s gaze fell to the table. Would she never be rid of this guilt and shame? She couldn’t handle the idea of Mark and Anne finding out what she’d done, but she needed to see if Charlie was still a threat to her.
“I was never involved with another man,” she said. “But something did happen out there that made me scared. I didn’t know what to do.”
Mark patted her hand and passed over a box of tissues. He was obviously not a stranger to having people break down in his office. Kathryn wasn’t about to lose it now, not after braving so much. She studied his face. She’d kept silent for so long. Mark was a pastor, after all. She could trust him…
But no, that was it. She didn’t want him to realize what a terrible person she was. She would handle it on her own, the same way she always did.
“I wanted to tell Robert, but I didn’t want him involved. I thought if I told him, they would go after him. I thought they finally found me and went after him anyway.”
Mark’s eyes were wide. He was visibly shaken. “Katie, if you’re afraid you’re in danger, you need to talk to the police.”
Her head jerked up, panic stricken. “No! I couldn’t do that.”
You can find the book on Amazon here: Following the Sparrows
You can find me at KarenMalley.com. and find short stories and devotionals on my blog. I’m also on Goodreads and Twitter. I love to connect with readers!