Stories about life and people
We’re about halfway through the year now. How are you doing? Are your New Year’s resolutions a distant memory? Could you imagine how much would change in only half a year? Or are you pleasantly surprised at the outcome you could not possibly see just a short time ago? At […]
As I look around, in the year 2,024 AD, the thing I see missing the most in people is happiness. Even people that should be happy, aren’t. We have more comforts than ever before; we have more advances in medicine and knowledge; struggles and wars have always been a part […]
I pass by this little church on my drive home from work in the evenings. I’ve never really noticed it much before. It was only when the dark winter nights began to set in earlier in the day that I saw the little window at the top illuminating a bright […]
I’m in awe. It is the most beautiful, complex, mesmerizing, mysterious thing I have seen. And we have a picture of it. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has given us the furthest and sharpest infrared image of our universe so far. The image is billions of light years away, approximately […]
The events of last week have left me stunned and in shock, as if I’m moving around in slow motion, with broken sleep and concentration. I didn’t even know any of the victims of the Uvalde, Texas school mass shooting that left 19 precious young children and two teachers dead. […]
I’ve discovered a little known part to a Christmas story that often gets overlooked in the amplified fairy-tale type stories we usually like to hear. At this time of the year, squeezed in between the endless Christmas tunes and the joyous family images we are constantly presented with, there’s a […]
Before leaving on my trip to Bangkok, Thailand, I asked God to show me His people while I was there (“I have many people in this city”). Bangkok is a Buddhist city of 8.5 million people and less than 1% are Christian. A couple of days into my trip, I wandered into this shop. I […]
My first experience after arriving in Bangkok was the taxi driver who was taking me from the airport to my hotel, at 1 AM, after having been in an airplane for 24 hours. He got us lost. We wandered through the dark and narrow one-way streets of Bangkok, circling around and […]
“Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” – The Lord said to Paul in a night vision. (Acts 18:9-10) What if Paul had not […]
“What is truth?” Pontius Pilot famously asked of Jesus. (John 18:38) “Is this true?” the high priest asked of Stephen before he was martyred. (Acts 7:1) Stephen’s response and final speech, where he explains all things from the beginning, is recorded in Acts 7. “…And when they heard these things, they were […]
Someone challenged me recently to “stop, drop and roll” every morning when I get out of bed. They were referring to living a life of prayer, whereby we should stop as soon as we rise in the morning, drop to our knees on the floor, roll over to face the bed and […]
I sat in my favorite seaside restaurant enjoying a platter of fried catfish and hush puppies. The food was delicious but I had to hold back the tears as my husband and I adjusted to a “table for two” instead of a “table for three”, now that our son was […]
One of my favorite childhood memories is sitting on the floor listening to this Christmas album on the record player. I would hear the children’s happy voices singing and the friendly man’s voice announcing each song, and I wondered what it was like to be inside that warm and cozy church singing along […]
It’s been a little disheartening this Christmas season to not see as many decorations and lights as I used to. The stores seem barren of decorations, wreaths and Christmas nostalgia. (Really, Publix and Target, your sales would increase with a little more Christmas cheer! The paper decorations at the end of the store aisles is just […]
I had the hardest job to do this week at work: to apologize. I can handle any work task I’m given and make impossible deadlines and commitments for my clients, but I find it very hard to say the words beginning with, “I’m sorry for…” Well, especially when I know I was right and my co-worker was wrong… She […]
I’ve been shopping for a new dining room table to replace the old table that’s been a steady fixture in our home for the last 20 years. Shopping for furniture is stressful enough by itself, but I was not prepared for the emotional weight of it as well. I looked at my old table […]
A wealthy Christian man who lost everything in a financial downturn was asked if he ever regretted all he had given to the Lord’s work. He replied, “What I gave, I still have. What I kept, I lost.” As an American, we like to have our opinions. We have opinions […]
“For a couple of years it was just me and Jesus. I thought we were the only two Jewish believers in the world.” That’s what my new friend Anne said to me over coffee one day while I was visiting at her house. Anne was on the welcoming committee for the […]
I had been helping my son John study for his algebra final exam all afternoon. He had been doing fairly good, but after finishing that last grueling practice problem, he’d had enough. He got up from his chair and looked at the answer on his paper and exclaimed, “Algebra is useless. […]
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Matthew 16:18. I came across this magnificent looking church recently while taking a walk through the park of a nearby town. According to the sign posted outside the […]
I looked at the audience around me and saw people of every race, every color, and every nationality – all singing to God. I imagined this is what heaven will be like, only grander. It was a Saturday night I wouldn’t soon forget. My family and I would be traveling on Sunday morning […]
I love this time of year. Autumn brings in a cornucopia of colors, enticing scents of pumpkin spice and apples, and the anticipation of good things to come. Even the weather has an air of serenity about it. But mostly, I love the Autumn scents. I wandered by a candle shop the other day where they were […]
“Come on, we’re late!” I yelled as I hurried my young son up the stairs to the doctor’s office. Very late. I thought I knew where the office was but I missed the turnoff and had to circle back around through the endless string of morning traffic. I did not want to miss […]
Someone once asked me, “What does it mean to be a Christian?” I replied, “It means I have hope.” I knew that the person I was talking to was not looking for a definition on Christianity. But my answer surprised her, so I began to explain. I became a Christian at […]
If you’ve lived more than a few years into adulthood then you probably remember the old Jim Croce song, Time in a Bottle. If I could save time in a bottle… as the old song goes. It’s a beautiful song, but I’m glad it’s not true. I’m glad we can’t keep time […]
I saw the blue lights on my way to work this morning. They were not for me. They were for another. They were leading them home. Two police cars were traveling side-by-side, leading the way in the early morning fog and rain. Their lights were flashing as they drove north […]
“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.” Hebrews 4:8-9 God’s Rest… imagine for a minute what that feels like. A pure and complete rest, absent from all your worries, nothing to fear, […]
I first became aware of the phrase, “Keeper of the Stories” when I began to research lighthouses and their keepers. These men and sometimes women of yesteryear, also referred to as “Guardians of the Light”, were considered people of honor and respect though their work was very hard and lonely at times. They were in charge of […]
I held the small baby in my arms, only ten weeks old at the time. Sitting on the edge of the bed in my son’s nursery on that fateful night, I asked God for advice. I was returning to work the next morning and I knew nothing would be the same again. What […]
I haven’t fully rested in 18 years, until now. If you are a mom, then no explanation is needed. From the moment my son was born until he walked across the stage at his high school graduation, I have not rested. Oh sure, I did sleep a little during those […]
Once a year I take a vacation day from work, spend a couple hundred dollars and trek across Atlanta in the early morning traffic for two hours. It is so that I can attend Leadercast, a motivational event that focuses on leaders worth following. We all need that. The world needs it. […]
In recent anticipation of the looming tornadoes across the south, I decided to pack my bag. I’ve never done that before, but a co-worker’s advice echoed in my head telling me that I should be prepared. Really, I spend my days as a project manager planning and preparing for contingencies and talking about […]
Twice in my lifetime the doctors have been wrong. Don’t misunderstand me, I believe in doctors and have a great respect for their intelligence, training and sacrifice. I thank God for them every time I have to go under the knife. But it’s just that I also know God is the ultimate […]
Stories are powerful. People relate to them easily. I have found that people remember stories far more than just stating a bunch of facts. Jesus used this same method, often speaking in parables to the people of his time. It was about something real in their life. This is who Jesus […]
Life is fascinating, isn’t it? Millions of people at any one time, moving in sync, creating a type of rhythm and harmony we call humankind. It’s not without its problems, of course, but think of the endless combinations and opportunities it has. It’s limitless, really. As long as we acknowledge there is […]
It finally happened. That one day when you know you’re getting older and you’re no longer the hippest person in the crowd, not even close. Today was that day for me. I was leaving my downtown office as I saw one of my co-workers leaving too – ON A SKATEBOARD! He threw his […]
Here in the southeast area of the country, we received two unusually harsh winter storms in the last couple of weeks. When I remember back to my earlier days of skiing in Colorado, snow was always a beautiful and welcoming site, but here in the south, I wouldn’t even own a coat now if it had not been for […]
Today is such a beautiful day that it is fitting that I should only write of happy things. Snow is gently falling and my family is safely tucked inside the warmth of our house. No where we need to go today. The pantry is stocked full, a warm fire glowing in […]
As I sit here on Christmas Eve, the anticipation begins to build. No matter if you are young or old, everyone stops for a moment on this Christmas eve, as the old familiar carols play, and will think of their hopes and dreams, presents and sweets, and family and friends. It is a time […]
“Maggie darted about like a black-stockinged bird, in search of wood for the fireplace. She and her grandmother lived at the edge of a lonely cranberry bog in New England, and the winds were cold at the edge of the sea.” (Cranberry Thanksgiving, Wende and Harry Devlin, 1971) These words were […]
Shopping for jeans in the wintertime is about as depressing as shopping for swimsuits in the summer. I’d be happy to stay with my comfortable old jeans, but now that I can wear jeans to work, I thought it might be worth the adventure to the mall for a new […]
On my daily commute to work this morning, I began to think about the day’s work and all the problems I needed to solve; that is, until I saw a truck in the lane in front of me that changed my focus. The truck had one of those stickers on the back window which starts […]
Today, I pray for my son, and for all moms praying for their sons. It is a special thing, when I hear another mom talk about her son. Mine is beginning his last year of high school, and my prayer is simple and direct. I pray for safety always, and for God’s guidance in those small but […]
Paul to King Agrippa in Rome: Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead? – Acts 26:8 I love the character of Paul in the 1st century. He was bold yet humble. He walked the talk. He didn’t waiver, not once. He knew his job, and […]
Dear Mary and Theresa, I knew your Daddy best when we were both in 4th grade together and were neighbors. He lived in a small, white one-story house beyond my back yard in Tennessee. I had just moved to town and he was one of the first friends I met. He […]
“To see myself as beautiful as God sees me.” It’s a little twist on words, isn’t it? I like to say this short prayer as part of my morning daily prayers. I have tried for years to obtain beauty, never quite meeting mine or others expectations. And then it occurred […]
We need rock stars. All kinds, not only those that can bang out a tune on stage, but that helps too. Bono is one of my favorite – he is larger than life and unassumingly quiet at the same time. He just goes about doing what God has given him. The […]
With the unimaginable tragedy that happened this week with Oklahoma’s 200 mph tornado, I found that I could not direct my written thoughts to anything else. By comparison, everything else is trivial. What a year this has been so far. We, as a nation, started off the year with recent memories from the Sandy Hook school shooting in […]
It was a meeting of the great minds of our times last week, as I had the opportunity to listen to the various speakers at Chick-fil-A’s Leadercast session in Atlanta. It was inspiring. Their bits of wisdom and optimism spoke of things each of us can do right now, today, wherever we are, to make a difference […]
A small, intricate shelf sits just inside the front door of my house. I call it my teacup shelf. It is a narrow shelf with five levels, and filled with all sorts of varied teacups I have collected or received over the years. Some of them are old, some new, some are sentimental, and some are just for fun. Most of […]
It’s been nine years since my grandmother passed away. I still think of her, but time has that elusive way of slipping by. I imagine her and Grandpa smiling down from Heaven – oh, what a reunion that must have been. There are times when I wish she was still […]
This excerpt is taken from Women of Faith blog by Kramer Rasmussen. If you only have time for the sound bites at times just like me, then I have highlighted a few of them below. These are good reminders for me throughout the day in the life of a teenager, […]
To the older man in the gym today.. (this does not apply to any of my FB friends!), your loud and incessant boasting about how much weight you used to lift is not an attractive feature for a fifty-something-and-above person. Unless you are George Clooney (or the younger Bradley Cooper who gets a free […]
Retold from a friend… I was in Trader Joe’s grocery today and overheard some people talking about the current condition of our country. Another woman nearby also heard their conversation and joined in. The woman said she was from Syria, and her mother had sent her to this country hoping she […]
Human trafficking is real, and it is not just a third-world problem. Atlanta is a major hub. TWENTY-ONE MILLION people a year are trafficked, mostly immigrants. Below is an excerpt from a conversation with some of Atlanta’s leaders. There is something we can do. Most of us don’t like to […]
I can’t believe I’m spending my day off waiting at the car repair shop, to change a burned out headlight, of all things, because my type of car doesn’t let you change it yourself. An hour and half wait! But I brought my book, currently reading The Paris Wife, so […]
I’m driving around the north Georgia country this afternoon (chauffeuring my son around) and noticed this has to be some of the most beautiful and peaceful scenery I have ever seen. Farms are scattered across the landscape, charming old houses and some beautiful new ones too, a few country stores and even a cemetery […]
About the Author
Sue McCusker is a writer, Bible teacher, and web developer who loves sharing the stories of life, hope, and faith she sees around her every day. She has written for Guideposts and Angels on Earth magazines, and teaches the story of God in women’s Bible study.
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