Beverly Joy Roberts

Many years ago, I went to a park called  White Water   in Branson, Missouri.  We were a large group with my family and the family of one of my sisters.       At this water park, my sister and I decided to leave the ease of life on the Lazy River for the experience of an unfamiliar ride.  The ride seemed calm and peaceful at the beginning as we lowered ourselves into the waiting inner tubes and began floating down a river of slow moving water.  Then gradually the moving water changed to  White Water rapids with a bend in the river ahead.  We couldn't see what was coming next.  All we could hear was loud screaming.   The name of the ride was Whirlpool.  My sister and I made a promise to each other while the water was calm that we would hold hands and stick together no matter what came our way.  Across the inner tube, I reached for her hand, and we floated side by side--committed to one another to the end.   That promise lasted until we came to the first whirlpool.  We were

In my life, I've experienced depression on a few occasions.  In those dark times, I've learned it's not a place I want to remain for long periods of time. What I remember most about depression is how it makes a person withdraw from life.  They have little joy in the activities around them, and before long, depressed people put themselves into a self-imposed isolation .  Been there--done that--don't wanta go back. Not too long ago, I watched a TV special about a prison in California that specialized in using isolation as punishment to break the will of inmates.  Prisoners who were considered gang leaders, were sent to this prison sometimes for as long as a decade with one purpose in mind--to break these men by removing them from all human interaction.  The isolation that was imposed on the inmates was so severe, that the prison had to be closed because of pending law suits. None of these prisoners acted on their own.  They did not willingly go to this place of 

I think we've all heard that saying, 'love covers a multitude of sin.'  I personally have not always lived that out in regards to the people in my life.  I mean I haven't always extended love when I've been offended or hurt by others.  Yet,  I believe that love is one of the most powerful emotions we humans possess. When I'm willing to extend love to those in and out of my circle, I'm better for it because showing love is the only thing that counts .   You may be thinking--that's a pretty bold statement.  Actually, I can't take credit for it.  Paul the apostle said it first in Galatians 5:6.      For in Christ Jesus   neither  circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.   The only thing that counts   is faith expressing itself through love . True faith works itself out in our lives through love.  In other words, faith will always be accompanied by love.   We are saved by faith not works, but faith is more than a conviction, as

We've all have certain people in our lives that we are in a neck and neck race with to the finish line.  It may be a sibling, a cousin, a school friend, a workmate or a spouse.  The list could go on and on.  When I was in the 7th grade, I had an experience like this. This was the yearI learned to play the flute.  Each Monday, in my class of 12 students, we would play a selected piece of music and the teacher would seat us that week, according to our performance.  Thus, we were numbered first chair, second chair, third chair all the way through to the dreaded 12th chair.   I loved playing my flute, so I had no problem spending time practicing.  However, in my class there was one girl who seemed to have an ability above all the rest of us.  She spent almost every week of our 7th grade year in 1st chair.   No matter how much I practiced, I was mostly in 2nd, 3rd or 4th chair.  Until one day, I'm not sure how it happened, but she went down and I went up .  All the wa

For the most part, I consider myself to be intelligent. I also am a person who can fix things.   In my house, when something is broken, I don't just ignore it--I fix it.  When you put these two awesome gifts together you have a winning combination, but when you remove the intelligent part from the equation, disaster looms.  That's what happened in the following story about a  quick fix  I did. Early in my marriage, I broke a coffee cup.  I could've thrown it away but because--I'm an amazing fixer, I attempted to repair what was broken.  And I used Elmers glue to do it.   When I was finished with the repair, the cup looked flawless, and I proudly returned that 'good-as-new' cup to the cupboard and never gave it another thought. Until one day, my husband poured himself a cup of hot coffee.  He carried the cup to the table and sat it down.  We talked for a few minutes then he lifted the cup to his mouth. The coffee cup fell apart in the air sending