What if you could understand what your dog was saying? New technology uses “bark” recognition to help determine what feelings canines are expressing when they bark. The artificial-intelligence-enabled collars interpret the dogs’ barks…

In April 1817, a disoriented young woman was found wandering around in Gloucestershire, England, wearing exotic clothes and speaking an unknown language. Assuming she was a beggar, authorities placed her in prison. However, she convinced her captors th…

After another unexpected health setback, I joined my husband and others during a retreat in the mountains. I trudged up the wooden staircase that led to the tiny church on the top of a hill. Alone in the dark, I stopped to rest on a splintered step. &l…

To improve her sign language skills, Leisa immersed herself in the world of the Deaf. Soon she learned the problems they face. The Deaf are awkwardly ignored by hearing people, are expected to lipread flawlessly, and are routinely passed over for promo…

Kenny stood before the congregation he’d left years before after he’d lost faith in God. He shared that his belief had been restored. How? God had touched his heart through the beauty and design he saw in creation. Kenny was in awe of Him o…

Phillips Brooks wrote the lyrics to the beloved carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem” after visiting Bethlehem. Brooks, pastor of a church in the US, was so moved by his experience that he wrote this to his Sunday school students: “I rem…

God truly knows all. But according to an article in The Wall Street Journal, the National Security Agency knows a great deal about as well through our smartphone data trails. Everyone who owns a cell phone creates “metadata” that leaves a &…

One year, the leaders of our congregation invited us to give, in addition to our regular weekly offerings, gifts to build a new gymnasium—a space we could use to minister to the families in our community. After prayerfully considering the medical…

Fear woke me at 3 a.m. on the first day of the new year. The year ahead weighed heavily on me, overwhelming me with dread. Illness in the family had long wearied me, and now, thoughts of the future made me afraid. Will more bad things happen? I wondere…

As Hurricane Laura raged toward Louisiana’s coast in the US, the warnings were dire. One sheriff, noting the 150-mile-per-hour winds, issued this jolting message: “Please evacuate. But if you choose to stay and we can’t get to you, write yo…