Proof The Bible Is True

How did he escape the burning wreckage? Watch video

Business travel booked. Bills paid. House cleaned. A busy morning, but I’d managed to complete my most pressing tasks. I breathed a sigh of relief. The summer is when the business I run with my husband requires the most attention, and church and family obligations fill my days. Sometimes I think my busy brain could use a personal assistant, to make sure everything’s covered. Then I looked at the clock. 1:31 PM. For some reason, the time made me uneasy. Is there something I forgot to do? All I could think of was my appointment to meet with the party planner, [More]

Four days before the semester started, my son, Keith, decided he was going back to college. My husband, John, and I were thrilled. Keith had taken six months off after his sophomore year and we worried he’d never go back. His last year at Utah State had been less than stellar, but this time would be different. All he needs is a good roommate, I thought. Someone to watch out for him when our family can’t. On such short notice, though, the university couldn’t guarantee him a dorm room, let alone a roommate. We packed the car—extra sheets, towels and winter clothes—and John [More]

Two stories from the news this week are great examples of what we at Mysterious Ways call “Encounters & Connections,” the unexpected ways in which the paths of two people cross to deliver incredible results. In Kent, Washington, a 911 operator named Candace picked up a call from a panicked woman reporting a theft. What was stolen? A wedding dress. Read More

Admittedly, the house had been quiet since my husband died, but I didn’t want a dog. I had enough responsibilities as an elementary school principal. Besides, no dog could ever replace Kash, my childhood best friend. I only went with my friend Dee to the animal shelter for pet adoption day because when she gets an idea she’s like, well, a dog with a bone. I figured she’d drop it once she saw I had no interest. But one dog took an interest in me. He came right up and looked at me plaintively, imploringly. Some sort of cattle-dog mix, [More]

A lost elderly woman with Alzheimer’s is guided by God’s love. Watch VIdeo

When a vacation turns into a moment of terror, a prayer is answered in an amazing way. Watch Video

We were the Three Musketeers, Ginger, her younger sister, Bernie, and me. We’d met at work and remained best friends for years. Then Ginger and Bernie moved an hour away, and we lost touch. I never stopped thinking of them, though. Which made it all the more painful when I learned that Bernie was diagnosed with breast cancer. Ginger was there for every hospital visit, through every round of chemo. She was at her bedside when Bernie died, after a three and a half year battle. Eight months passed. Ginger’s birthday was approaching, and her grief hadn’t subsided. “I thought [More]

I turned my keys in the ignition and the car roared to life. Loud music blared from the radio. I glanced in the rearview mirror, shifted into reverse and prepared to back up. Ding, ding, ding! An annoying chime suddenly sounded. I checked the dashboard and saw a blinking green icon: Door Ajar. I opened and shut my door, but the light kept blinking and the chime didn’t stop. I don’t have time for this, I thought. I was already late, as usual, to pick up my older daughter Kristen from a play-date. A close family friend had stopped by with his son, and we had [More]

November 11, 2012, is a day Belinda Leal will never forget: the day her mother, Evangelina Garza, died. What happened next has left the doctors and nurses at McAllen Medical Center in south Texas baffled. But to Belinda and Evangelina—now very much alive—the explanation for the events that unfolded is quite clear… Evangelina: The first thing I heard that day was Onesimo’s voice. “Do you want to go out to breakfast?” my husband asked from the foot of the bed. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I’m 71, and have diabetes, and I don’t get moving as fast as I [More]

On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy slammed the Northeast. And like many folks, I won’t ever forget it. More than one hundred people lost their lives. Thousands lost their homes. My Jersey Shore town was dealt a brutal blow and recovery is still a work in progress. But there’s another reason I can’t forget this storm. A moment, actually. One that irrevocably strengthened my faith. It was 5:00 am, one week after Sandy. “Morning, babe,” my husband, Chip mumbled, shutting off the alarm. “Gonna be a rough one.” Chip’s a police officer and he was gearing up for another 16-hour [More]

I walked over to our church’s craft cabinet, hoping to find some project ideas for kids. In just a few days my husband, Daniel, and I would be taking a mission trip to help the Crow Creek Reservation in South Dakota build a new church and we’d need some fun things to do with the families. I’d barely opened the door when a long piece of thick rope flew out, landing at my feet. The rest of it was tangled up inside the cabinet—it had to be at least 10 or 12 feet long! “Where did this come from?” I wondered aloud. [More]

What better way to celebrate the beginning of summer than by setting up my outdoor furniture on the deck? I unstacked the chairs and arranged them around the table. All I needed was my new blue-and-white-flowered patio umbrella. It’s going to look so pretty, I thought. I searched the backyard shed. I was sure I’d put it there for safekeeping. I hadn’t even taken it out of the box. I stumbled around for 20 minutes looking for that umbrella. I’ll have to settle for my old one, I thought. It was tattered and faded, but it would give me some shade. Read More

My mother’s patio was a mess. There was clutter everywhere—dead leaves under the table and chairs, bird droppings on the cement flooring, weeds encroaching in the adjacent flowerbed. Mom hadn’t been out there in ages. Maybe I should clean it up, I thought every so often. But I never got around to it. So I couldn’t explain why, one Sunday, I showed up on her doorstep, unannounced, in my gardening clothes. “Mom, I’m going to do some sprucing up out back,” I said. Read More

I hadn’t wanted to get divorced. I kept hoping my wife and I would be able to work things out eventually. But she was set in her decision. She packed up and moved with the kids to a new place, some three hours from the house we’d once shared as a family. She was already dating someone new. I looked forward to seeing my two young sons every Friday. But I dreaded the reminder of the way things used to be. We would never again have movie nights on a random Thursday after school. I couldn’t even see my sons on any [More]

Dad was a rural mail carrier for 52 years, but he loved it too much to call it his job. His “office” was the natural world, and he never tired of admiring the flowers, trees and sky along his route. “God’s handiwork,” he’d say. Outdoors he could also scout the best places for mushrooms. Morel mushroom hunting was a family tradition. I remember Mom and Dad taking us kids to a special spot in the woods one May day when I was seven. “First one to find a morel wins the prize,” Dad said. He winked at me, the youngest, [More]

They got help from a mysterious mechanic who appeared right when they needed him. Watch

I had meant to leave early for work. One of the main intersections on the way was under construction. Judging from the traffic, though, I hadn’t left near early enough. My five-minute commute to the hotel where I worked was going to take 15. I shook my head, frustrated. Stop and go. Stop and go. Long minutes passed. At last! I thought, nearing the intersection. I flipped on my turn signal and pulled my trusty, green Dodge Neon to the far left, turn lane. The light switched to yellow. Have to hurry, I thought. But the car in front of me took its time [More]

Fiery ash spewed thousands of feet above Mount Pinatubo. Molten lava cascaded down the flanks of the ancient volcano on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, destroying everything in its path. It was June 15, 1991. My husband, Chuck, and I saw a news ticker about the eruption from 8,000 miles away in Niagara Falls, New York. Our daughter, Cindy, her husband, Ed, and our grandkids had been lucky to get out alive. They’d been evacuated from Clark Air Force Base, where Ed was stationed, near the capital city, Manila. Cindy had called us earlier from a naval station [More]

“Dave!” I called to a fellow parishioner as he walked up to the church doors. “Have you lost weight? You look great!” “Thanks!” he said. “I took up biking. At first I could barely make it a mile. Now I ride everywhere, and I’m down 30 pounds!” I was impressed—and a little envious. Weight loss is a funny thing. Sometimes progress just plateaus. That’s what happened to me, and I’m no couch potato! I’m always dancing, walking and doing floor routines. Looking after the toddlers at the preschool where I work burns quite a few calories, too! But I’d been [More]

Monday night madness, I thought, glancing at my kitchen clock. Church orchestra practice was in less than half an hour, and I still had things to take care of—cook some chicken to take for lunch that week, feed the dogs, change out of my work clothes. I filled a pot with water and stuck it on the stove, turning the gas burner up high. Orange flames licked the metal. Hurry, hurry. I stared at the pot, then caught myself. A watched pot never boils, I thought. I set the chicken next to the stove, all ready to go. Read More

Easter Sunday arrived a week after I moved to Phoenix, and I was looking forward to spending it with a friend visiting from my former home, Colorado Springs, Colorado. I thumbed through the Yellow Pages, searching for a church we could attend close to my new apartment. Yes, the Yellow Pages, mostly used as a doorstop these days. In this case, I was grateful that the big, fat book had been delivered to my door. I was under doctors’ orders to avoid using the computer, as the monitor could trigger my seizures—seizures that had taken me away from the community [More]

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I prepared to stand before my audience at a weekend religious retreat. Fifty ladies waiting to hear me speak on the importance of studying God’s word. I gathered my notes and picked up my Bible as I entered the room. Of all of the Bibles I owned, this was my favorite. I opened the book and a familiar name written inside the front cover caught my eye: Karen Baker. Read More

My office at the college was filled with Easter baskets that Good Friday morning. I’m a professor at the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne campus, and every year I do a volunteer project with my students—they put together Easter baskets for the homeless children and their moms at our local shelters. Each basket is unique, specially created and personalized for a woman or a child, and each bears the name of the person receiving it. Proud of the work my students had done, I carefully checked the baskets against my list. Then my husband, Tom, and I loaded them into [More]

The weather report explained the record-breaking cold this Friday as a polar vortex. With the wind-chill factor, it was minus 45 degrees outside. Snow was on its way. We won’t be able to bring Suzan home this afternoon, I thought, looking sadly out the window. Our daughter had started her freshman year at Kent State University. My husband, Wayne, and I were looking forward to having her home for Christmas break. Airline flights were grounded and TV alerts flashed on every channel: Stay indoors, avoid driving. Even the 35-mile drive to Kent State would be too risky. Wayne pulled into the driveway in [More]

I relaxed in our backyard under the shade of a big tree, while my five-year-old daughter, Paula, splashed and laughed in the pool. After a while, she hoisted herself up onto the edge for a quiet break. The sun shone bright overhead, our dog asleep in the grass. It was a perfect moment, everything hushed. A peacefulness hung over the entire yard.   Read More: 5 Comforting Stories of Angel Encounters with Children – Guideposts

The evening devotional at church was due to start in just 10 minutes. It was only a few blocks away, but if my best friend, Molly, didn’t meet me at my house soon, we’d miss the choir’s opening hymn.   “C’mon,” I said, grabbing Molly’s hand when she finally arrived. “We have to run!”   Read More: Delivered on Time by a Divine Breeze – Guideposts