Whether you’re breaking home run records in the Big Leagues or hoping to catch a fly ball on a Little League field, one thing is the same—you need to know the basics. No amount of physical strength or determination makes up for the ability to catch, throw, and hit the ball. When life throws you a curve and you need God’s love, strength, and wisdom the most, you may find yourself swinging blindly at the air if you haven’t learned (or have forgotten) the basics of drawing closer to God. I know.... (continued)

Simplifying —
Brings order to my world so that I can experience

Silence  —
Yields rest and restoration so that
I can experience

Solitude  —
Gives God an
audience in my
soul so that I can experience

Surrender  —
Because I’ve
learned to trust
Him I experience His peace and
presence.

Copyright © 1998
Dave Dravecky’s Outreach of Hope

F. LaGard Smith is a law professor at Pepperdine University who seeks out the pastoral solace of England’s Cotswolds region for several months each year in order to find the simplicity, stillness, and solitude he needs to surrender his life to God’s perspective.

There is a particular spot in the hills high above the valley floor from which I can survey the entire breadth of the Vale of Evesham. Especially on clear days, that lofty perch provides an awe-inspiring bird’s-eye view of lif... (continued)

It was supposed to be the “working mom’s special”—a quick trip to the bank, post office, and grocery store during lunch hour—forty-five minutes tops. But this working mom’s lunch turned out to be much, much more.

As I raced out the door, a common Colorado expression rang unheeded in my ears, “If you don’t like the weather here, wait fifteen minutes.” Of course I had heard the weather forecast that morning. No one living in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains misses the weather forecast... (continued)

What does a less-complicated, simplified lifestyle have to do with drawing closer to God? Everything! If we truly desire to draw closer to God, pastor and author A.W. Tozer addresses one of the simplest yet most difficult requirements: “The man who would know God must give time to Him.” Ah, there’s the rub. We have no time left to give!

Time is a precious gift, one we shouldn’t take for granted. Those who are battling cancer soon discover just how precious time is. They often find the... (continued)

Breaking in a horse is often a painful process. Days, even weeks, of work finally culminate in a brief ride around the corral—unless you’re Monty Roberts, the man who listens to horses. Unlike other horse trainers, he doesn’t try to break the horse’s spirit and motivate it to work out of fear. He has a different approach. He motivates a horse to work out of willingness.

During his youth, Monty spent several summers riding alongside wild horses in the Nevada backcountry where he notice... (continued)

As children bring their broken toys
With tears for us to mend,
I brought my broken dreams to Him
Because He was my Friend.
But then, in (more...)