Recall, Reminisce, Rejoice

For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.

 Ecclesiastes 3:1

It was 1998 and the caller on the other end of the line was Linda Lesniewski. The purpose of her call was to ask if I would be interested in auditioning for a new devotional for women, called encouraging.com. The out-of-the-blue call from a very busy lady made more sense when she explained that a friend had shared some of the prayers I had written for our neighborhood Bible study.

File that under “God works in mysterious ways.”

The date on my copy of that first devotion was 1999. I have been contributing to encouraging.com since. When I began our children were in high school and college; today, they are all married with growing, almost grown and off-on-their-own children. I have written through good times and bad, busy chapters and sad days. And the amazement of it all is that the Lord has always given me something to write about.

2023 has been a year of change for me. Many circumstances have come together to make me realize that God is calling me to a new chapter of life. Daily, I feel Him re-shaping my priorities and nudging me in a new direction. Because He has never left me or forsaken me, I know that I can trust Him to make His new plan for me a reality.

This unique opportunity and joy has given me so much that I could/would not have experienced otherwise. Not the least of these is a deadline. To study and seek God’s voice in His Word, then translate those intimations and half-lights into thoughts and words that could be shared with others is both a challenge and blessing.

I went through the binder that holds 3” of paper and twenty-four years of my life and picked out four devotions. Each represents a different time in my life and carries with it special memories.

Nancy Shirah