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![How to Love Your Enemy… [When Evil Strikes]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/80D7B089-0A6D-4727-A587-1B1EA131E7DA.png)
If God really does exist, then why do bad things happen? Putting aside the age old question, temporarily. Do you believe evil exists? I doubt anyone denies evil exists. I think enough evidence exists to prove otherwise. But surely, if evil exists, then goodness must exist, too. And if the battle of good and evil…
This tattered, incomplete set of 1950’s commentaries may not look like much to you. But to me, they are proof of God’s love for me. As I prepared this week’s #TLCcommunity study, I thumbed back through some old notebooks. It was then I had the thought, I wish I had the Barclay commentaries that I…
![Shining God’s Love Through Art [in a Dark World]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/47C85D92-D517-4009-A1F9-6A5B4C6E7C59-scaled.jpeg)
I’m still processing much of our European trip. We experienced so much—in such a short amount of time. An image that has stuck with me, more than any other, is that of the immortalized young ballerina, Marie van Goethem. The idyllic, romanticized life of Degas’ La Petite Danseuse de 14 ans is far from the…
![Surrendering to God… [Word of the Year 2023]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/05A9A94E-B97B-4419-B8CF-6A150667B78F.jpeg)
To be honest, my word of the year scares me–quite literally! It feels way too large, untidy, and full of the unknown. I’m not sure where its going… And maybe that is exactly the point!? I’m not supposed to know. I caught a nasty cold the Sunday after thanksgiving–and it never went away! While still…
![Telling the Story of His Wondrous Love… [a Christmas memory]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/90647690-C713-4A56-B7C5-2540A3E49D4D.jpeg)
My [almost] oldest childhood friend gifted me this photo of us for my high school graduation. I believe it was taken shortly after moving to Hometown, OK from Dallas, TX. Late in the fall of ‘73 my little brother and I stayed with my grandparents while our new home was being readied for our arrival….
At the end of last year, I felt more joy-depleted than joyful. Life’s circumstances had me feeling battered and bruised. But the testing of my faith produced long-lasting evidence of fruit in my life–of which I’m eternally grateful! Perhaps you’ve been there yourself? Or perhaps, joyless is an accurate depiction of your current circumstances? If…
![Lessons in Becoming [how to become all that God created us to be]…](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/5C91D790-8AD6-47BF-BFA9-B1514202A9A9.jpeg)
You would never know by looking, but this young woman [circa ‘97] is “in between” life seasons. And in less than two years, she will land in Nashville to carve a life. A dream she didn’t know “to dream” for herself as a young girl. But a life, God was calling her to—nonetheless. As we…
We’ve all been “ghosted” in some form or fashion in our lifetime, haven’t we? Perhaps we’ve even ghosted a person or two ourselves? “Ghosting” occurs when someone suddenly cuts off communication with you without any explanation, leaving the “ghosted” person scratching their heads wondering, What went wrong!? Ghosting, in most instances, says more about the…
![Talk to Your Kids… [Active Shooter Alert: The Call No Parent Wants to Receive]](https://rachelwrains.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/0F8C2CC7-7265-4C67-B4FE-DE28DE7A004D.png)
One fall morning in 2015, I received a call no parent wants to receive… An active shooter was reported on my daughter’s campus. And not only was the shooter in her immediate vicinity, but he was headed towards the College of Business. As she took cover in a professor’s office along with her classmates, we…