by Merita Atherly Engen | Apr 30, 2015 | Death, God of Our Ultimates, Points of Light, Protector, Shining on God's Character
“Momma, I want to sleep in your room with you and Daddy.” Of course. He needed closeness. But how close was too close? Death was near but unpredictable. Would he suffer from overexposure? He was only eight and he needed to be protected. At such an impressionable age,...
by Merita Atherly Engen | Apr 3, 2015 | Fatherly, Points of Light, Shining on God's Character
Sharp pain stabbed Mei’s arm and radiated throughout her tense, twelve-year-old body. Her whimper, barely heard beyond the curtains drawn around her bed, elicited a comforting pat from her mother. Skiing the snowy slopes had been fun until this. The emergency room...
by Merita Atherly Engen | Jan 16, 2015 | Loving, Shining on God's Character
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” — Jesus “Why can’t you be like other girls? They don’t ride bicycles like a boy. And your hair...
by Merita Atherly Engen | Dec 11, 2014 | Fatherly, God of Our Ultimates, Loving, Motherly, Points of Light, Salvation, Shining on God's Character
Five-year-old Caleb came into the bedroom first thing one morning clutching his money box. He wanted to show me that he could buy the toy of his dreams. “You know, Momma, the one where the car goes ’round and ’round.” Yes, I knew. The one we had told him he would have...
by Merita Atherly Engen | Nov 5, 2014 | Fatherly, God of Our Ultimates, Humorous, Points of Light, Protector, Shining on God's Character, Survival
“Why didn’t you, God?” Esther snapped. She slammed the lady’s room stall door and jerked the lock into its latch. “We trusted you. We prayed.” She dropped with a thud onto the commode. “This was suppose to be the perfect vacation. Why did you let this happen?”...
by Merita Atherly Engen | Oct 23, 2014 | Destiny, God of Our Ultimates, Grief, Healer, Points of Light, Shining on God's Character
“Are the rooms clean?” I asked when I called for reservations. Well, I didn’t know. It was a center, a Family Reconciliation Center they called it, made available for the family and friends of those incarcerated while they came for prison visitation. I had never done...
