Suzanne Schaffer

I have a hummingbird feeder on my porch. It's one of my favorite things about summer. I'm entranced with the little birds who come to feed on the sugar water I prepare for them. At times they buzz around the feeder, trying to figure out whether or not I'm safe, and have even flown within two feet of where I'm seated. They're skittish in general and will fly away if I look at them too long. They don't realize I'm the one providing for them and that I'd never do anything to hurt them. God cares for us in the same way. He's watching out for us, giving us what we need, yet we spend most of our time flitting about without much thought to His presence in our lives. What He wants most is to spend time with us without us shying away from His strength. He's proven Himself faithful, has proven His intentions toward us, and has proven that He will never hurt us but we tend to put up walls in an attempt to keep Him in one spot as if we can control Him...

When my husband took his first youth pastor position the senior pastor’s wife gave me some advice I never forgot, “Just be you.” Those three words were a relief to my twenty-three year old self. They gave me freedom to find my way in this new life of ministry. Everything changed when I became a mother. No longer did I have time, desire, or energy to go to every youth event. I was now responsible for a little person who relied on me for everything day and night. I decided then that my children would come before any ministry or church related activity. As I continued on this path I observed other ministry families lose their children to the world because mom and dad were consumed with the work of the church. My biggest fear was that my children would be sacrificed for the opinions and expectations of others. We’ve ministered in five separate churches over the past twenty-four years and I’m sure some of the people in the congregations wouldn’t even remember us. Things were dif...

An early morning glance at my phone revealed life altering news via text message and ruined my plans to sleep in. I tossed and turned for a bit, mind churning and trying to make sense of what I'd read. My thoughts settled on the mother of one less child and I realized she may never be able to sleep in again. Two days later I received word that a friend suffered a pregnancy loss. Two days after that a close friend lost her life to a fast moving cancer, the diagnosis which I was still reeling from. Four weeks from diagnosis to death is not easily comprehended.  Time should stop.  There are words unsaid.  A mother wants to hold her child again.  Plans for baby's room were just beginning. I didn't get to say goodbye to my friend. But this big world keeps on turning. It doesn't feel right for the sun to shine and the wind to blow. Plans came to a halt and now clean-up has to take place. Every moment is now a memory, forever locked in the m...

There are always two sides to every story. The picture above is a good example. The same bridge with two different views. Both pleasing to they eye in varying ways. One side shows the sea and a lush tree, the other shows winter in the desert with mountains at the edge. If I were to ask you to pick your favorite side you may or may not choose the same one I did. Life is a lot like this picture. People and the situations we find ourselves in have several angles to view from. What appears one way to me may look different to someone else. What I hear the picture being described as may sound totally different the next time someone describes it to me. The same rings true with stories we are told. It doesn't matter if you're friends with the one telling your their side, or if you like the person telling you their side better than the other person. Unless you hear or experience both sides you may never know the truth. The wife who was being abused by the "nice guy...