Have you ever lost a grip on your life? Thinking you had everything under control only to watch things start to fall apart bit by bit? How did you respond? I was in my late forties when Ken and I married. We hadn’t dated long but were so sure of each other and that we were ready, prepared for whatever would face us. Sometimes you just don’t know what has not yet been revealed. We married and immediately jumped back into our ‘normal’ routines with one huge exception: our routines were not ‘normal’ and nearly opposite of each other. Ken was a restaurant manager working long shifts, evenings and weekends. I was a marketing manager working long days, Monday through Friday, and traveling a fair amount. That in itself made early marriage very challenging and not at all what I was expecting. Warning here: watch out for expectations that quickly can morph into resentments and doubts. And then there were family dynamics we had not given sufficient thought to. My younger son, 11 at the time, lived with us half the time and with his dad and stepmom the other half. He was anything but excited with the having a new member in our household and the impact it had. You might be asking, ‘what does all this have to do with writing a devotional’? Fast forward. I unravelled. The stress and discord intensified, and instead of leaning into my faith, seeking God for His help and guidance, relying on accountability partners and others, I chose to isolate and self medicate. After over 25 years of sobriety I relapsed. It didn’t take long for a glass of wine to take the edge off to hiding empties. My outside ‘performance’ was crumbling. The perfectly groomed and mannered woman with everything together was falling apart from the inside out. And I knew it! Sunday sermons were torturous, bringing me to tears as I faced my fears and failures. Until the Saturday night my husband, once again coming home to a drunken wife, confronted me as he dumped empty plastic bottles from my hiding place onto our bed and said, ‘What is it going to take? I just want my wife back.’ Oh God! What had I done? We started calling for a Christ-centered treatment center the very next day. And Monday, February 8th, 2016, Ken loaded me into his car, drove to a rehab facility in Battlecreek, MI and left his desperate wife in the hands of strangers. What neither of us knew at that moment was that I would fully surrender my life to Jesus and find healing in the midst of what would have seemed the most unlikely of places. Each night in a small green room in the corner of the basement, I looked forward to Faith Base and Miss Dalia leading us in what became familiar hymns and Bible study. My life was forever changed and God continues His work in and through my life. Out of my mess has come His message of mercy, grace, forgiveness and love: my test is now a testimony to His gift of salvation. I have been set free - redeemed and sanctified. While at rehab, each morning I sought God through a shared devotional and studying scripture. It quickly became a welcome addition to my daily routine, adjusting my schedule to ensure time was set aside before the schedule of the day began. Returning home April 7th, I continued reading devotionals and began writing and texting my own messages in order to keep in touch with and encourage those I’d met in treatment. The contact list increased as Miss Dalia shared with others and for the past 9-½ years I have continued sharing morning devotions to a growing list of people, most of whom I have never met, but are bound together in Christ. Two years ago the Lord began prompting me to go further and to publish a daily devotional. I felt like Moses: ‘You can’t mean me, Lord! Who am I?’ But the prompting continued and in the Fall of 2024 God opened up the publishing door in a way that was unmistakably by His Hand. But that is a whole other story! ‘Good Morning Messages - Prayer, Praise & Love from Above’ is a culmination of years of writing daily devotions. I believe the Lord uses my personal morning devotional time to equip me with His Word and my life story to fuel some of the content. Desperation drove me to surrender my life to Jesus. I could never make it on my own. There is no greater privilege in life than sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those in need – and we are ALL in need of Jesus!