Looking for a specific topic or Scripture? Try the search feature:

Looking for a specific devotion? Try the archive:

Dana Rongione 21/09/2026 Dana Rongione 21/09/2026

You Can’t Mourn What You Never Fed

This past Sunday was a hard day. Our little Welsh community said goodbye to another chapel, a ministry over 300 years old that once echoed with hymns and, believe it or not, once shaped a missionary whose name still draws pilgrims from the other side of the world.

Robert Jermain Thomas spent his early years in this very chapel, where his father served as pastor. In his twenties, Thomas carried the gospel to Korea and gave his life for it in 1866. That's the legacy these old stone walls hold. And this past week, the chapel went dark for good.

The gentleman who had to make the call didn't do it lightly. He wrestled with the decision for months. He watched his little congregation (who hadn't had a pastor in over 30 years) shrink year after year. He lost faithful members, buried the church treasurer, and finally ran out of hands to keep the doors open and the bills paid. When he made the announcement, he expected sorrow. What he got instead was his phone ringing off the hook. Sadly, it was not from folks offering to help, but from people who hadn't darkened the chapel doorway in years, furious that "their" family chapel was closing.

Dana Rongione 09/09/2026 Dana Rongione 09/09/2026

Discerning God’s Will in a World Full of Noise

I have never been in the military, but I am convinced that church business meetings are the civilian equivalent of trench warfare. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone has a "the Lord laid this on my heart." And somehow, all those burdens contradict each other.

I remember one particular meeting years ago where we were trying to decide something that, in hindsight, was not nearly as important as we made it out to be at the time. One dear soul stood up and said the Lord had told her one thing. Another dear soul spoke up two minutes later and said the Lord had told him the exact opposite. I sat there thinking, "Well, Lord, You're going to have to pick a lane, because right now You appear to be talking out of both sides of Your mouth." (I know full well He wasn't. But it sure felt that way from where I was sitting.)

That's when I stumbled onto a verse I'd read a hundred times before but never really heard until that moment. Paul, writing to the Corinthian church about spiritual gifts and orderly worship, drops this little nugget in the middle of his argument: "For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?" (1 Corinthians 14:8).

Dana Rongione 07/09/2026 Dana Rongione 07/09/2026

What If Thirty Seconds Could Change the Way You Pray?

I am, by nature, a "get to the point" kind of person. If I need something, I say so. No preamble. No small talk. Just give me the solution, and let's move on. This is probably why, for years, my prayer life sounded a little like a drive-through order: "Hi, Lord, I'll take healing for this headache, provision for that bill, and can you supersize the patience, please? Thanks, bye."

I never once considered that I might be skipping a step.

Then I started noticing something as I read through my Bible. Over and over, in the same breath, Scripture pairs two words: prayer and supplication. Solomon uses the combo repeatedly in his temple dedication prayer in 1 Kings 8. Daniel uses it in his famous prayer of repentance. Paul uses it in Ephesians and again in Philippians. And nearly every single time, prayer comes first. Supplication follows.

That is not an accident. That is a pattern.

Dana Rongione 02/09/2026 Dana Rongione 02/09/2026

Stamping Out Bad Thoughts

Some mornings, my mind resembles the world's least efficient office. I sit at my desk, herbal tea nearby, Bible open, and a stack of unruly papers piles up in front of me. Except the papers are not bills, book ideas, or that mysterious note I wrote three weeks ago that now appears to say "Buy turnips for dragon." No, the papers are thoughts.

"You are failing."

"You will always be sick and will never get better."

"You have messed up too much."

"God has forgotten you."

"This situation is impossible."

"No one wants to read your pathetic attempts at writing."

And suddenly, my imaginary office has an urgent backlog.

As I considered Philippians 4:8 this morning, my mind brought up an amusing image (as it tends to do). I pictured a giant, old-fashioned librarian's red rubber stamp.

Dana Rongione 31/08/2026 Dana Rongione 31/08/2026

Who Knew Walking Would Require a Manual?

I once thought myself quite adept at walking. Two feet, alternating steps, arms swinging for balance. It seemed the perfect exercise, a system I had mastered. Then age crept in, my chronic illness worsened, and I quickly learned that walking is far more complicated than my toddler self ever imagined. Wah!

For instance, not long ago, I was strolling along, admiring the trees like a nature documentary narrator. Sadly, I failed to notice the road ahead was no longer flat. My ankle twisted one way, my body the other. Down I went, while my dog looked on with what I can only describe as mild disappointment and perhaps a hint of amusement in her eyes.

Another time, I got so distracted watching our dog, Tess, chase a squirrel that I walked straight into a low-hanging branch, nearly knocking myself senseless.

And sometimes, there's simply no excuse.