The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

Sometimes as mothers our self-esteem receives quite a beating, especially when our kids become teenagers. They roll their eyes at everything we say and have the nerve to criticize our driving. We may suddenly need renewed assurance that we are okay. Know that your Heavenly Father delights in you!

Happy Mother’s Day…

Welcome to Comfort Cafe, an ezine and resource center offering hope, help and healing for women.

Book Review (Heaven is Real, by Don Piper): Are you feeling discouraged about life? Maybe you are at a breaking point, where you simply don’t know how to go on. Maybe you’ve lost a loved one and you feel forever trapped in your grief. Or maybe you are suffering overwhelming health problems and you don’t even know how to make it from hour to hour. More…

Ruth’s Blog

Comfort Cafe’s editor, Ruth Wood, brings a personal connection to the site through her blog. Her latest posts are: Can’t Go On? Trapped, Choices.  See Ruth’s Blog.

Photography Blog

Deb Allen is the author of Creation Speaks—short devotionals illustrated by beautiful photos she’s taken of nature. Enjoy her latest posts at www.heartscribeforhim.com/CreationSpeaks1.htm.

Coffee Shop Concert

The Wilbanks travel extensively throughout the USA ministering in churches, conferences and special events. Their goal for every concert is to usher every listener and worshiper into the presence of The Almighty. To hear their wonderful sound, take a stroll over to our Coffee Shop Concert page.

LIFE STORIES

Mother’s Day Feature
I walked out the gravel driveway to the mailbox, opened the metal door, and slid in the card. As I shut the door and pulled up the red flag, I remembered another mailbox from long ago. As a child I spent hours in a small playhouse in the back yard. The Mailbox, by Patty Duncan

“Grief is the natural, healthy, and temporary exercise of responding to a significant loss. Mourning is ongoing, and, it is for those who have regrets or no hope.” That inspired me to share my heart with you… I Will Not Mourn, by Sue A. Winchester

DEVOTIONALS

I walked down the driveway to get the mail, thinking more about what may be in the mailbox than what was under my feet. By the time it occurred to me that the driveway was slippery, I found myself flat on my back. Are You Sliding?, by Cheryl Gerou

Have you ever wondered about the two guys on the Road to Emmaus in Luke 24? How could they be so close to Jesus and miss Resurrection Sunday? Only a Visitor, by Kristine K. Lowder

Emily Dickinson penned her “letters to the world” in verse, Beethoven scribed his on musical staffs, and Ansell Adams captured his in black and white through a camera lens. In each medium, the world gets a peek at God’s purpose, a glimpse of His glory.Epistles, by Phyllis M. Nissila

I have dug a lot of rocks, both realistically and figuratively. When I push the fork into the ground it is common to be stopped by an obstacle… Gifts for the Journey, by Katherine Wallenhaupt

I had disabling neck surgery in 1996. My world was turned upside down. It took several years before I completely turned everything over to God. He helped me learn to cope without the dependency of strong medicines and radical procedures. In the learning process I learned that affliction can be beneficial. Learn From Affliction, by Sue A. Winchester

ARTICLES

The founder of Comfort Cafe, Mary Yerkes, has written some terrific articles for Focus on the Family dealing with physical suffering. To view these, see here.

Mothers have many different roles, including birth-giver, friend, nurturer, protector, forgiver, teacher, and proctor. What is a proctor? Miles to Go—Love That Protors, by Marianne Miles

Being single is not always easy. I remember sitting at the single’s table during a winter banquet in high school and thinking to myself, What is wrong with me? All of my friends get asked to these things. Why can’t I? Just once? Contentment and Beauty in Singleness, by Nina Coppola

Chronic pain. It never goes away. Friend or foe, it nags at you daily, no matter how hard you try to ignore it or determine not to give in to it. “Just let me do one more thing, and then I’ll rest,” you silently pray. But that one more thing may be the thing that puts you out of commission for weeks!
Life Lessons From Pain, by Tammy Hensel

Sometimes God leads us through struggles and asks that our survival stories be shared for His glory. This is one of those stories. It’s the first in a series about my two journeys with Prenatal and Postpartum Depression (PPD). I am sharing these raw experiences as an offering of hope to those who battle an illness effecting at least 60 percent of new mothers; and to share with you a beautiful victory that was won for me by the paradoxical gentle and mighty hand of God…Measuring Motherhood With a Broken Ruler—My Journey Through Postpartum Depression, by Angela Nazworth

Looking for Writers

Our Help for the Hurting page lists all the topics we hope to address in the future. If you have a story or article that relates to one of these areas, I’d love to hear from you. Review our writer’s guidelines, then send your material to submissions@comfortcafe.net.