STAYING THE COURSE

STAYING THE COURSE
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 by LINDA WOOD RONDEAU

Categories: devotional / TUESDAY'S TREASURE

TUESDAY’S TREASURE

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee (Isaiah 26:3 KJV)

Maybe it was only indigestion.

Most often, I remember only that I did dream, forgetting the content. But this dream was more vivid than most. My husband and I were in a car when, just as we started to cross the bridge, we saw a wall of water heading our way. My husband sped up to avoid it, but the wall caught us. He churned the wheel, fighting to keep the car from plunging into the raging waters below.

Next, my husband was standing by the bank. Like Superman, he reached into the water and pulled the car out. Then we got in and continued on our way.

When I told my husband the dream, he first laughed. Then he thought the dream was symbolic of our marriage. Countless times, we’ve felt drenched and threatened by floods of difficulties. But, with God’s help and protection, somehow we keep staying the course.

More recently, I watched a television segment of a wedding. When the minister said, “as long as you both still love one another,” I felt disturbed. When had the vow changed? What happened to “until death do us part”?

I thought perhaps the line had been put in simply for dramatic intent. Then I read an article addressing this issue of weakened marriage vows. It seems that today, couples can opt to adjust their oaths so that when times are tough, they can justify quitting.

I wonder if bailing has become too easy.

not just in marriage. All relationships are becoming more and more disposable. We throw away our connections like ill-fitting shoes. When the relationship no longer brings us joy, we hide from the truth, place blame on the other, or run away rather than ride the wave.

I wonder if loyalty is a lost art. In days gone by, every neighborhood had a Mr. Smith’s Country Mart. But with the onset of superstores offering cut-rate prices, these businesses have nearly vanished from our culture. Competition is fierce for the consumer’s dollar, and big businesses clamor for attention. Loyalty is undermined by the constant wooing of big bargains, variety, and one-stop shopping—as well as the online shopping boost.

That same desire for the inexpensive and exciting

yet convenient lifestyle whittles our spiritual lives as well.

God calls us to be loyal servants. But we are lured away from daily communion by other pursuits that promise to fill our emptiness without the hassle of commitment. We find parasailing temporarily more enjoyable than a quiet afternoon of reading the Bible. We feast on mindless activities rather than prayer.

Because we no longer hunger for God, we fail to sense His love, even though He has never removed it from us. Consequently, we tire of this thing called Christian. When hit with the deluge of discouragements, our souls wither.

But the soul, which stayed with God,

even though engulfed by the flood,

keeps on.

ABOUT SECOND HELPINGS

Can her marriage be saved?

Today is Jocelyn Johnson’s forty-fifth birthday. Unhappy with her marriage of twenty-two years, she has planned a noonday tryst with her talk-show cohost. A phone call from her college daughter, a peek into her teenage son’s journal, a sick preschooler, a Goth daughter’s identity crisis, a middle-school son’s prank, and her husband’s inflamed suspicions not only interfere with her hopeful birthday plans but throw her family into more chaos than a circus on steroids.

In desperate need of counsel, Jocelyn invites a Christian, her guest from her morning talk-show segment, to dinner. However, the evening holds little promise of calm. In the midst of bedlam, a forgotten faith rekindles, causing Jocelyn to rethink her life and her marriage.

You will laugh, and you will cry from the first page to the last as you journey through the day’s events and Jocelyn’s search for Second Helpings.

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