Writer’s note: August 1, 2007, the I-35W Bridge connecting Minneapolis and St Paul over the Mississippi River collapsed while dozens of cars were driving over it at rush hour. Please keep the survivors’ and victims’ families as well as recovery workers in our prayers.

The survivors of Hurricane Katrina have lived two lives. One life was pre-Katrina. Another life is now post-Katrina. It is interesting to listen to the survivors about what life was like before Hurricane Katrina. Life was easier. Water came through the pipes; it was clean and cold. Electricity was plentiful; it only took a flip of the switch to turn it on. Flushing the toilet, well, it flushed. Children played in courtyards, tourism was good, and the stunning white sand of the Gulf was a place for walking and sunbathing. The huge, white live oak trees were majestic and shaded 100 year-old homes; Church steeples stood pointed toward heaven.

I wanted to bring to you a testimony sent to Christian Women's Resources in an email from a woman who has also been touched by Mother Hunter with her story and the work that she does. I share it with you to encourage you and show you the impact we all can have on one others lives even if we don't ever meet one another in person. Below is Cynthia's email testimony.

You may wonder why it is important to me for you to find God's good plan for your life. Why should the events of your life be of importance to me? The Bible tells us that we are the body of Christ, so that tells me that you are a contributing factor to my well-being...as my life is also a contributing factor to your well-being... I've lived long enough, and experienced enough sickness, sorrow and pain to know that when your body is talking to you, it pays to pay attention! Headaches, stomachaches, tears, sorrow, mood swings, sleeping too much, not sleeping at all, anger, weight gain or loss, irritability...those are all signs and symptoms that something is going wrong in your body!

When Jesus came to this earth to destroy the works of the devil, He laid aside His authority as God. On earth as the 'Last Adam', He walked and ministered with authority and dominion. Satan was completely defeated by Jesus. He was brought to naught and made of no effect. Jesus made a big "zero" out of the devil ! Now this authority and dominion are the 'keys' which have been restored to redeemed mankind who, through faith, are now His church and His body on earth. As a defeated foe, the only thing that Satan can do on this earth is what we in our ignorance have been letting him do. With this revelation from God's Word, we can rise up and bind Satan. When we bind the strong man and spoil his house and when we command demon spirits to flee in the name of Jesus, we are walking in the 'power and authority' that we were given. Matt. 12:28-29, 2 Corin. 10:4

New Beginnings Testimony- At the age of 15, I found myself pregnant, believing that I was in love and would live happily ever after like the people in the Danielle Steel novels I had grown accustomed to reading. Maybe you never read romance novels, but at age 15, I did and I was a romantic. Well, I don't have to tell you that at age 15, I really did not know anything about love and what I read only lead me astray. My life did not work out the way the characters in Danielle Steel?s novels did. They fell in love and got married in less than 300 pages. A couple of days reading. Well it didn?t work that way for me. By my 21st birthday my sons father and I were no longer in contact with one another. In my mind and in my heart, he had failed me. He had rejected me. I was to young, emotionally and spiritually immature to realize we were not in the will of God.

May the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow (with hope) by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13 Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Fully maturing in any one of these characteristics would keep us busy for a lifetime, but exhibiting all of them? What was God thinking?!

Acronym of "Jesus is Lord"

The recent divorce of a friend has left the author with a hunger for God's Word and a desire to see this emotionally captive woman set free.

It is difficult to source good christian books in todays' marketplace - it is even harder to find quality christian book reviews. This article looks at why this is the case, and calls christians to greater discernment when choosing books, recommending that they get more involved in offering reviews of books in and out of print today.