This week, we're interrupting our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a series of articles from GMBA Campout!

This week, the camp is being held in Redlands, California, and the theme is "Peace, Joy, and Strength in Righteousness," and the anchoring scriptures are found in Philippians 4:4-8.

Before we flesh out the theme for you, let's talk about friendship. GMBA Camp is a place where new friendships bloom, casual acquaintances take root and go to a deeper level, and time-tested bonds grow even stronger. Friendship and fellowship are a big part of what makes camp camp.

For those of you who are traveling to sunny California this weekend for GMBA Campout, chances are pretty good that you're rejoicing in the Lord right now — in anticipation of spending one whole glorious week thinking about spiritual things, praising God, learning more about scripture, and singing your heart out. 

My husband, Vaughn, passed away unexpectedly on October 25, 2017. We had been married for 48 years. Our two sons and their families and I miss him so very much.

After he passed away and all my family returned home, I was working in the kitchen and realized for the first time I could listen to my music, the Songs of Zion, any time and as loud as I wanted. Previously, sounds caused Vaughn to have severe tremors, so I tried to be as quiet as possible. I ran to the stereo and turned on the Songs of Zion — loud!

The first words sung were, "Jesus put His arms around me, brought me through a valley deep, to a mountain high and holy…" (No. 194, "Holy, Holy, Holy") I felt like Jesus had His arms around me as the song played. I felt such love, compassion, and peace enter into my body, heart, and soul. My body trembled, and I cried with the joy and peace and love that came into me. This lasted approximately 20 minutes.

I found out that a day or two prior to this, a sister in the church had a vision in which she saw Jesus hugging me.

Here's a story I sometimes relate when Election Day is approaching:

Once upon a time, a man died and appeared before God at the gates of heaven. God told the man that he was going to spend one day in heaven and then one day in hell and, after that, he would be permitted to choose which place he wanted to spend eternity in.

For his day in heaven, the man was shown the mansion he would live in, he met many of the people mentioned in the scriptures and attended a joyful gathering of the saints, all singing praises to the Lord who was in their midst. It was a very blessed day.

Do you ever wonder why you’re going through a particular trial or hardship? I do. Lots.

I especially wonder when it’s something incredibly difficult for me. Like the time I had an anxiety attack in an airport and I thought my throat was closing, never to open again. Or the time I lost my job due to a company reorganization. Or when I had delivery complications with my son.

In the midst of those situations, I often felt as though God was far from me. But, He also gave me wisdom to understand that somewhere, buried deep in that overwhelming tribulation, there was a lesson. What was He trying to show me, I wondered?

Today's Miracle Monday comes from the May 1946 edition of The Gospel News. The anonymous letter writer tells the story of how the Lord touched a brother named Chester.

Brother Cadman:

I am writing you relative to Brother Chester who became ill on Feb. 19th after coming home from work. He ate his supper and soon after went to the kitchen and on returning to his bedroom, he lost the use of his limbs and fell and cut himself above the left eye, and with Sister Chester's help, he got to bed.

Today's Good Word is always a good word to hear around the Fourth of July when concepts like independence and liberty are top of mind. 

It's very worthwhile to remember the hows and whys of American independence. It's even more worthwhile to remember the hows and whys of our own spiritual freedom from sin and eternal misery.

I hate turbulence. Turbulence during a plane flight is the root of my flying anxiety. I’ve gotten past sitting next to strangers and flying by myself, but I still haven’t gotten used to turbulence. There’s something about bouncing up and down at 30,000-ish feet in the air that’s unsettling for me. Most of the time it doesn’t last very long, and I’ve always landed safely on the ground, but in those brief moments, my heart starts to race and my mind runs through every possible worst-case scenario until the bumpiness passes.

The more I’ve thought about my flying anxiety, the more I’ve been able to relate it to other aspects of my life. As I live from day to day, it’s not always smooth sailing. Sometimes new obstacles or turbulent bumps mess with my daily routine, and I have to figure out how to navigate my way to calmer, clearer skies. The moment turbulent winds disrupt the smoothness of the flight, and my stomach drops while I white-knuckle grip my armrests, the only thing on my mind is “Lord, keep me safe. Lord, get me through this. Lord, You are in control.”

In Alma 29, Alma imagines for a moment what it would be like to be an angel. How exciting it would be to go forth with the trumpet of God and speak with a voice of thunder, declaring the plan of redemption to all people! The more he thinks about it, the more exciting of a concept it sounds like, and he sort of wishes it could be so. Finally, he returns to reality and actually scolds himself a little for getting carried away with the idea:

"But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me." (Alma 29:3)

Most mornings, my wife, Gina, gets our kids ready for school.

Every once in a while, I get the pleasure of being a part of the Monday-through-Friday morning routine. My son, Gianni, is 6 years old. When I tell him to put his clothes on, he lays on the floor completely flat on his back, whines that he is too tired to put his clothes on, and wants me to dress him while he makes zero effort. He doesn't want to do a thing. He just wants me to take his pajamas off and dress him as he just lays there. I don't mind helping him get ready, but I need to see a little effort on his part. Nothing huge … maybe just stand there?

Today's Miracle Monday is the conversion testimony of the late Brother Matthew T. Miller, as recorded in the July 1945 issue of The Gospel News.

I left Jamaica in 1919, spent one year in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in 1920 left Cuba and entered Tuskegee Institute, Alabama. I finished a seven-year course in Bible Training and Academics, with a satisfactory record in respect to scholarship, labor, and deportment, in three years, graduating May 24, 1923 as a nondenominational minister.

Today's Good Word asks a very, very good question. "Who has bewitched you?"

Interestingly, some synonyms of "bewitch" don't actually sound that bad: enchant, entrance, captivate, charm, beguile, fascinate, enthrall. These words don't sound scary or troubling.

Sometimes it's the "pretty" things that trick us into believing that the truth is ugly. Today's scripture warns against anything that leads us away from obeying the truth. 

When I was in the fourth grade, I celebrated my birthday party on the Gateway Clipper riverboat in downtown Pittsburgh. At that party, one of my friends gifted me a Snoopy bank, which to this day remains in pristine condition and sits displayed on a bookshelf in my guest bedroom — a fond reminder of that special time and my childhood. It also brings to mind some of the important lessons I learned growing up.

As a little girl, my parents instilled in my sisters and me the value of work and the importance of giving. There was great significance in our contribution as individuals and as members of the family. Some of what we did was simply expected — brushing our teeth, washing our hands, saying please and thank you, making our beds every day, hanging up our towels after our bath, putting our dirty clothes down the laundry chute, keeping our shared rooms straightened, doing our homework, etc.

When I was in 9th grade, one of my classes was Algebra. Whereas some students (and perhaps you can identify) had a hard time understanding this subject, I actually enjoyed it. It was kind of like trying to solve a mystery — what is the value of the mysterious X?

For those who don't remember — and forgive me if this brings back bad memories — it went something like this:

If X + Y = 10 and Y = 3, then what is the value of X? In this set of equations, X would be 7 since X and Y together add up to 10 and we already know that Y is 3. 10 – 3 = 7. (I promise that this is as mathematical as this article is going to get.)

"And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." (Deuteronomy 8:3)

Heaven's corn (Psalm 78:24) supplied to Israel during their wilderness experience was a mighty miracle of God's provision to sustain them along the way. This supernatural act was so important that God commanded a portion of the manna to be preserved within their holiest possession, the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 16:34). It stood as an emblem of Israel's continued dependence on God and His ability to provide. Yet, as the above passage reveals, God purposed a greater divine truth to be showcased through their immediate need. Spiritually, we need the Word of God like our body needs food.