Donna Jackson
The Audience of Your Life
By Donna Jackson |
We watched several clips Sunday morning from the movie “One Life.” It tells the story ...
Until We Change
By Donna Jackson |
“Please read just one more story” became my daughter’s common bedtime plea. But my son ...
It Just Means More
By Donna Jackson |
In 2016, the Southeastern Conference sought to rebrand itself with an ad campaign touting the ...
Travel On!
By Donna Jackson |
Mark Keathley’s painting “Mountain Glory” overlooks our living room. Occasionally, I take a deep breath, ...
Our Topsy-Turvy World
By Donna Jackson |
I’m glad to see you again. It’s been a while. The last four months have ...
Slow Somedays
By Donna Jackson |
John Fogerty wrote Credence Clearwater Revival’s hit song, “Someday Never Comes.” The 70s song begins ...
Experiencing Grace
By Donna Jackson |
Ever tried to peel one of those tough onions? You know, the kind that takes ...
God Made a Husband
By Donna Jackson |
Last month, Ron and I celebrated 45 years of marriage. Several years ago, I wrote ...
Perpetual Peace
By Donna Jackson |
Red flags whipped wildly in the leftover winds of Tropical Storm Ida. Beach authorities posted ...
Just As I Am
By Donna Jackson |
The waitress poured us another cup of coffee. Not seeing the bottom of our cups ...
Saving Nicodemus and Me
By Donna Jackson |
Whenever I feel the urge to splurge for dinner, my craving often shoves me toward ...
The Greater Miracle
By Donna Jackson |
I am taking a page out of Network TV’s playbook this summer. Since I will ...
Sweet Grace
By Donna Jackson |
I shouldn’t have tried it, but I did—no need to bother my grandmother when I ...
Wearing the Dust of Surrender
By Donna Jackson |
Many of us have difficulty believing how much God loves us because of unhappy circumstances ...
Change Your Water to Wine
By Donna Jackson |
A friend recently asked me which of my blogs is my favorite. Without hesitation, I ...
What’s Going On, God?
By Donna Jackson |
If only Peter and his six buddies could have fired up the speakers in his ...
Does Your Passion for Jesus Show?
By Donna Jackson |
Does your passion for Jesus show? Our prayer team gathered in a small room Sunday ...
Where Do We Start?
By Donna Jackson |
Mark Keathley's “Dance of Grace” painting hangs in our living room. It depicts a circle ...
Please Don’t Stop!
By Donna Jackson |
If you had been Adam or Eve, how would you have felt seeing the flaming ...
The Grief Bear
By Donna Jackson |
If you stop in at a ranger’s station in any national park, you will hear ...
Holy in an Unholy World
By Donna Jackson |
Getting a fresh taste of God’s word fills and thrills my soul. Every year, I ...
Holiness 101 in the Checkout Line
By Donna Jackson |
We spent this past weekend in Auburn. Since the rain had moved out and our ...
The Push and Pull of Holiness
By Donna Jackson |
One man in Scripture hesitated and made a few excuses, but he never said “NEVER” ...
Insignificantly Significant
By Donna Jackson |
https://vimeo.com/916937572 The Samaritan woman didn’t know God was setting her up for something good. She woke ...
Following the Breadcrumbs
By Donna Jackson |
In Winston Churchill’s 1948 address to the British House of Commons, he declared, “Those who ...
Troubling the Troubler: Defeating Discouragement
By Donna Jackson |
What do you do when you feel overwhelmingly discouraged? Do you wrap yourself in solitude? ...
How to Share the Gospel
By Donna Jackson |
In Matthew 28:19, we’re told to go out and make disciples of all nations. This ...
Do You Believe in Miracles?
By Donna Jackson |
I’m not sure when it first happened, but the word “love” has been diluted. We ...
The Three Parts of You
By Donna Jackson |
Stories of incredible transformation inspire change in others. My sweet mother struggled much of her ...
Stories Stick
By Donna Jackson |
My friend Kim Whitaker and I talked last week about how much we love a ...
Newborn Hope
By Donna Jackson |
Babies exit the womb as tiny, wadded-up miracles of hope. They stretch, kick, and come ...
The Baby is Gone!
By Donna Jackson |
When I arrived, the parking lot bulged like Santa’s toy bag on Christmas Eve. I ...
Heroes and Immanuel
By Donna Jackson |
If you commanded a drone to fly high above my college town, it wouldn’t look ...
God’s Great Anticipation
By Donna Jackson |
Quiet held my ears hostage. They longed to break free just long enough to hear ...
What Will You Give God for Christmas?
By Donna Jackson |
In my mind, it was Coke that started it all. Their “Have a Coke and ...
Express Yourself!
By Donna Jackson |
The group of ten smelly men shared nothing in common except their disease. Leprosy wrapped ...
Ezekiel? Really?
By Donna Jackson |
Don’t you love it when you see something in Scripture you’ve never paid attention to ...
If I Had To Do It All Over Again …
By Donna Jackson |
If I had it to do all over again … I’ve heard that sentiment more ...
Hold On!
By Donna Jackson |
My pride stung when our teammate/coach wanted to move me from second base to catcher. ...
That You May Be Healed
By Donna Jackson |
I was saved at 13. For two reasons, the book of James was the first ...
How Can Anxious Be a Good Word?
By Donna Jackson |
Learning a new language can be frustrating and quite time-consuming. I remember going on a ...
Justice for the Bad Guy
By Donna Jackson |
Sometimes I can’t help myself; I want the bad guy to get what he deserves. ...
When God Takes Us Back to School
By Donna Jackson |
There’s an air of anticipation wrapped around a new school year. Elementary kids grin with ...
You Are Not the Only One
By Donna Jackson |
It’s easy to think our whole world has gone haywire and turned its back on ...
Shifting Our Perspective
By Donna Jackson |
Our eleven-month old grandson Chapel, whom I affectionately refer to as Chappy, finally put his ...
Changing Our View of Marriage
By Donna Jackson |
Most who enter into marriage make the same kind of tenacious promise; leaving will never ...
Nothing Left to Lose
By Donna Jackson |
Kris Kristofferson co-wrote it. Roger Miller first recorded it. Then versions by Gordon Lightfoot, Charlie ...
No Good Reason to Love
By Donna Jackson |
“I love you.” It’s such an easy thing to say. We utter the words with ...
To Hell in a Handbasket?
By Donna Jackson |
For centuries, Christians have been portrayed as the bad guys. During Jesus’ day, religious leaders ...
Let’s Get to the Roof!
By Donna Jackson |
As Ron and I made our way back to our car Sunday morning, I remarked, ...
Pay Attention! Something Needs Changing
By Donna Jackson |
If you are a mountain lover, you may not understand my affection for the beach. ...
Life Between the Songs
By Donna Jackson |
Since I frequently tell my grandchildren that it’s always a good day when they learn ...
Time-Released Fear
By Donna Jackson |
When it came to matters of the heart, each of the women in my family ...
When the Music Plays
By Donna Jackson |
Recently, while storm clouds hung low in Tuscaloosa, softball fans enjoyed a scene you don’t ...
It’s Time to Let Go
By Donna Jackson |
Don’t judge me, but I’ve seen the movie Top Gun: Maverick at least three times ...
Hope Uncomplicated
By Donna Jackson |
Learning to read takes time in any language. However, learning to read in English wins ...
People Who Feel Like Sunshine
By Donna Jackson |
While my weary muscles drowned in a tub full of salt water, I asked Siri ...
Rebound!
By Donna Jackson |
This past weekend I watched most of the Women’s Final Four basketball tournament. I witnessed ...
More Than We Seem
By Donna Jackson |
Blog-inspiring analogies and metaphors manifest themselves in all sorts of ways - even in Winnie ...
Things to Do, Places to Go
By Donna Jackson |
We began 2023 talking about “Beginnings”. Then in February, we explored “Relationships”. You might not ...
Choices Lead Feelings Follow
By Donna Jackson |
What snapshots make it into your photo albums? Maybe yours are filled with weddings, births, ...
Reverse the Curse
By Donna Jackson |
I walked off the stage Saturday, and I just knew. The curse had been supernaturally ...
The Jesus Revolution and Me
By Donna Jackson |
A spark from the Jesus Revolution drifted across the country in the early 70’s and ...
It’s a Process!
By Donna Jackson |
Learning of any kind is a process. Before Ron and I married, he had taken ...
Remarkable Relationships
By Donna Jackson |
Happy Valentines Day! Relationships take center stage this month on Perfection Road. Last week, messy ...
Can Your Messy Relationship Make an About-face?
By Donna Jackson |
Messy relationships happen. Sometimes, our romantic relationships slip and slide into the mud. Other times, ...
A Beginning That Has No End
By Donna Jackson |
In the late 70’s, I thought I could learn to play the guitar like Joni ...
Constantly Beginning Again
By Donna Jackson |
Maybe you remember that 80’s TV show “The A-Team”. It depicted the antics of a ...
Beginning Again and Again
By Donna Jackson |
Growing up, some called me a tomboy. I didn’t particularly like that label, but I ...
Beginning Again
By Donna Jackson |
As a new teenager, thoughts of driving a car often spurred my imagination. I couldn’t ...
Beginnings
By Donna Jackson |
Going anywhere with my granddaddy Russie (his real name was Russell) painted a big smile ...
Life on Instant Replay
By Donna Jackson |
I was reminded a couple of weeks ago that I shouldn’t be so hesitant about ...
Touched
By Donna Jackson |
Surely, he felt more and more lonely and rejected as the days crawled by. After ...
Wringing Out the Good
By Donna Jackson |
My grandchildren will tell you that whenever you learn something new it has been a ...
Used Up and Refilled
By Donna Jackson |
For these next few weeks leading up to Christmas we’ll focus on a few of ...
I’m Sorry
By Donna Jackson |
Those who know me best know my love for movie quotes. Since Ron loves me, ...
Don’t Lose Heart
By Donna Jackson |
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall ...
Fussing with God
By Donna Jackson |
When my friend Kim’s text popped up, I opened it with a quick click. Staring ...
Emotional Spaghetti
By Donna Jackson |
The woman I spoke to when booking our trip to Italy had been there several ...
Rejected
By Donna Jackson |
After the construction of the Florence Cathedral was completed in 1436, overseers commissioned Agostino di ...
Feeling Stuck
By Donna Jackson |
After flying nine hours from Italy, our plane neared New York so we could make ...
Beneath the Tuscan Sun
By Donna Jackson |
When she walked out wearing an apron with a towel flung over her shoulder I ...
God Made a Marriage
By Donna Jackson |
This week let’s pray for the marriages of those we love and for our own. ...
What If’s and If Only’s
By Donna Jackson |
It was twilight, and he needed to be alone. God calling his father home had ...
The Good Life
By Donna Jackson |
My grandparents lived in my college town long before I became a student. They made ...
When An Alligator Is Under Your Armpit
By Donna Jackson |
Nine months ago, our daughter and son-in-law welcomed a five-year-old little boy from Taiwan into ...
Going Back to Kindergarten
By Donna Jackson |
Year after year, a reserved spot on my fifth-grade classroom wall displayed the same laminated ...
We Interrupt This Program for a Special Announcement
By Donna Jackson |
At 1:11 pm yesterday, our seventh grandchild arrived kicking and screaming. While I might have ...
BREAD!
By Donna Jackson |
Between church services Sunday morning I took a few minutes to do one of my ...
Subtle Obedience
By Donna Jackson |
What hints help you identify someone as a fellow believer? What causes you to inquire ...
What Teachers Need From You
By Donna Jackson |
As a first-year teacher, I soaked up every tidbit of advice my veteran cohorts floated ...
Slip Sliding Away
By Donna Jackson |
Maybe they just don’t see where you’re coming from. Or, maybe you’re looking at it ...
One Team
By Donna Jackson |
What seems like decades ago, (Oh, wait, it was decades ago.) I coached my daughter’s ...
God Was Not Surprised
By Donna Jackson |
I learned the hard way that being negative can have adverse effects. Maybe I should clarify ...
Old Dog Learns New Trick
By Donna Jackson |
My mother’s humor could paint smiles on the saddest of faces. If it’s true that ...
Finding More in Marriage
By Donna Jackson |
With our errands checked off, we headed toward home when Ron broke the silence by ...
My God Story – Ella Van Deusen
By Donna Jackson |
I've waited weeks now to introduce you to my sweet friend Ella Van Deusen! We ...
One of the Good Ones
By Donna Jackson |
You may call me shameless, and that’s okay. However, I have someone who deserves a pat ...
Weary and Discouraged
By Donna Jackson |
As the iconic movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” opens, we meet George Bailey, a banker ...
Your Story
By Donna Jackson |
Have you ever wondered how your life’s story would read if it were part of ...
I Don’t Want To
By Donna Jackson |
For several years, our small tribe of women met for Bible study with female inmates ...
No Time to Play Games
By Donna Jackson |
Last Monday rubbed my patience about as raw as sushi. And I hate sushi. Everything ...
A Life That Matters
By Donna Jackson |
The motley tribe of seven disciples sat quietly beside the sea trying to understand the ...
You May Argue, But …
By Donna Jackson |
Whenever my brain waves begin to lay flat and my mind becomes exhausted from a ...
What Do You Want for the Children in Your Life?
By Donna Jackson |
What do you want for the children in your life? That was the question I ...
Why Travel Perfection Road?
By Donna Jackson |
On the outside my grandmother Josephine looked like any other grandmother. She wore glasses, gray ...
When a Rock Cranks Your Tractor
By Donna Jackson |
Looking at rocks at 7:00 in the morning cranked my tractor about as much as ...
How Can It Be?
By Donna Jackson |
The annual K-LOVE Fan Awards is all grown up now. However, it began with a ...
Let’s Start Over
By Donna Jackson |
I hated math, but I loved my 10th grade geometry teacher. Her many years in the ...
With His Hands on Mine
By Donna Jackson |
It usually takes a couple of Sunday morning songs for me to get my worship ...
Hold You?
By Donna Jackson |
Human touch comforts the brokenhearted, electrifies lovers, encourages the defeated, soothes the restless, and cements ...
Literal Love
By Donna Jackson |
Ron and I still smile toothy grins when we think about his first visit to ...
Ready to Reset
By Donna Jackson |
Jesus made making peace with God a simple process. Yet, when it comes to making ...
Holding On To a Holy Moment
By Donna Jackson |
Our mountainside home overlooks beautiful Lake Guntersville. Some mornings, I stand at my back door ...
The Hardest Part of the Journey
By Donna Jackson |
Thankfully, making peace with God is a simple process. He makes it simple because He ...
Squeezed
By Donna Jackson |
If you stood a Christian and a non-Christian side by side, it might be impossible ...
On a Scale from 1 to 10 …
By Donna Jackson |
It was a simple question: On a scale from 1 to 10, how peaceful are ...
A New Year’s Blanket
By Donna Jackson |
If snow blanketed our world every day in a glistening shimmer we might take its ...
2021
By Donna Jackson |
There's a new year coming! Some will be glad to see it go while others hate ...
Simply Jesus
By Donna Jackson |
The classic Christmas movie The Polar Express delivers a trainload of insightful spiritual comparisons. Last week, I used ...
How Much Love
By Donna Jackson |
Who doesn't love a friend who looks for the best in you and then makes it ...
A Long Line of Love
By Donna Jackson |
Truly, there is no greater joy than knowing your children and their children are walking ...
My Thanksgiving Song
By Donna Jackson |
Do you underline things in your Bible? I do. I want the ones reading behind ...
There’s Always Room for More
By Donna Jackson |
Friends often fill the chambers of our hearts much like the Jews filled the Tabernacle. ...
Church Lepers
By Donna Jackson |
Desperation shoved her through the doors of the drug rehab facility. Counselors and teachers there ...
Saving Nicodemus
By Donna Jackson |
Whenever I feel the urge to splurge for dinner, my craving often shoves me toward ...
I Was … But God … And Now …
By Donna Jackson |
Yesterday, my doctor friend casually asked how old Ron and I were. I’m sure that ...
A Letter to My Child
By Donna Jackson |
Dear Child of Mine, In times like these, maybe you could use a reminder of ...
Perpetual Peace
By Donna Jackson |
Red flags whipped wildly in the leftover winds of Tropical Storm Ida. Orange Beach authorities ...
Don’t Let the Golden Rule Rub You the Wrong Way
By Donna Jackson |
My elementary school pencil boxes were made exactly like my granddaddy’s cigar boxes. But rather ...
Regrets, I Have a Few …
By Donna Jackson |
… but then again, too few to mention.” If you’re old enough to remember the ...
Wishing and Hoping
By Donna Jackson |
Star light, star brightFirst star I see tonightI wish I mayI wish I mightHave the ...
It’s Over!
By Donna Jackson |
Last week’s blog The Miracle of the Rescue highlighted Mary Magdalene’s deliverance from demon possession as portrayed ...
The Miracle of the Rescue
By Donna Jackson |
Most likely, you’ve either seen or heard about The Chosen, a new series based on the ...
What Jesus Means to Me
By Donna Jackson |
My fourteen-year-old grandson Camden has a passion for writing. Because his career goal is to ...
What to Do with Careless Words
By Donna Jackson |
I had been teaching long enough to know better, but I said it anyway. I’ve ...
What Jesus Needed
By Donna Jackson |
Who are the friends you want beside you in a crisis? Who prays for you ...
What Can One Person Do?
By Donna Jackson |
What can one person do to help change the direction of our country? I’ve struggled ...
Take Me as I Am
By Donna Jackson |
The waitress poured us another cup of coffee. Not seeing the bottom of our cups ...
What a Sweet, Sweet Spirit!
By Donna Jackson |
Does any of this sound familiar? Your emotions are pushing you in one direction, but ...
Props for the Drooping
By Donna Jackson |
Street corners, window boxes, and yards are filled with beautiful flowers this season! Newest plants ...
Keeping the Light On and Staying Out of the Darkness
By Donna Jackson |
https://vimeo.com/568614011 What Won't Help Someone Struggling with Depression Trying HarderCriticizing DisbelievingComparingOver SpiritualizingDismissingDeflectingRedirectingMinimizingReducingTaken from Out of ...
A Solid Lump of Burning Fire
By Donna Jackson |
Our house sits perched on the edge of Gunter Mountain. From our deck, you can ...
Martha and Mary’s Hidden Gem
By Donna Jackson |
If you listen to playing children for very long, you’ll most likely hear the words, ...
Reflections of You and Me
By Donna Jackson |
Mountains or beach? Most of us develop an intense preference for one or the other ...
The One Jesus Loves
By Donna Jackson |
Happy Tuesday! I've taken the week off, but I'm happy to say that you have ...
Sweat, Grass, and Sam Cooke
By Donna Jackson |
Last summer, the swelter of the hot southern day forced my skin to do more ...
Can You Answer One Question?
By Donna Jackson |
The message for ladies struggling with drug and alcohol addiction rested quietly in my notebook. ...
Catfish and Dead Bodies
By Donna Jackson |
It seemed like we were scuba diving in chocolate milk. My coworker John and I ...
Your Life on the Big Screen
By Donna Jackson |
Whenever I get to linger with my grandchildren, one of them will usually pop out ...
Unrequited Love
By Donna Jackson |
Whether it’s romance or friendship, nothing stings as sharply, nor as long, as unrequited love. ...
Is There Fire in Your Bones?
By Donna Jackson |
When the Spirit wants to remind you of something, He often causes the oddest verses ...
Dealing With A Slow Someday
By Donna Jackson |
John Fogerty’s song from the 70’s starts out, “First thing I remember was asking Papa, ...
Just for Fun Today
By Donna Jackson |
Three years ago today my mother went to be with Jesus. However, I'm choosing to ...
Who Would You Be If You Weren’t You?
By Donna Jackson |
Years ago, our youth minister plastered the youth group’s meeting place with teen photo mashups. ...
The Best Thing to Teach the Kids in Your Life
By Donna Jackson |
Last Wednesday night, the leaders of our church's children's ministry allowed me to present my ...
Letting Go of Sameness
By Donna Jackson |
Cooking breakfast used to be so simple. Back when my man went to work at ...
Significantly Insignificant
By Donna Jackson |
The Samaritan woman didn’t know she was being set up by God. She woke up that ...
Toddler Love
By Donna Jackson |
When an old dog needs to learn new tricks, sometimes it’s the puppies who lead ...
The Look of Love
By Donna Jackson |
Valentine’s Day offers the opportunity for tokens of love to slip from even the shyest ...
It’s a Process
By Donna Jackson |
Today's post appeared Sunday on Lean into Jesus Ministries' website. It's always an honor to ...
Indescribable Joy
By Donna Jackson |
Do you recognize the name Peter Halajian? At 26, Peter moved to Naugatuck, Connecticut from ...
Fear and Trembling
By Donna Jackson |
“What does fear and trembling mean to you in this verse?” That was the question ...
When God Moves You to a Different Church
By Donna Jackson |
Have you ever seen a movie that began by dropping you right into the middle ...
Learning from Messy Friendships
By Donna Jackson |
Relationships are messy, aren’t they? Friendships help nurture us, but they can also be the ...
A Word for 2021
By Donna Jackson |
A new year is like the brand-new box of crayons you opened on the first ...
Baby Love
By Donna Jackson |
Have you ever wondered why God sent Jesus to earth as a baby? Before we ...
A Different Kind of Christmas Message
By Donna Jackson |
The summer of 2014, while I peddled my latest book at a Christian conference vendor ...
Does This Fig Leaf Make Me Look Fat?
By Donna Jackson |
Truth never changes. Yet, the way we perceive, receive, and internalize truth should naturally change ...
Nobodies to Somebodies
By Donna Jackson |
You can SEE and HEAR today's Perfection Road! https://vimeo.com/488291738 https://vimeo.com/488291738
Changing the Way We Think
By Donna Jackson |
In our desire for Finding More, you and I traveled with Saul on the road to ...
Experiencing Grace
By Donna Jackson |
Ever tried to peel one of those tough onions? You know, the kind that takes ...
Looking for Love
By Donna Jackson |
If you knew that an outrageously large sum of money sat in an unknown account ...
It’s a New Day!
By Donna Jackson |
It’s been eight weeks, and Perfection Road finally has a fresh online presence. More importantly, ...
Sweet, Sticky Grace
By Donna Jackson |
I shouldn’t have even tried it, but I did. No need to bother my grandmother ...
We Need a New Song
By Donna Jackson |
I’m ready to sing a new song. How about you? In a few weeks Perfection ...
Chasing Sleep?
By Donna Jackson |
A few nights not so long ago, as sleep slipped slowly away in the soft ...
Even Jesus Got Discouraged
By Donna Jackson |
“For we do not have a high priest [Jesus] who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, ...