About three years ago, some of our dearest friends found themselves in the middle of a divorce. It was awful. It was terrible. It was hard.

Divorce always is, isn't it? It's never the easier thing, even when we think for a minute that it might be. It leaves people, families, and homes in a million broken pieces.

The good news is that God is in the business of broken pieces.

Our focus for today is on the Romans text, and we read a devotion from The Lutheran Study Bible.

On the feast day for St. Bartholomew, we take our devotion from Growing in Christ: High School Teacher Guide (NT1).

Throughout my childhood, I remember my brother breaking, fracturing, or twisting some part of his leg at least two or three times. Each of these times, he was put into a cast, boot, or brace of some sort and at least once he was ordered to use crutches. Now, thankfully I've never had a broken leg so I've never needed to use crutches, but just like every kid I've tried them out just to see what it's like.

Today’s focus is on Jesus’ conversation with the Canaanite woman as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. Our devotional reading is from Fusion: Food.

For today’s commemoration of Bernard of Clairvaux, our devotion comes from Celebrating the Saints.

Today we remember the great theologian Johann Gerhard, and we read a devotion from Theological Commonplaces: On the Nature of Theology and Scripture, Second Edition.

In the Book of Genesis, we are confronted with our own sinfulness—in the selfishness of Adam and Eve, in the jealousy of Cain, and in the arrogance of the builders of the Tower of Babel. But we also see clear evidence of God’s grace—in the protevangelium (3:15), in the rainbow after the flood, and in His promises to Abraham.

Today, we focus on the text of Jesus walking on water and take our devotion from the Bible study Fusion: Water.

We remember today the martyrdom of Lawrence, who boldly stood his ground against the Roman authorities until the very end. Our devotion comes from One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism: Christians Through the Centuries.