donna evans

I’m Donna Evans, wife to Bruce, Mom to four wonderful adult children (one of whom is now with the Lord) and “Mia” to my four beautiful grand girls Julia, Caroline, Mary Clayton, and Birdie James.  I’ve been married to my childhood sweetheart, a high school football coach, for the last 49 years. For most of our marriage, I worked as a pharmacist at a local hospital. Like many other working moms, I juggled the daily demands of marriage, parenting, carpools, ball games, crowded practice schedules, and caregiving for aging parents. Five years ago I retired to focus on babies, books, and mentoring young moms.  Retirement has been much busier than I ever imagined.

I chose the name “Bible Bits” for my blog because I hope to take small pieces of scripture and provide big doses of encouragement. As a women’s Bible study teacher, I understand the importance of Bible literacy and studying God’s Word in context. But sometimes just a single word or phrase can encourage, strengthen, comfort, or challenge us in our daily lives. One of my favorite bite size scriptures is found in John 6:12. Jesus, after feeding the 5000 with just five loaves and 2 fish, commands his disciples to gather the leftovers. His disciples, already amazed by the miracle, quickly gather and fill twelve baskets with broken pieces. Jesus wasn’t using the broken pieces to put an exclamation point on an already impressive miracle. He was instead teaching us that God cares about the broken pieces of our lives.

James Bruce, our multi-challenged special needs son, is one of our family’s broken pieces. For 37 years James Bruce lived at home with his Dad and me as his caregivers. In 2021 after Covid pandemic lockdowns were lifted, we moved him to a nearby Christian group home for adults with intellectual disabilities. Bruce and I were trying to prepare James Bruce for life beyond us. Eleven months later on February 12, 2022, James Bruce died of a massive seizure in his sleep. Our family now knows firsthand both the chronic sorrow that comes with parenting a special needs child and the acute grief of loving and losing a beloved son.

When James Bruce was five years old, his Dad challenged me to quit praying that God would make him “normal” and start praying for God to use him for His glory. I couldn’t begin to imagine how God could possibly ever use James Bruce, but I began praying. And oh, how God has answered!

God didn’t change James Bruce, but through the years He has surely changed me. I’ve learned that God is faithful, able, sovereign, and always sufficient.  I am still learning that God is always good and we are always loved. Most of all, I’ve learned that God is God and I am not!

Much of my speaking, teaching, and writing is drawn from the intersection of God’s Word and our daily life with James Bruce.  Along the way, God has graciously used both James Bruce’s life and death in some pretty amazing ways. You’ll find a number of those stories sprinkled throughout the Bible Bits blog.

All of us have had or will have suffering and broken pieces in our lives. Perhaps your broken piece is the same as mine: a special needs son. But your broken piece could be a broken marriage, an abortion, sexual abuse, a prodigal child, an aging parent, a job loss or financial setback. The possibilities are endless, but so are the redemption stories. Our job is still the same as the disciples. We gather our broken pieces in obedience to God’s command. God chooses what He uses. In God’s economy, our suffering is never wasted.

Good stories are always real, raw, and redemptive. Our Evans family lives are very real and quite often raw. My prayer is that our lives will always be redemptive and that we will be faithful to gather our broken pieces. Some of our stories will make you laugh and others will make you cry, but only God’s Word can change your life. I invite you to grab a cup of coffee, read a Bible Bit or two, and share our stories for God’s glory.

Blessings,
Donna

donna’s mission

My passion is to encourage and equip women (and parents) to develop and strengthen their relationships with God, their families and each other.

A subset of that, as a special needs parent I have a unique opportunity to bear witness to God’s faithfulness in the suffering that accompanies life with a special needs child.

I also hope to facilitate the effective transfer of truth across generations. (Psalm 78) The effective transfer of truth one generation to the next is always intentional and relational. It’s relational in that you earn the right to be heard and intentional in that you get the message out of your mouth. I would love to serve as a resource for young parents not just for parenting, but also for good books to read, ideas for helping to connect generations across the miles of an increasingly mobile society.

about bible bits

“Gather up the pieces that none may be lost”
-John 6:12

Bible Bits a daily devotional which has been gathered over the last twenty years. It began with a beloved friend's cancer diagnosis and continued day by day through caring for a special needs son and writing through pain, loss, and suffering. Verse by verse, piece by piece Donna Evans gathered. Prayers prayed, questions asked, insights given, and lives changed, gathered one day at a time.

Donna Evans invites you to join her journey and gather your own broken pieces. Discover the truth that as God gives and we in obedience gather, others may share in our harvest of joy and healing.