Prayer in a word: intimacy

Here’s a typical scenario. The morning alarm goes off—for the third time. You know that you can’t hit the snooze alarm again. You are already late. Something in your morning routine will have to go. Although you know you shouldn’t, you decide that you just don’t have time for your morning devotion of prayer and Bible reading.…

Wayne Geiger on October 1, 2013

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Got pain? Get over it!

2 years ago, the front tire of my bike, met the space between a railroad track and the road. A half second later, my hands met the pavement. I broke both of them… in a few different places. That moment of physical pain provided lessons (always cross the tracks at a 90 degree angle… and unclip from my pedals). And it left scars that will probably…

Carl Bliss on September 17, 2013

Seeing the beauty in nothing

I have to admit that I am not that perfect, crafty Mom, who’s kids make works of art for the grandparents every holiday or just for some weekend fun.  My home will never appear in a decorating magazine, unless it’s showing what NOT to do. So, recently when I walked into one of these paint-it-yourself pottery places, and…

Melony McKaye on September 11, 2013

Do you have a discontented heart?

Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content. ~Helen Keller It is through the loss of what we have falsely hidden our comforts in, that we find true contentment for our hearts. In that loss we loose everything, and in that we find Christ; and a decision to make. Do…

Janelle Keith on September 11, 2013

What I wish I could say to every teenage girl

This past year has been full of a lot of changes for me. This picture is very reflective of my heart changing process. There has been some great spiritual changes, and some long time coming. My pastor says that “we may impress people with our strengths, but we connect emotionally with our weakness.” So get ready for some…

Janelle Keith on September 9, 2013

Under construction

The bathroom needed a remodel. A window built next to a tub became a window in a shower a long time and that window, wet and rotting, needed to go.  So we pulled the window, ripped the wall apart, filled in the hole and put in a new tub and shower. But there’s something you have to keep in mind when remodeling your home. There’s…

Mike Lanser on September 3, 2013

Back to school means back to basics

Several members of my immediate family serve the public school system in our area.  My wife is a school nurse; my mother-in-law was a school nurse until she retired. I have two daughter-in-laws who are teachers and a son who will soon graduate with a degree in elementary education.  I’ve learned that family members who share a common…

Tim Calcara on August 29, 2013

Joy in your journey home

Avery wrote a Target Haiku. For some reason when he and his mommy go to Target he thinks of me, his Grammy. I don’t know where he got that but I am loving that he does. The miles between us create a distance that our hearts bridge. It’s hard for this little one to be away from his Grammy, just like it is for me. He gets such joy from…

Janelle Keith on August 28, 2013

42 life lessons

Today is my forty-second birthday. Here are 42 things I’ve learned and observed in the last 42 years. Some are more serious than others.   1. Cooking bacon without a shirt on is a bad idea. 2. You must forgive everyone. EVERYONE. 3. You will make some stupid decisions in life. Learn from them. 4. You will meet both wonderful and…

Pete Berg on August 21, 2013

Afraid of Failure or Afraid of Success

What idea have you been thinking about for a while now that you would be willing to act on if you were absolutely sure that it would succeed? This in effect, was the question that Bill Hybels asked all in attendance at the Leadership Summit in 2011. I was in attendance that day and I will never forget how God used that moment in my life. Â…

Tim Calcara on August 13, 2013