by Angele Tanyeri
The Collyde Summit is a gathering of passionate believers in the NY, NJ, and PA area, who love Jesus and are convicted to become world changers. Collyde turned out to be a life-changing experience for me! To gather and worship in this way was profound. It also gave me a chance to ‘collide’ with individuals I may not have had an opportunity to meet otherwise.
by Elise Daly Parker
So for pretty much the 30+ years my beloved and I have been married, we have been “working” on our finances. Initially, it was just a matter of trying to be responsible with our money and not get in over our heads with debt. Truth be told, our success was short term. Some of this was circumstantial – unanticipated life and salary changes threw us for a loop. But, really? We overspent.
by Kathleen Whittam
There is a nickname for people who only go to church on Christmas and Easter--a ChrEaster. My mom has long been a fan of the Christmas cactus, a plant that, oddly enough, blooms around Christmas as well as Easter. I started calling them a ChrEaster Cactus.
By Beth Stiff
I wanted to start from the beginning...
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.~ Genesis 1:1-2
My focal point was going to be on the three words God says over and over again in the first chapter of Genesis: “…it is good."
He looked at all He created and said it was good. ~ Genesis 1:31
Starting from the beginning sounded like a good plan because I’m currently reading from the Book of Genesis and those three words jumped off the pages as I read. If we believe everything He said as truth, and he says those three words several times, I’m thinking those words are rather important. [Continue Reading...]
by Elise Daly Parker
Even if you don’t go for a big New Year’s Eve celebration, the New Year can mark a fresh start, a new beginning, a shift in focus. It’s a good time to take a look back at the past, and consider a vision for the year ahead.
Many people choose a New Year’s resolution or two… [Continue Reading...]
By April Sliwak for the Glory of God
I come from a family of “yellers.” I never thought anything of it; raising our voices when we spoke to one another was common. Then, my oldest daughter, at about four years old, asked me one day, “Mommy, why are you always angry and yelling at me?” I stopped in my tracks. I realized instantly, by the grace of God, that I was communicating in the only way I knew, and it wasn’t pretty. [Continue Reading...]
by Chelle Wilson
For Christmas last year, I got a new iPod. My new Nano replaced one three times its size with only one fourth the capacity. My sweetheart bought it in support of my latest evolution--runner. Running is moving meditation--the permission I grant myself for intimate worship--3 to 4 times a week or more. [Continue Reading...]
by Chelle Wilson
I had a refreshing conversation with my Gayle this morning. (I know, you’ve missed the adventures of Gayle, right? She’s well…). She confessed to me that she’s guilty of setting expectations which are, more often than not, unmet. They leave her feeling disappointed and exhausted. I told her to stop setting them. [Continue Reading...]
By Susan Panzica
Last Wednesday, I attended the Ash Wednesday contemplative service at my church. What a blessing to take an hour to simply rest and ponder the sacrifice Jesus made for us, for me. At various stations, we had the opportunity to read Psalms, take communion, remember Gethsemane, etc. When I read this verse, I was moved to tears despite its familiarity [Continue Reading...]
By Megan Romeo
New year. New beginning. New season. Yet same old feelings of brokenness, hurt, and ache that penetrate my heart. You see friends, in August I said goodbye to my dad who, after fighting a courageous battle against cancer, went Home to be in our Heavenly Father’s eternal and glorious presence. My world came crashing down as I cried, pleaded to Jesus to bring healing to my dad’s body. My heart and soul shattered for my family, as we experienced a loss that will be forever imprinted on our hearts. [Continue Reading...]
by Chelle Wilson
Most mornings, I walk my dog as the sun rises. It is solitary fellowship, movement as I make my way through the scriptures by way of the Listener’s Bible. Despite the early hour and the fact that we are virtually alone, I’m still not isolated and disconnected. For evening walks, usually before sundown, there are no ear buds, and people are around. In either case, Sando is good for my health. According to an article published on active.com, dog owners may be healthier people. An added bonus for me? [Continue Reading...]
by Kimberly Amici
When my husband and I first met, I lived in Atlanta and he lived in New York City. While visiting the Big Apple, I met up with a college friend for drinks. She had a friend, who had a friend…
It wasn’t until a few months later that we “got together.” I was back in town visiting and I reached out to him to see if he wanted to catch up. He did.
After I returned to Atlanta we started calling each other.
At first in was only once a day, then it was two, sometimes even three times a day. At night we’d talk on the phone for hours, just getting to know one another. We started to email back and forth too. I couldn’t wait to see his name come across the computer screen. We forwarded interesting articles, continued conversations we started on the phone, and let the other know we missed them. [Continue Reading...]
By Chelle Wilson
This prayer is dedicated in part to the Polar Vortex, which has given us some of the most intense winter weather I can ever remember. It may be because I am older now, and snow and cold are more about heating the house, having suitable snow tires, and driving safely rather than finding the steepest hill to sled down, making the most audacious snowman, or filling an as yet undiscovered virgin plain with a heavenly host of snow angels. In any case, I am grateful that God speaks to me in many ways, often through the deep brown eyes of my beloved fur companion even on a treacherous and icy morning stroll. [Continue Reading…]
by Beth Stiff
By the time you read, this Thanksgiving will be over and we will be counting down the days until Christmas. However, as I write I’m preparing for Thanksgiving, so stay with me.
I look ahead to both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday with mixed emotions.
My family will spend Thanksgiving apart. I will be off to see my husband for the last time before he deploys and our children will both be in different states. [Continue Reading...]
For those who know me well, it comes as no surprise that I’m working on keeping a civil or silent tongue in my head. It's not that I'm mean, just prone to be snarky. I didn’t have the best day yesterday, so rather than succumbing to frustration and the guilt associated with failing (again), I walked the dog. He’s cheaper than therapy and keeps all my secrets. I also use the quiet time (since Sando’s not a chatterbox) to pray, be still, and listen to hear answers to problems I’m facing. [Continue Reading...]
By Noelle Rhodes
I look out my living room window and see shattered glass everywhere. My eyes blur with exhaustion, but for the moment, I am sobered by the sight before me.
The night before, Troy and I had been lying in bed watching a television program together. The plot was set in Venezuela. I turned to Troy and said, “The Lord knows me well. I don’t think I could be a missionary to Venezuela. Thankfully, He sent me to Northern Ireland. I’ll take the rain and the riots over hot weather and big bugs any day.” [Continue Reading…]
By Susan Panzica
“Mom!! He didn’t say his thank you!” [Eyes blazing, finger pointing, hand on hip, you get the picture.]
From the time they could speak, I drilled my kids with the importance of saying their “thank yous.” So when a classmate didn’t express his appreciation to my then four-year-old son, AJ was duly indignant.
What’s a mom to do? Think quick!
I answered that if we get a “thank you” here on earth, that’ll be all the thanks we get, but if we don’t receive a “thank you” here on earth, God will reward us in heaven. And that’s even better than an earthly “thank you.” (Matt. 6:1-4) [Continue Reading…]
By Micalagh Beckwith Moritz
Lately, I have been going to church a lot. Every day, in fact. Several times a day. Not in the way you might think, though. I don’t actually mean I go into a church building, attend a church service, sing worship songs with a congregation several times a day. What I mean is, I have changed my outlook on church. I have been viewing every place I go as a place to meet God. And I have been pleasantly surprised. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love attending a church service on Sunday. I see it as vital to my Christian journey, to connect regularly with the body of Christ, to the larger Christian church. My journey would be incomplete without engaging in such communal worship, singing hymns, receiving Communion, and meeting afterwards for coffee and conversation. But Sunday services are [Continue Reading…]
By Beth Stiff
The only thoughts occupying my mind these days are ones related to my husband’s upcoming deployment. This deployment will be a first for my family. One thing I’m sure of as my family enters this new season—God is with us.
The same God here with me today and always is the same God who will be with my husband while he is miles and miles away from home. The same God happens to be with you too wherever you may be. At times, this can be hard for me to wrap my mind around. [Continue Reading...]
by Chelle Wilson
It’s time for another sermon from the dog.
I’ve been taken to task three times this morning by people who love me for retreating into my miserableness and robbing people who need it of my sunshine (and here I was thinking my miserableness was all about me….hrmph!).
Every morning, I hear the conversely plaintive, playful, pleading cries of our doggy requesting his morning walk. His faith is unassailable, like mine needs to be. There is no quavering uncertainty about whether he will be leashed, walked, watered, fed, played with, or adored. [Continue Reading...]
by Kimberly Coyle
When the judges at the dance competition asked him his name, he stuttered. Each question they asked brought on another short, halting answer. The judges smiled, they knew he was there to show off what he could do with his feet, not to give a speech, and they said, “Let’s see what you can do.” What he could do when the music set his body free, brought tears to the eyes of the panel. [Continue Reading...]
By Micalagh Moritz Beckwith
It has been two months since my husband and I packed up and stored most of our earthly belongings, gave as much as we could away, placed what was left into four suitcases, and flew to Belize, Central America. As we said goodbye to friends and family with much reminiscing and tears, we were reminded of just how amazing and supportive our community was. [Continue Reading...]
By Chelle Wilson
When San Fernando joined our family I didn’t have any idea how he would change our lives. I could not know that he would become my ongoing object lesson in Faith. He has taught me in numerous ways that God is everywhere, particularly in the deep brown eyes of a puppy way too big to be a lap dog but still and forever adorably my baby. [Continue Reading...]
By Susanne Ciancio, LPC
This is the third installment of a series I’ve been writing on Bob Hamp’s Foundations of Freedom.
One of the most basic premises of the Foundations of Freedom series is that we have a bad definition of freedom. We define freedom as the absence of something bad or negative, so our goal in life is to try and rid ourselves of something. But a Biblical definition of freedom is quite different: It's the Presence of Someone, namely our Savior, Healer, Deliverer, Redeemer! Let's try this on for size. [Continue Reading...]
by Susanne Ciancio
Last month I shared about a wonderful resource I highly recommend to our Circles of Faith community called Foundations of Freedom. It's a five-part DVD set presented by Bob Hamp, a pastor who also has mental health credentials/licenses.
I will continue to write about the content of the series and why I'm so excited about it next month. This month, however, I would like to devote my space to a dear friend's wonderful testimony about how the series impacted her life. [Continue Reading...]
