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 Geri Duggan McCann
I love my mum and will miss her. I missed being able to chat yesterday but I know I am thankful for the time we had together. I just wish there had been more time. And I know I am not alone, many of you have also had to say goodbye to your mother too soon.
As I faced my first Mother's Day without mum on the other end of the phone I was actually drawn to thinking about my "other" mothers that are still here on earth. [Continue Reading...]
by Kimberly Amici
Moms’ Night Out is one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time. I LOVED the movie, I laughed hysterically, and even cried a few times. When I left the theatre I was excited to tell my friends and our Circles of Faith readers all about it. [Continue Reading...]
We all have a story to tell! Personal Connection is just one of the ways we share stories here at Circles of Faith. Ordinary women are doing extraordinary things for God. We hope you enjoy this and it encourages and inspires others to take that next step to what God is calling them to do.
Here’s an inside look at our regular Contributor and Licensed Professional Counselor Susanne Ciancio, who writes our monthly feature Susanne Says. [Continue Reading...]
by Denise Trio
The newest Passion album was recorded live in January at the 2014 Passion Conference in Atlanta and Houston. It is full of the much-anticipated worship songs that listeners have come to expect from the yearly conference that gathers 18-25 year olds and their leaders together. This deluxe edition includes a DVD with song videos and a sermon from Louie Giglio, who founded the Passion Conferences in 2000. [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...]
That's the question we will be asking COF contributors and you, our readers, each month. Is there a book that you just can't seem to put down, that's teaching you a profound spiritual lesson, or making you laugh amid your struggles? We want to hear about it!
There are two ways you can join us! Tell us in the comments what you are reading or use the LinkUp below to share your blog post about a favorite book you've read. [Continue Reading...]
by Kimberly Amici
Things turning out the way I planned.
When my husband and I first got married, we talked about many wonderful ideals for our family. We wanted a welcoming home with an open-door policy, a family that loves and serves God together, a simple life that prioritizes relationships.
Years later, the values, beliefs, and expectations we had for our family were getting lost in the shuffle of our modern-day suburban life. [Continue Reading...]
by Elise Daly Parker
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been skeptical about the World Wide Web. I mean, are the relationships we think we have, real?
Plus, the World Wide Web…well, it can be a scary place, right?
We know there are predators “out there.” Our families can be overly exposed to news, trends, and pictures; evil we fight hard to protect them from.
But the World Wide Web can expose us to good too. [Continue Reading...]
By Sandy DelGrande
I don’t know about you, but by April, I am done…cooked, fried, ready for the school year to be over, ready to take a break from ministry. I am depleted and running on empty. This is when I start dreaming about my summer vacation and my favorite place in the world, CAMP-of-the-WOODS. [Continue Reading...]
By Noelle Rhodes
Make no mistake about it, I absolutely love living in Ireland! There is truly no place as beautiful as this island. Yet I still suffer from occasional bouts of homesickness. From time to time, I pine for the place that I call “home.” I dream of the scenes, the smells, the faces that I have been far away from. I begin to feel lonely…and disconnected from both the place I miss and the place where I presently live.
Here are a few things that I have done to cure my occasional bouts of homesickness. [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...]
Our vision is to inspire, empower, educate one another through ongoing community exchange. One of the ways we would like to do this in 2014 is through our Friday Community column, in a monthly series called In Your Words. We reached out to our guest writers to ask them a question.
Read what they have to say and share your answer in the comments below.
This month: What is your favorite family Easter tradition? [Continue Reading...]
by Susan Panzica
Over the course of our 26 year marriage, my husband Tony and I have attended our share of marriage conferences. While each had value, we didn't experience any life changing (or I should say marriage changing) moments. That is - until we attended the You're Still The One marriage retreat weekend, held once a year around Valentine's Day. We learned practical communication tools, some of which we even used with our children. [Continue Reading...]
by Tiffany at Don't Waste the Crumbs
Our kitchen was filled with all sorts of boxes that were supposed to be food, but very little food itself. This was the result of a year worth of couponing and stocking up when the prices were too good to pass up. Of course it was never my intention to feed my family boxes, but manufacturers don't issue coupons for bananas or beans or whole chickens. We were on a very tight budget, so I used coupons and bought only what was on sale. Unfortunately, that meant we were buying mostly food that came in boxes. [Continue Reading...]
by Beth Stiff
I had the opportunity to attend the Compel Conference in South Sioux City, Nebraska in January. The theme for the conference was A Dare to Dream with the lovely Deidra Riggs as the featured speaker for the weekend. We began on a Friday evening and I tried to write as fast as my fingers would allow to capture everything Deidra shared with us. [Continue Reading...]
What are you reading?
That's the question we will be asking COF contributors and you, our readers, each month. Is there a book that you just can't seem to put down, that's teaching you a profound spiritual lesson, or making you laugh amid your struggles? We want to hear about it!
There are two ways you can join us! Tell us in the comments what you are reading or use the LinkUp below to share your blog post about a favorite book you've read. [Continue Reading...]
by Licensed Counselor Susanne Ciancio
In Part 1 of this series we looked at the common phenomena where we misinterpret other people's opinions, criticisms, and judgments as a clue or definition of who we are and our value/worth. The point was: it's not about you. In fact, other people are telling us who THEY are and NOT defining OUR value or worth! [Continue Reading...]
As director of the outreach ministry of my church, I'm responsible for creating service opportunities for our congregation. This is often done by developing partnerships with area non-profits. So when Karen Burke came to speak to my pastor a few months ago about her ministry. I was asked to be part of the conversation. Her unusual conversion experience proved to be the harbinger of a unique path to Promise of Grace Ministries. [Continue Reading...]
Here at Circles of Faith we are so grateful for the wonderful women that have written for us. In case you have missed any of their inspiring posts we've created a list of our most popular post from over the last six months in... [Continue Reading...]
By Noelle Rhodes
“You want a wee cuppa, Noelle?”
She has one of the friendliest faces you’ll ever see. Her eyes are full of life. The smile she wears is carried with ease and yet brims full of grace. It is not a common thing to come across a truly joyful person. When you do, you cannot help but feel completely safe in their presence. [Continue Reading...]
