Tag Archives: love

What will you choose?

Posted in Community Impact, Devotions by

A few days ago, I was grocery shopping at Aldi with my 3-year-old daughter.  The store was busy as usual.  It was filled with men and women, elderly couples, and lots of young mothers with carts overflowing with groceries and little kids.  As I shopped, I found myself smiling and making casual conversation with a few of the other customers in the store.  (I just can’t seem to help myself… I’m an extrovert!)

When it was time to check-out, I ended up in line behind a mother with three little boys.  Her youngest was seated in the cart and trying desperately to “help” his mom.   Unfortunately, when things didn’t go quite how he hoped they would, he got upset.  As his frustration level rose, it appeared his mom’s anxiety level did as well.  Continue reading →

An Open Letter To Christians Concerning American Politics

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Dear Fellow American Christians,

Let me start out by saying, I have never written anything about politics. Quite honestly, I never thought that I would.  This has been very intentional.  You see, I don’t EVER want differences in political views/opinions to be a reason that someone gets turned away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Because, in my humble opinion, relationship with Jesus is the ONE thing that I think is worth putting my name/reputation on the line for.

Let me be the first to admit, that I haven’t always been a shining example of what a Christian should be.  I am so human (i.e. flawed).  But one thing I do know is that Jesus came to reconcile people like me (sinners) to God.  Continue reading →

It Starts With Me: A Mother’s Honest Confession

Posted in Parenting by

It’s July in Minnesota.  We are not quite half-way through our summer break, and if I’m completely honest… I have been STRUGGLING!  I’ve been struggling with my patience, struggling with my temper, and struggling with this whole parenting thing.

I have three kiddos and I love them to pieces.  They are truly a blessing in my life.  You know that saying, “children are a gift from above?”  It’s true!

But let’s be real.  My kids don’t always behave in a manner that conjures up warm, fuzzy, “I’m feeling so blessed right now” emotions.  Continue reading →

God Sees You

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Have you ever wondered if God really sees you or cares about your circumstances?

There’s a beautiful story found in the gospel of Mark about a woman who suffered with an unfortunate medical condition. The condition caused her to bleed continually and she lived with this burden for twelve long years.  During this time, she spent all the money that she had visiting multiple doctors and undergoing numerous medical treatments.  However, instead of finding relief, her condition got worse.  Continue reading →

Lessons from an albino squirrel

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Out of the corner of my eye I see a flash of white.  There it is!  The elusive neighborhood albino squirrel had just darted up a tree outside my window.  Since the winter snow had fallen and blanketed our backyard, I hadn’t seen our little friend as much.  I had missed his fluffy white tail and little pink nose.  He finally blended in with the world around him.

This was not the case last June when I first noticed him scampering across our weathered wooden fence.  I had to look twice to figure out what the little fur-ball was.  With a backyard full of oak trees, there is always an abundance of squirrels, but I had never seen an albino one before.   Continue reading →