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 Amy Carroll
I was afraid to risk hope.
In my previous post, Without a Net , I shared about my journey to dive into a new idea from God while letting go of my own backup plan. It was scary to bring a proposal to launch a coaching service for speakers that was beyond my formal education and different than anything I had accomplished in the past. [Continue Reading...]
By Toni Campbell
Throughout the evening, the snow had silently fallen, blanketing everything under six inches of pristine whiteness. Most people had made what my friend calls their “French toast run” – the obligatory dash for bread, milk, and eggs. When morning broke bright and clear, my urban neighborhood was uncharacteristically quiet.
I slept until the cat pawed my face for her morning meal. Once she was fed, I put the tea kettle on and sat at the dining room table to read my Bible. It wasn't long before the sounds of metal scraping concrete filled the air as people dug out. [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 Susanne Ciancio, LPC
Part 1 and Part 2 of Do Friends Break Up? addressed the kinds of friendships that sometimes end in a breakup, how to have a godly breakup, and what reconciliation might look like. Part 3 addressed the question, “What if I'm the one being broken up with?” Here we’re talking about a pattern of breakups. [Continue Reading...]
By Amy Carroll
A new year is a time ripe for the launch of a new dream. Here’s my story about swinging into space toward a new dream and without the net of my backup plan.
I stared gloomily at the tops of my students’ heads as they worked on their newest assignment. How could I be so completely miserable in a job that had once brought me such joy? Where had the girl gone who wanted to be just like her favorite teacher, Mrs. Warren? [Continue Reading...]
By Jennifer from Swing Whistle Zing
The first time I meet someone and tell them that I write about kids’ music, I often get the same questions:
How did you get into kids’ music? Are you a musician? What do you recommend?
The answers are actually pretty simple: I’m a passionate mom (who prefers that more noise come from happily singing kids than the TV). No, I’m not a musician (see answer A). Well it depends; what are you looking for? [Continue Reading…]
By Noelle Rhodes
Our little girl was turning five.
It had been a big year for her. We moved to a new city over the summer and she started a new school this fall. We felt like the best way to celebrate her was to throw her a really fun 5th birthday party: A RED RIDING HOOD BIRTHDAY!
We were able to rent an authentic thatched roof cottage to host the party (one of the perks of living in Northern Ireland). Several friends pitched in and helped make buns, scones, and sandwiches. Interns from our church offered up their face-painting services and helped decorate the cottage for the party. [Continue Reading...]
by Susanne Ciancio, LPC, Licensed Professional Christian Counselor
What if I'm the one being broken up with? Ouch! That can really hurt!
You may be very bonded to a group of women you're raising kids with. Then your family moves out of the neighborhood or your kids are a little older and in a different school. At first, you're surprised and then very disappointed when you realize the women in the neighborhood are still gathering and doing all the fun stuff you all used to do together. But there’s one big difference: they're not including you. [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 Ti’eshia Moore
I never thought that having a career would be harder than that Wednesday morning. I’d been called by my son’s daycare for the seventh time in a month over a dangerously high fever. Something was wrong.
After a number of doctor’s visits, sleepless nights, and pacing through my son’s room, we discovered that consistent inner ear infections were the culprit. It was serious but treatable. Thankfully, God’s grace covered my baby boy and he was able to continue living a normal, healthy life after a few medical procedures. [Continue Reading...]
by Susanne Ciancio, LPC
This month I'd like to look at some practical tips about what to do if we find ourselves struggling in a chronically toxic or imbalanced relationship.
First things first: I need to examine my own heart. Seek The Lord, not other people who may know this friend. Ask Him to reveal my heart and why I'm feeling so irritated and resentful. I may have been practicing a lot of people-pleasing and self-deception myself. Have I pretended to be more kind and patient than I truly felt so now I'm about to blow a gasket? [Continue Reading…]
by Kendra Roehl
Christmas. It’s a season of giving to others and remembering Jesus and his birth.
But for many of us, especially with children, our season of celebration can turn into one of duty and chaos as we shop, buy, bake, and wrap our way through. Suddenly this time of year when we want to reflect, relax, and make memories becomes anything BUT what we’ve dreamt it could be! [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 Tracie Miles
The holidays can make us feel all shaken up from the inside out, but holiday stress does not have to be our fate!
Whether you love the holiday season or dread it, stress tends to weave itself into our lives at one time or another. Unfortunately, the period from Thanksgiving to Christmas can be a season of tension and anxiety regardless of our personal feelings about it. [Continue Reading...]
By Susanne Ciancio, LPC
Types of Friendships That May Need Some Adjustments
The term "breakup" isn't commonly used when friendships end, but if you've ever experienced it, it does feel like a breakup. There are lots of feelings that go along with this...both positive and negative. Depending on the circumstances, there can be true loss and grieving or possibly even relief when friendships end. Why do friends break up?
Let's look at three types of friendships that may end in breakups. [Continue Reading...]
by Diana Jones
Budgeting is one of my favorite things to do!
Yes, really. I love to steward our family’s income and put each dollar to work as best as I can. I have not only managed our budget throughout the years, but I’ve helped my friends and family with this too. [Continue Reading...]
By Elise Daly Parker
I’m not sure exactly what happened…But I’ve gotten completely off track. And then, I started to get overwhelmed. I was doing too much, going too many places, living life to the too full. I started turning to the right, when I should go left, turning left, when I should go right. I said yes, yes, yes. When I should’ve checked in with God. Instead, I checked out, put my head down, and forged ahead on automatic pilot. [Continue Reading...]
by Kimberly Amici
As a mom of three young children, I felt like I was always cleaning up after someone. There were always dishes to wash, laundry to be cleaned, and meals to cook.
After only a few years of motherhood, I began to feel like Cinderella.
When my kids were toddlers, we took various Mommy and Me classes. Every single one of these classes had a cleanup song. I witnessed my kids put away blocks and instruments. I realized, If they can clean up here, I can put them to work at home. [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 Kimberly Amici
Every night the same scene played out at my house.
It was 5 o’clock; I stood in front of the refrigerator wondering what to make for dinner again. The kids were getting hungry and restless. As I stared at the food I thought, I hate this time of day. I walked back and forth to the pantry and waited for the audible voice of God to tell me what to cook. I heard nothing. 20 minutes went by and I was still pacing back and forth trying to decide what to feed to my family. My children, now cranky, yelled from the other room, “Mommm, when are we going to eat?” [Continue Reading...]
