My Most Successful New Year’s Resolution
From Contributing Author Patricia Hajek For years, like so many other people I know, I would make a New Year’s Resolution, stick with it for a few weeks~ maybe even a month….only to see it repeatedly go by the wayside. Disappointed in myself, I came to actually expect my resolutions to fall apart. It began to seem as though I was just setting myself up for failure. For the most part, as I look back, I DO think most of my resolutions were always a bit “Unrealistic” ~ “Grandiose” ~ “Pie in the Sky”. Any way you put it, they never had the sweet...
Read MoreHanging By a Thread
From Contributing Author Patricia Guenette Does that phrase describe much of your life? Are your finances a balancing game that you are often losing? Is your work environment a constant threat of layoffs or shut-downs? Does that thread seem weaker every day? Despite the constant threats to our overall well-being, there is still hope abundant for all of us. In the Bible, we find hope and inspiration from Jesus himself. He was not born into an upper-class family. He was not a member of the ruling elite, distant from the common people. He was very much a part of the “real...
Read MoreHoly Holidays!
November 2011 is past. Did you celebrate Thanksgiving? Did you: Have a wonderful family get-together with a big turkey, all your families traditional foods, and then play or watch football? Stay home alone? Go to the in-laws? Go to church? Eat at a restaurant? Think about all the things you have to be thankful for? www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary offers the following definitions of a holiday: : holy day : a day on which one is exempt from work; specifically : a day marked by a general suspension of work in commemoration of an event :chiefly British : vacation —often used...
Read MoreOur prayer brings us into God’s presence
Just what is prayer? There are formula, planned, and impromptu prayers; supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, confession and intercession prayers; spoken, unspoken, and written prayers; prayers to ancestors, saints, statues and gods; prayer chains, prayer breakfasts, and prayer days. It is one of the great mysteries of Christianity: the essence of our faith relationship with God. But what is prayer? Prayer is communion with God. So often, people say they don’t know how to pray. We believe prayer to be the most basic of all communication – and that most people do pray:...
Read MoreWhere were you that fateful day of September 11, 2001?
Where were you that fateful day of September 11, 2001? Where were you November 22, 1963 when JFK died? Can you imagine: November 22, 1963 a young girl was born in Arizona and then was among the casualties in the January 2011 shooting rampage where a congresswoman was shot? Life came in as death claimed thousands on that fateful morning. Can you imagine the loved ones as they said goodbye to those early that day for the last time not knowing the impending doom of the Twin Towers & the Pentagon & Pennsylvania where Todd Beamer would go down as a hero like Samson did with the...
Read More“HOW YOU GONNA ACT?”
This is a question my oldest son has asked. And it’s an excellent question. We will explore this question today, but we will not answer the question for you: only you can do that. “How you gonna act” when: Your brothers hate you? Your father-in-law cheats you? Your friend betrays you? Your nephew takes advantage of you? Your son is out to get you? Your friends forget you? You are executed for what you say? I’m sure you can think of situations in your life that fit these descriptions. I wonder: if they are from the past – how did you act? If they are...
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