Authored by Mara Hodler

This is not something I talk about often. I touch on it with my kids, beginning to paint the picture, but they’re still pretty young. Talking about it with teens, like you, I haven’t done in a long time. But, if I could talk to you about one thing, light one path on your journey, it would probably be this.

Authored by Tina Kapp

Most people have heard the acronym “YOLO” thrown around for the past couple of years. It stands for “You Only Live Once.” Pop stars and celebrities have made it a catchphrase to promote doing crazy things or taking risks because, hey, “You Only Live Once!”

Authored by Mara Hodler

The movie Shenandoah is set during the American Civil War. It’s a moving story of a Southern family caught up in the conflict of the day. The patriarch of the family, Charlie Anderson, continually shuts down the urges of his sons who want to join the war. Charlie wants to remain neutral and uninvolved until

Authored by Mara Hodler

A friend of mine told me that when she was young, even though her family was close and they loved one another very much, fairness was always an issue. She said that when her mom brought home a pie or ice cream for dessert, she and her brother fought over who got the bigger piece. The quibbling over

Authored by Tina Kapp

No matter where you are in life, at some point you’ll have to deal with people. Whether it’s your fellow students in high school or college, or the boss and colleagues of your future job, learning how to make a good impression and communicate is a very important part of life.

Authored by Janet Kluck (guest contribution)

We all have them: plans that didn’t turn out the way we’d hoped, prayers that seem like they didn’t make it past the ceiling, dreams that break and are shattered as we wonder what went wrong. We go on, leaving behind broken dreams and seemingly unanswered prayers, but often they remain etched in our mind

Authored by Mara Hodler

I was recently talking with a friend of mine who has a 12-year-old daughter, Jenni. What makes Jenni unusual is that she is enrolled in a high-commitment gymnastics program. She practices 16 hours a week, which means that four times a week, she gets picked up from school at 3:30 PM, heads to

Authored by Dan Roselle

Most my life I had a reputation for being a good person. I was comfortable with this reputation because I didn’t like to make mistakes. (Who does?) When I did make a mistake, I generally didn’t tell anyone about it. I worked hard to maintain a good appearance. I kept the rules. I was honest. I made the right choices. But no one knew what went on inside of me, what I

Authored by Beth Jordan (a guest contribution)

I was driving home late one night with the windows rolled down, the wind making a mess of my hair. There was not much traffic on the road. I was listening to the radio when the song “Fix You” by Coldplay came on.

Authored by Tina Kapp

I finally got around to watching “The Pursuit of Happyness,”1 a movie starring Will Smith and his son Jaden. I knew it was some sort of feel-good movie and that it had been based on a true story. Something about a guy hitting rough times and sleeping in the bathroom of a train station while pretending with his son

Authored by Scott MacGregor

I’m a history buff. I don’t know why it fascinates me, but it has ever since I can remember. So I tend to want to know the reasons stuff in the Bible happened the way it did. For example: I have been interested in why the Israelites headed in the completely wrong direction when they left Egypt in the Exodus all those thousands of years ago.

Authored by Dia

Most people want to be successful in life, yet not all of us achieve success. Why? What is it that makes some people more successful than others? Albert Gray, who authored The Common Denominator of Success, wrote, “The secret of success of every man who has ever been successful lies in the fact that he formed the habit of doing things that

Authored by Dan Roselle

I thought my life was going pretty well. Although there were daily struggles and difficulties, I felt my relationship with Jesus was improving and growing, which to me was most important. I was thrilled with my renewed connection with Jesus through my prayer times and my recently reinvigorated hunger for the Word and Bible study.

Authored by Marie Story

Jesus gave us a simple command: “Love your neighbor.”1 However, “neighbor” is pretty vague, and perhaps thinking to excuse himself, some wise guy asked Jesus, “But who is my neighbor?”2 Jesus answered with the story about a traveler on the way to Jericho, who was ambushed by thieves, beaten, robbed, and left for dead. Two people passed him by but didn’t

Authored by Dan Roselle

There will be times in our lives when we’re pretty sure that we need to do something, or we feel God is asking us to do something, but we just don’t want to do it.

Maybe we’re lazy.

Maybe we’ve never done it before.

Authored by Dia

I once worked with a young man whom I had little in common with. He had a strong personality, was opinionated, and many of his reactions blew me away. Our points of view were often in conflict. Seeing as we were co-workers, I knew that I had to work through my problems with him. The difficulty was that I don’t like confrontation. When I experience confrontation with

Authored by Marie Story

I’m a big Tetris fan. The reason I like it so much is that I can plan it all out by looking at the pieces that will come up next, and as they come down, I can fit them all in place evenly and lower the stack. At least, that’s the idea.

Even better than that is solving the mistakes I make.