Authored by Tina Kapp

A verse in Thessalonians says, “If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat.”1

That’s pretty much how it works. Life is full of real consequences, and the sooner we learn to weigh up the

Click to read more ...

Authored by Mara Hodler

As a teenager you will make decisions that could alter your life. There are always decisions to make in regard to friendships, relationships, school, and hobbies that can affect your future either positively or negatively. But there are other decisions that I’m thinking about that have to do with drugs, drinking, and

Click to read more ...

Authored by Mara Hodler

Have you ever heard of a turducken? It’s a southern delicacy of sorts. You take an extra-large turkey and debone it, leaving only the leg and wing bones. The deboned turkey is laid out and a layer of stuffing is laid over it. Next you completely debone a duck, lay it over the stuffing, and then spread a layer of stuffing

Authored by Tina Kapp

Note: This story is adapted from 2 Kings chapter 5.

Life during Bible times was often pretty intense: Battles raged, kings ruled, kingdoms were conquered, and servants and slaves were a common part of life.

Authored by Mara Hodler

I was not born a citizen of the United States of America. Earning the right to be here was a process. I had to fill out piles of forms, spend hours on the phone with officials, pay a hefty sum, get fingerprinted, and have an interview to determine if I indeed met the requirements to earn residency. And, yay, I did! I met the

Authored by Tina Kapp

I’m an avid fan of the TV show Come Dine with Me, where four random strangers (usually amateur chefs) host dinner parties for one another. They vote on the quality of the food and general ambience and hospitality, and the winner gets to take a plateful of money.

Authored by Tina Kapp

Ralph Waldo Emerson1 once said, “Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”

There are two opposite attitudes you’ll come across in life. One type of people I’ll call motivators. People who have a

Authored by Mara Hodler

Most of us are familiar with the phrase from 1 Corinthians 13:8: “Love never fails.”1 It’s illustrated in children’s devotionals. It’s woven into songs, stories, and poems. I can’t remember a time when this scripture wasn’t familiar to me.

In my younger years, I took it to mean that love was always

A Look at Bitterness, Part One

Authored by Tina Kapp

My favorite taste is sour, followed closely by salty and sweet. Sour candies, pickles, anything with lemon, sour cherries—you name it, I love it! People have different preferences when it

Authored by Beth Jordan (a guest contribution)

“If we can climb this mountain, then there is nothing that we cannot overcome together!”

I can still see my dad struggling to smile and look hopeful as he pointed toward a rocky mountain about 100 feet from the

Authored by Dan Roselle

Each one of us changes over time—our looks change, our likes and dislikes change, even our personality changes as we go through different experiences in life. Some of these changes are dramatic, while others are gradual. In some cases we might not even feel like the same person we were a year or

Authored by T.M.

Being in my late twenties, I find it a little embarrassing to get into a funk. Most often, I’m more of a driven soul. I’ll have plenty of goals for 90 percent of the time, and then I’ll hit an unexpected speed bump.

I got into one of these funks recently, and for some reason my

Authored by Tina Kapp

There’s a fine line between cockiness and confidence. Someone who’s cocky makes you want to avoid them like the plague, lest you be subjected to their tales of greatness and feats of accomplishments; they put others down and generally have to “best” anyone talking by coming up with equal or

Authored by Marie Story

An interesting study was done a few years back. Two dogs were given the command “shake.” Both raised their paw to shake hands; however, one dog was given a treat while the other wasn’t. After two or three rounds of this treatment, the dog without a treat quit obeying. The dog knew he was being treated

Authored by Dan Roselle

For many years as a Christian, and specifically as a missionary, I thought of myself as a loving person, someone who treated people like Jesus did—with compassion and understanding. But after a few incidents that took place in my life, I began to realize that I didn’t have as much compassion and understanding as I thought I had. I often found myself

Authored by Dia

I’ve chosen to do a podcast on the subject of life and death because it’s something I’ve felt many and varied emotions about over the years. As a teen, I remember thinking a lot about death, which I saw as an escape from emotional pain and an escape from life when it seemed to me to be an unending treadmill of agony. When people were unkind to me,

Authored by Dan Roselle

“We’re going to get hit!” my wife yelled from across the front seat of our pickup truck.

It was Tuesday, on April 5 of this year, and the memory is still fresh in my mind. When I close my eyes, I can see that moment—the look on my wife’s face as she said this, and then the impact.

Authored by T.M.

Once upon a time, there was a little bunny named Rufus Rabbit, who had soft, fluffy fur and a velvety nose. He was perfectly proportioned according to rabbit standards, and all his rabbit friends had generally the same body shape and size as he did.

One day, however, Rufus Rabbit wandered far from home and

Authored by Marie Story

Changes are awfully unsettling for me. I like my little nest, where everything is just so and nothing jostles me too much. I like my routines and schedules, the comfort of knowing what’s going on—both immediately and in the future.

All that was thrown up in the air recently when my husband and I