Summer 2019

Don’t miss within this week’s post an invitation to a special flower party this Tuesday evening and a Q & A with Kathy Kitchel, Sarah Schafer and Heather Cain on the joy they find in flowers. By Jaime Sherman Simple joys are often hidden from view and must be uncovered like a child searching for … Continue reading The Gift of Flowers →

By Jamie Harms Summer is a time for adventure! Whether that is a hike up Spencer’s Butte on a sunny day, splashing in the waves along the Oregon Coast, or travelling to a far away place, anything that breaks us out of our normal routine counts as an adventure and opens up our eyes to … Continue reading Gazing at the Beauty of Our God →

By Jamie Harms I am married to a scientist. This means I get to admire all kinds of charts and graphs on a regular basis. Sometimes my husband will invite me over to his computer, so I can “ooh and aah” over the smattering of dots with colorful lines going through them. It has become … Continue reading Just Keep Swimming →

By Phares Gilchrist I recently saw an article on a church I am very well acquainted with. The church of 4,000 with a school system of 2,000 had petitioned the state to allow it to have a paid police presence. The church was actually asking to have the same police presence as the public schools … Continue reading Deuteronomy the Musical →

This week we join Jasmine Timm next to gnarly, twisted trees in Bryce Canyon, Utah, where God shows through His creation how harsh conditions and suffering produce the best growth and endurance in one type of tree — and in the lives of His children. By Jasmine Timm If you were to walk through a … Continue reading Scarred Yet Enduring →

This week as we reflect on God’s Word, Jaime Sherman takes us to several passages to show how what we think determines our emotions and then our actions. She encourages us to take every thought captive, determining whether we’re believing truth or lies, and then in community with others, to speak biblical truth over one … Continue reading Truth vs. Lies →

By Jaime Sherman God formed each of us for His glory. The poetry of the Psalms speaks of our self-existent, self-sufficient God weaving each of us together bit by bit in our mothers’ wombs to be unique tapestries of beauty and complexity — reflections of Him (Psalm 139:13-14). He uses the word “knitted,” which is … Continue reading Identity Rooted in Love →

By Jaime Sherman When I was a child, people used the adjective “shy” and “timid” to describe me, and by mere repetition of the adjective-turned-noun, I believed those descriptors were who I was to my core. Talking to people terrified me and trying new things brought me to hysterics. In fifth grade, my grandfather, a … Continue reading Do Not Call Me Pleasant →

By Phares Gilchrist I like to go to estate sales. Over the years I have seen a pattern — valuables in the living room, casual but nice in the kitchens, dining rooms, and family rooms, Christmas stuff in one room, office supplies in another, tools and gardening in the garage. Often in the garage there … Continue reading Reflecting on Redemption →

By Jasmine Timm “Did we do enough while we were here? Did we even make a difference?” These were the types of questions that ran through my head as my husband and I packed our house into boxes, preparing to move out of our neighborhood. We had loved living in this home and had loved … Continue reading Small Obedience Matters →