Brian Doerksen – Finding Hope Hidden On A Detour

Joyce and I started out as high-school sweethearts and we ended up being blessed with 6 children including 3 of them with special needs. After finding out that our first son had Fragile X Syndrome and would require care for a lifetime, we decided to try to have 1 more child. We did so because…

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Christmas Unusual – Francine Rivers

Christmas “as usual” has always been to gather our adult children’s families to us for Christmas Eve. Everyone arrives early in the afternoon. To keep the focus on God’s gift to us, Jesus, we ended the gift exchange. Instead, everyone brings something for all to share, be it a board game, puzzle, tasty treats, or…

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When You Wonder: Where’s God? – Margaret Feinberg

When You Wonder: Where’s God? By Margaret Feinberg For a moment, imagine yourself a tweenaged girl.  Your pulse races. Pupils dilate. Skin turns clammy and sweaty. You gasp to catch your breath. Every hair stands on prickly end.  A mighty angel glows before you. He says you’re favored, and tells you the Lord is with…

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Following in the Way of Peace – Holly Fortier

Following in the Way of Peace Holly Fortier This has been quite the year… The COVID-19 pandemic, shut down and stay at home orders, loss of jobs and businesses, work and school from home, isolation, fragile mental health issues, racial tension and uprising…  and many other devastating events.  I am sure you, dear reader, have…

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Cheerios and Choosing Hope – Tiffany Espensen  

Cheerios and Choosing Hope  Tiffany Espensen   When I was a little girl, my mother always knew when I was about to cause a mess. I  would audibly shout “uh-oh” before I chucked my cheerios at the wall. 2020 was also messy. In  the beginning, everything was going smoothly, and then all of a sudden, that…

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He Calls Me Beloved – Jonathan Puddle

The Creation story in Genesis tells us that God not only made us in his image but actually intended us to be like him. How’s that working out for? If you’re anything like me, life’s been a bumpy ride and I haven’t always dealt with it very well. For years I’ve felt like I was…

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When Your Whole World Changes – Alyssa Esparaz

Two and a half years ago, my life completely changed. Yet from the outside looking in, my life looked exactly the same. I guess I should back up a bit. This story starts with a dream that God placed in my heart while I was in high school. As God stirred in me a passion…

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God’s Perfect Way and Plan – Camille Aguila

I was born into an immigrant Asian family story— a narrative rich in stereotypes based on social class, how we should look, what to study, who to marry and by what age. There’s this expectation that we need to be submissive/passive/quietly agreeable all the time… and not speak or stand up for ourselves. The social pressure to conform was and still is enormous.

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Surrendering Our Loneliness – Carla Arges

Our need to connect with others is innate.  It’s part of how God designed us – to be in relationship and community with others and Him.  But we can often feel alone, can’t we? Loneliness causes feelings of emptiness and being unwanted, but it’s not necessarily about being alone; rather about feeling isolated.  Even when…

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