A little more than two decades ago, the book-turned-into-a-movie Pay It Forward started a movement. The story is about a boy who, for a project, chose three unexpecting and undeserving people to do an act
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A Horse Named Mick
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights…” (James 1:17a–NKJV). Mick, a glossy white Missouri Fox Trotter, has been part of our family since 2006,
Read moreMary’s Song
The man pulled an instrument from his tattered jacket. With recorder flute in hand, he played Silent Night, The First Noel, and Drummer Boy. I was enthralled by the sound resonating from his instrument. …
Read moreThanks for the Good AND the Bad
“Dear God, thank you that I was abused as a child, and that my first marriage ended in divorce and the second in the death of my husband. Thank you that I had cancer, suffered
Read moreDancing Shoes
I look at these hearts often, remembering my daughter will forever be in my heart as I am in hers. …
Read moreLesson of the Leaves
WAITING We’d waited… And waited. Then, just like that, the pop of western North Carolina, and the mountains were awash in watercolor beauty. The waiting was over. WALKING We walked, talking some, laughing. Mostly, the
Read moreA Leader is a Leader is a Leader
Choosing or becoming a leader requires time, effort, and a little homework. But it’s worth it.
Read moreA Lovely Lesson in Leadership
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (I Timothy 4:12 NIV). Sometimes one
Read moreRose Resurrection
My knockout roses had gotten the dreaded broomstick disease, and it was spreading amongst the bushes. I fought tears as I watched my rose bushes resisting the ropes that held each tightly onto the tow ball while the truck driver inched forward. With quick acceleration, each yielded, its root ball exposed, the rose bush toppled. Their former places now sunken, I asked workers to fill the holes with loose dirt. Sullen, I ambled across the garden, thanking God that at least not all needed to be removed and that the plague would stop. …
Read morePatience Needed, Please
“It’s been so long and I’m so weary,” Nelson* spoke, leaning into his wife Betty’s* arm as she propped him up on the pillow. “I want to have faith, but I don’t know if I do anymore.”
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