By Ward Shope Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this, but I rarely take a deep look at the news anymore. Much of what is reported appears either bad or negative: shootings, accusations, terrorist attacks, cyberattacks and more. “Joyful anticipation” does not describe my tentative approach into what’s happening in the world and in the region. I...
Author: Andrew Bors (Andrew Bors)
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A Teacher’s Summer Syllabus
By Jane Highley Summer has finally arrived, and like many teachers, I am already basking in the freedom of a slower-paced life. For the next 10 weeks, I don’t need to fret about the daily school-day hustle: packing lunches, making and revising lesson plans, attending meetings, collecting feedback, and grading assessments. However, I hardly just...
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Comfortable or Flourishing
By Todd Hill When Ethan was in preschool, he was told to draw a picture of his family. He did a surprisingly good job. It also was a profound representation of his observation, as a 3-year-old, of what life in our home was like. He showed Young-Mee busily working in the kitchen, and me ....
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Everyday Eternal – Takeaways from the Women’s Retreat
By Becca Muilenburg Full. If asked for one word to describe a typical week in our family, “full” is the one I would choose. With children, jobs, school, and all the other little errands and appointments which seem to multiply overnight, my husband and I are always searching for snippets of time when we can...
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Muddy Feet
By Debbie Shope I was reading about the Exodus recently and was struck by the idea that the waters parting, while certainly spectacular, was only one part of the story. What totally amazed me was that the Hebrew people went through on dry ground. Never mind the walls of water on the side; they waltzed...
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Mother-Daugher Overnight
By Sarah Gammage I am not a big “retreat person.” But when my daughter asked me to go spend some quality time together on the NLD mother-daughter retreat at Victory Valley Camp this year, how could I resist? (I need to snag these opportunities with her while I still have them!) Neither one of us...
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Spring Has Sprung
By Tim Shaw When we moved from New England to Pennsylvania, we arrived in July, in the middle of a hot, dry summer—most plants were dead, and most lawns were brown. But the following spring, thanks to the hard work of our home’s previous owner, it was amazing to watch many perennials burst forth all...
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Trust Gravity
By Ward Shope Probably every family develops or passes on silly sayings to the next generation. When my father wanted to encourage his children to eat something green like broccoli or Brussel sprouts, he would tell us that it “would put hair on your chest.” I never understood this as a motivating factor, and judging...
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Transitioning by Faith: Session Spring Retreat
By Ward Shope If you haven’t been keeping up with our pastoral transition, please be aware that the implementation is in full swing. What literally took years of planning is actually happening. Roles that have been Ron’s are beginning to become Anthony’s. And the rest of the staff and the Session are playing roles that...
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What I Know Now
By Jane Highley I used to think that, as the daughter of a Presbyterian pastor, my sins could never really be shared or confessed because of how they would somehow taint my father’s reputation. But now I know that my identity as a daughter of the King is secure, and that my sins are completely...
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A Night with the Julianis
By Todd Hill On Sunday Night, April 2, Angelo and Barbara Juliani came and spoke to a group of about 100 NLD youth group students and their parents. It was especially profound for me, knowing that they had laid the foundation in the New Life youth ministry nearly 30 years earlier. Being fairly new to...
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Walk on the Waves
By Melanie Kauffman We’ve all been there. Life is going well, and then suddenly you’re faced with a challenge that looks and feels like a tidal wave. You didn’t even see it coming and now it’s looming a mile high, threatening to crash overhead. You look to God and ask him “Why have you brought...