Category: New Life Notes

By Ward Shope My birthday celebration was chaotic this year.  Not bad, mind you.  Just a little on the uncontrollable side.  Sunday, though not my birthday, was the only reasonable day to celebrate it in a family that is trying to get four households together in one place at one time.  But after worship in...

By Beth Ann Olesen “I am right where God wants me to be right now.” This has become my mantra over the past three to four months. And it wasn’t easy to come to. You see, I am a fixer. So when I find myself in a season filled with valleys, my instinct is to...

By Todd Hill I live in a constant tension in my marriage.  My wife has told me over the years that I am a wimp when it comes to sickness and ailments.  I desperately want to prove that she is wrong.  However, whenever I am sick or have any sort of ailment, I find myself...

By Ward Shope As a junior in high school, I ran for student council president at my high school.  As was tradition, candidates were given the opportunity to state their case for being elected, and that was followed by a question-and-answer period.  On this particular day, a student in my year stood and, instead of...

By Jane Highley Dear New Year: Thanks for coming, not that I didn’t think you would. It’s not like the apocalyptic fears that people had about Y2K. I’m grateful that you didn’t usher in a new decade with a blizzard due to a polar vortex.  Even though it’s cold, it’s been a mild winter thus...

By Lisa Roberts Celestial Being Orchestrated Meeting Uneasy Salutations Encouragement and Profession Questioning and Complications Miraculous Declarations Holy and Complete Accession

By Beth Ann Olesen “Remember when Christmas used to be fun?” I lamented to my husband this weekend as I watched my daughter tick down another day on the countdown calendar and glanced at my mounting to-do list. It’s not just the shorter time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. It’s the amount of...

By Ward Shope The turkey is devoured, Thanksgiving is over. The tidbits of dinner are now inside Rover. The desserts linger on for midnight snackers, nudging scales up for many weight trackers. To what shall we turn from our contented sighs, From our clever conversation and our family goodbyes? Are Black Friday shopping and cyber-Monday...

By Ward Shope 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  (Phil 4:6-7) I don’t usually think of myself as an anxious person, but recently there...

By Maureen Fox During my week of serving with Samaritan’s Purse in Panama City, I learned the secret of success.  This mission experience was unique for me as I participated and watched a team of “unskilled” volunteers repair 5 rooms in a family’s home in 3 days.  In this home, we sanded walls and then...

By Beth Ann Olesen In Women’s Bible Study last week, we studied Philippians 2:12-18. Here is a link to the text if you are interested. In verse 12, Paul commands the Church of Philippi to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” I was struck by the wording here. And I want to state...

By Ward Shope 33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” -Romans 11:33-34 What is the Lord doing? I don’t know.  Honestly, I am completely without a clue –...