-
Who Am I Exactly?
By Vanessa Rasanen Trends come and go, especially in the world of social media. Some are awesome — I did love seeing friends’ “love your spouse” challenge posts. And others? Not so much. The latest one has popped up in both Facebook and instagram, and I rather enjoy it. Friends share the three fictional characters that match their personality. It’s been a lot of fun to get a glimpse of how my friends and acquaintances view themselves. Sometimes I nod and laugh at how spot-on their picks are. And others I’m surprised. But overall it’s been fascinating and entertaining. While I don’t participate in many of these things, I have wanted to with this one. Seems easy enough, I…
-
I Do Not Care If My Children Are Happy
By Allison Hull and Vanessa Rasanen “As long as my children are happy, I’m happy.” We hear this often, don’t we? Whether it’s from secular folks who argue that it shouldn’t matter who our kids grow up to be, what they do, or how they act, or if it’s our own parents insisting they only want us to be happy, this emphasis on the pursuit of happiness is ingrained in our society. Everyone just wants everyone else to be happy, especially the children. We are constantly inundated with calls to “live and let live” and told “You do you; I’ll do me”. If we question this “whatever makes you happy” brand of parenting, we get…
-
An Affair with Magic Mike and the Sixth Commandment
By Christina Hamilton While browsing around Facebook, I saw that Channing Tatum was on the Ellen Show promoting the new Magic Mike Live show. It will of course be traveling from town to town all across the US of A to entertain screaming women of all ages. Since the first appearance of Magic Mike on the big screen, it has become mainstream, an accepted and welcome part of women’s culture. The more I stopped to think about it, the more concerned I became. Ladies, before you protest, let’s think back many years ago before Magic Mike amazed and enthralled us and bear with me. Centuries ago, men enjoyed saloon girls’…
-
Speaking Forgiveness to Kids
By Allison Hull My eldest son is amazing. He is always looking to do more to help others. He pushes to go to church, not once, but at least twice on Sunday. He guilts me if he has to miss. He begs to go on shut-in visits and sing to everyone. He talks to anyone he meets about Christ and church, and invites strangers to come to church all the time. I routinely get told that we are raising him right, that he’s a joy to be around, how wonderful he is when asked to do something, and how selfless he is. We have been told that he truly shows…
-
Devotional Diary Resource
Monday through Saturday, it’s easy for me to forget about Christ while living out my many and varied roles in life. Even on Sundays, it’s hard for me to tune into the sermon when my little kids are escaping from the sanctuary! To curb this falling away, I try to do my personal devotions before bed each night. However, much of the time I forget what I read and what insights I gained before I wake up the next morning. I created this devotional journal with the intention of impressing Christ on my heart and mind during my daily quiet time. This provides me with much needed structure to dig deeper into the Bible…
-
To Love Your Spouse
By Allison Hull Recently there was a Facebook trend called “The Love Your Spouse Challenge”. You were supposed to post pictures every day of you and your spouse expounding on why you loved them and challenging others to post the same. I admit, when it first started I rolled my eyes and was quick to thank God I wasn’t challenged. And then I was. Oh, how cheesy and dramatic. But I shrugged and decided it wouldn’t be too much work and would be an easy task. I was wrong. Finding pictures of JUST my husband and myself was almost impossible. There was always a kid thrown in there, usually if…
