Category: 2021
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As we wait
While working toward my master’s degree at Missouri State University, I had the great privilege of being a graduate assistant/writer in the Publications office. It was a dream job with dream co-workers who were extremely talented and willing to share their expertise with me. Even mundane tasks, such as organizing a samples closet, were exciting.…
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Waiting for the Unrealistic
“Your idea is unrealistic and will never work,” commented a classmate after I shared my paper with my grad school class in 2005. I wanted to build a holistic center that would address all aspects of health in a war-torn country or among those who have experienced trauma. Perhaps I should have been discouraged by…
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Advent
Week 1: Hope Do you ever overwhelm yourself with Christmas activities? To the point you forget about Jesus’ birth until you’re sitting in a Christmas Eve service? I’ve been there more than I’d like to admit, but for the past few years I’ve been intentional about celebrating Advent in my home. I purchased a set…
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Foster/Adopt: Dare To Hope
I love a good story. A good storyteller introduces tension and resolves it. All the loose ends tied up in a bow. The listener usually experiences complete closure. words + photographs Dr. SARAH THORNTON I especially love the Cinderella kind of story, where the underdog comes out on top. I took a Rowling and Tolkien…
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Waiting for Promises
Waiting is the easiest action we may plan to do, but it simply is the hardest action to consistently and genuinely carry out. People often preach to us to wait on the Lord’s timing, wait on His plan to be unveiled for our lives. This is much easier said than done. words + photographs MORGAN…
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Waiting to Hear God’s Voice
The Israelites waited in the desert 40 years to see the fulfillment of God’s promise to them. The prophetess, Anna, waited 84 years, practically a lifetime, to see her long-awaited Messiah come, not as a mighty warrior king but as a toddling peasant child. The apostles of the early church waited five, 10, 50 years…
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Ethiopia: The Giving Community
From a young age, I felt drawn to Africa. I loved learning about Africa through any means I could. From 2018 to 2020, I spent two amazing years living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I learned many things in Ethiopia through the culture and the youth. words + photographs TAMMY SALMON Ethiopia is a community-focused culture, which…
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Waiting for Double Marshmallows
I am like all the kids who eat the first marshmallow — you know — from those experiments. Experimenters (or parents) set one sweet treat in front of a child with the promise that, if the child waits until the adult returns, the child can have two treats. words + photographs TAYLOR CORCORAN Like kids…
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Foster/Adopt Resources from Dr. Sarah Thornton
Foster/Adopt Resources from Dr. Sarah Thornton Counseling has been a key part of our foster story. We have participated in play therapy, family therapy, and individual therapy. Two local options are Eaglecrest Counseling Center and Christian Counseling Center. Being part of the story is hard. It can be taxing emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Reach out for…
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Do Hard Things. Allow them to shape your gratitude.
The night before my family adopted the 10-week-old German Shepherd/Chow Chow puppy, the bully-of-a-neighbor kid jumped our wood fence and did damage to the backyard. (And I think, maybe, our toy poodle.) We went to high school together and started out as friends, but he made a turn for the worse and began saying mean…
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#ShopLocal: Flora Bloom Market
“I would for sure want to sit at the Thanksgiving table this year with my dad, Herb. He passed away when I was 21 years old. He never got to meet my husband, Jason, or my two little boys,” says Kelly Flora, owner of Flora Bloom Market. “We would laugh at all the crazy stories…
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Katrin Scott
Melinda* had been asking me for months to cook up something so we could serve it together at the Veterans Coming Home Center, a drop-in day center for the unsheltered in Springfield, Missouri. Since she was the sweetest woman on the planet, it was too hard to tell her no. I agreed and the rest…
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Jessie Smallwood
I give thanks for all you have done, I won’t forget all the battles you have won. The words to this song were counterintuitive in the wake of devastating loss. Yet there I was, singing out over my church family, leading a song of gratitude. And that simple act of obedience became the key to…
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Leaders, Roll Up Your Sleeves
Lead can be a four-letter word, especially when things go wrong. In media and literature, leadership is celebrated for the perks of power, options, and success or mourned because of abuse, avarice, and failure. While positions, the size of teams, or measurable tools can be used to demonstrate leadership, the best leaders come to mind…
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#ShopLocal: Lavish Grazing
Shelby Chante Photography “If I could sit at anyone’s Thanksgiving table this year, it would belong to my aunt Kristal,” says Kendra Hinkle, co-owner of Lavish Grazing. “I love talking pie, coffee, “Gilmore Girls” and life happenings with her. Maybe even discuss some Harry Potter theories. Or the latest quirks of our furbabies: Harry, Chloe…
Homegrown Journal 