Category: 2022
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From the Editor: Used People, Danger: Ripe Tomato, Planted: Cherokee Sunset Rudbeckia, Jumajo Writing Company
Used People A few nights ago, I finished reading The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, Holland’s first licensed woman watchmaker, born to a watchmaker dad who was born to a watchmaker dad. After her mom passed away and other siblings moved out, she lived in the family home with her older sister Betsie and […]
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Good Times August + Local Food + Drug Disposal
Good Times August RepublicBluegrass & BBQAug. 5, 5:30-8:30 p.m., All agesCommunity CenterAdmission is a donation of unscented baby wipes. Cost for food is extra.More information: 417.732.5993 Enjoy No Reservations food truck; silent auction with items from local businesses; and bluegrass music from award-winning Lonesome Road and Chigger Creek. Benefits Republic Pregnancy Resource Center. MindenminesGuided Bison […]
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Leap of Faith
I currently have a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree as a family nurse practitioner. I work as fulltime faculty for Herzing University in the online family nurse practitioner program. words + photographs AMBER ENNIS Looking back over my life, I can see God’s hand guiding me to where I am today, but I never would […]
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The In Between
I have always loved the idea of traveling, and I spent about a year convinced being a commercial pilot was God’s plan for me. words + photographs RAGYN WIRTZ I was halfway through my senior year in high school, desperate to start planning the next step in life. I was terrified and stressed out; everyone […]
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My Life, Used
Years of putting my faith into money, men, alcohol, drugs, the occult. My life was a disaster. But I can testify that’s when God can show up, and shine His light. words + photographs JODEE DORROUGH After many years, everything I learned, desired, strived for, everything I had sown in the darkness, the life I […]
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Mavericks + Mazdas: Meaning in the Mundane
Top Gun’s the kind of movie that inspires us to drive our cars like they’re meant to fly. “It’s not the plane; it’s the pilot,” I think to myself as I shift from fourth gear to fifth, willing my Mazda 3 heavenward. But to my surprise, I’ve yet to experience liftoff. Maverick’s story is epic: […]
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Trust And Fear Not, For God Is
I have experienced many blessings in this life, but I have also faced formidable storms. Perhaps you understand. I have often heard it said if you are not coming out of a storm, or currently in a storm, expect a storm will be coming. words + photograph NANCY EASTER I was blessed to have been […]
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From the Editor: Out of Control, Big Meats, Fassnight Creek Farm, China Jade Cucumber, Write Your Story, Jumajo Writing Company
Out of Control We were visiting my grandparents who lived in rural Missouri, close to the Arkansas border. The small town was one in which McDonald’s caused a big stir when it staked its claim. Growing up, my grandparents were either raising cattle or renting their land for cattle. My grandfather served our country, our […]
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Planting a Church Where It’s Illegal for Churches to Gather
If you would have told me this would have been my life, I might have naturally thought we were talking about being in some foreign context; maybe one militantly opposed to the Gospel because of the country’s animistic or communistic background. Never in my life would I have thought we were talking about Canada. Yet, […]
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For God So Loved The World
I don’t even recall my life before John 3:16, just like I don’t recall my life before helping with family chores or before my deep infatuation with ice cream. The fact of “For God so loved the world” was as known to me as my hard and fast 7:30 p.m. bedtime. words + photographs […]
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The Author of My Story
And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you,O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you, (Psalm 9:10). Cancer. Chemo. Covid. Words I’ve come to hate. Words that are all tough on their own, but collectively are extremely difficult to navigate. Because chemotherapy caused me to be immune compromised, I […]
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Broken Brain, Sovereign God
According to the yearly Alzheimer’s Association publication dubbed “Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures,” more than six million Americans of all ages have Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. While this mattered to me, say, 20 years ago, it wasn’t until it became personal to me because of my mom’s struggles that I fully appreciated the extent […]
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Unfailing Love
I went through one of the darkest times of my life. I was being tormented by the darkness, and I felt far from God’s love. I wasn’t sure how I suddenly got dumped in such a moment, but all I knew was I felt abandoned and alone, and I thought I had no hope for […]
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From the Editor: Eyes on Me, Butterfly House, Planted
Eyes on Me It was the house that would not sell. It was no longer a home, with the highway in the front yard. It wasn’t seen by potential buyers as a business because, well, it looked like a family should be eating together inside. And the year was 2008. My parents didn’t want to […]
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4 Life-giving Insights to Becoming a Better Leader Anyone Can Implement Today
LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES FROM MATTHEW’S GOSPEL In a few months, I will assume the leadership of the member care team at my mission agency’s mobilization center. While scripture is replete with leadership principles, Matthew’s gospel is my current focus of study. Therefore, I offer four leadership principles from the life of Jesus as told by Matthew.
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Forgotten Ones
FIVE weeks into the COVID-19 lockdown, I received an unusual text. It was from an unknown number, but that was normal. The organization I work for was running an emergency food bank. The message came in through the emergency number, but it happened to be redirected to my personal cell. Usually those messages read, “Are […]
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WAR
Gabi, a lively lady with a smile that immediately put me at ease, came into my life about a month after I moved to Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina. I met her while attempting to learn more about my neighborhood gym. While she rode the stationary bike, she translated the details of a gym membership. We quickly became […]
Homegrown Journal 