Category: Storytellers
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The Mom Battle I Can’t Fight
I’ve been fighting in the “War of Motherhood” for almost 12 years now. My thoughts??? Well, it’s pretty stinkin’ hard, often times embarrassing, and *always* incredibly exhausting. Oh, but I fight hard. I really do. I want to be the mom who has those middle-of-the-night, heart-to-heart chats with her struggling tween, and sometimes I am. I also want to…
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Rogue Body
A funny thing happened in 2019 as I began to serve a new congregation in South Carolina. The day after I preached my second sermon, I did not feel too good. By Tuesday, I was slurring my speech and had no energy. On Wednesday, I was dragged to urgent care, which is a misnomer. After…
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A Vegas Miracle
Several years ago, our son Travis transferred from working with Transportation Security Administration at the Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri to Durango, Colorado. From there, he found a better position with TSA in Las Vegas. Or so he thought. words + photographs SARAH TYLER It wasn’t long until we began receiving help calls from him…
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Miracle On Cherokee Street
I received my only pairs of legwarmers, one pink and one purple, from my sister Pam. She had been so excited to give them to me; she couldn’t wait until Christmas. Routinely, before we fell asleep in her bed, we would eat candy bars, Butterfingers and Skors. I was the first to know her baby…
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Baby, Please Come Home For Christmas
After a very long, seven-year journey of infertility and pregnancy loss, my husband, Casey, and I found out we were expecting. I had extra testing and monitoring during my pregnancy given our previous stillbirth, but everything always came back normal. However, at 31 weeks I began having contractions during a baby shower at work. I…
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Unified To Do More
I’ve been part of Special Olympics Missouri since I began assisting my dad* at events. When I was 10 years old, I participated in the Polar Plunge. In 6th grade, I became a Unified Partner where I assisted with basketball. Over the past eight years, I’ve grown and formed friendships with other athletes and Unified…
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Fear Almost Had Me
Fear. Four little letters bringing about a wave of emotion, causing me to feel as though I am drowning at the mention of the word. Merriam-Webster defines fear as “an unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger;” “a state of emotion, anxious concern, solitude;” and “profound reverence and awe, especially toward…
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Middle-of-the-Night Friend
Life has been difficult for my family for about 19 months. Since May, we have been on a very scary and fearful rollercoaster. But God. Through this scary ride, God has sustained us, helping us to hear His Word to encourage and to give courage. And we have had friends constantly praying for us, cheering…
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More Than I Can Bear
I had always wanted to be a mom. However, I didn’t know how hard, heartbreaking or rewarding the journey of becoming a mom would be. My husband, Casey, and I decided to start trying for our first child about two years into our marriage. Unfortunately, we struggled with infertility, and it took us three years…
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Big, Bad Days; Brighter Hope
Fear, in its purest form, occurs when my trust in my Father is being overshadowed by lies of this world. When circumstances begin to careen out of control, when uncertainties seem to be the only certainty, satan weaves his greatest of lies. He works to falter my trust in God. I’ve learned time and time…
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Refreshing Others With Our Words
I nestled into my hammock, a stack of thank you notes on my lap. After five months of study, lesson planning, sermon delivery, and small group facilitating, I was satisfied, yet weary. I began to read the gracious words written by the ladies in my church’s Bible study. words + photographs EVA BURKHOLDER Some just…
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Made Good Enough
Throughout my life, I have struggled with the belief I am just not good enough. I felt if I worked really hard, maybe I could be. These lies have permeated multiple areas of my life: school, work, relationships. When I was in high school, college, and even graduate school, I had an incessant need to…
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Fighting Words
Satan tries very hard to cause us to believe false truths. As we begin to believe those false truths and have doubts in our hearts and minds, we begin to turn ever so slightly from Jesus. Sometimes, I believe the lies. words + photographs JAYLA PENICK Some days, I believe I must be happy and…
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Lessons & Plans
“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,’” (Jeremiah 29:11). Ever since I can remember, I knew the plan the Lord had for me. He had clearly revealed to me I was called to…
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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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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…
Homegrown Journal 