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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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Fickle Faith
“Faith is confidence in what we hope for and the assurance that God is working, even though we cannot see it. Faith knows that no matter what the situation, in our lives or someone else’s, that God is working in it.” That’s the definition you get if you ask Google. It’s a great definition but […]
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A Conversation with Denise Burrell, Gifted with Grit
It could have been seen as a defiant statement against resolutions, the kind we rattle off at the stroke of Midnight on Dec. 31 of any year. Instead, Denise Burrell quietly set aside the need for lofty goal setting and decided to learn a new skill instead. She thinks it was cross-stitching. She was in […]
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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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Fight, Mom, Fight
“The saddest thing in life is that the best thing in it should be courage.” – Robert Frost – My mom is strong. She is fight-Mike-Tyson-with-her-oven-mitts-on strong.Carolina-reaper-on-her-eggs-chased-down-by-truck-stop-black-coffee strong.Raised-my-brother-and-my-sister-and-me strong. The latter taking the belt. words + photographs MARK APPLEGATE Mom was diagnosed in 2009 with, in the words of her doctor, “a mild case of […]
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God Told Traci Prater, “No.”
“But each day the Lord pours His unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing His songs, praying to God who gives me life,” (Psalm 42:8). Stage IV colon and liver cancers were never in my playbook. Yet neither was a surprise to God. While a Stage IV diagnosis can mean death, God […]
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On your mark, get set, ask smart questions: Leadership advice from Grandpa Don
My parents have passed on my Grandpa Don’s tongue-in-cheek advice about all kinds of things. His homegrown wisdom came from a lifetime of overcoming one thing after another and ended in achieving the kind of playful happiness that drew people to him and his home. words + photographs DR. SARAH THORNTON What mattered to me […]
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FROM THE EDITOR: Mind Your Mouth
On a morning in mid-summer, I found myself listing all the ways in which I was failing on that day alone. I couldn’t care for a flower plant well enough to keep it alive. Literally. It withered up, giving no explanation. I couldn’t tend well enough to a tomato plant to support its production of […]
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Hummingbird Moth
The first time I saw it, I wasn’t sure I wanted to stick around. Flying insects sometimes come across as bullies, willing to defend their space with actions causing me discomfort, let’s say. Dr. Katie Kilmer, an associate professor of biology and environmental health at Missouri Southern State University, assures me hummingbird moths do not […]
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PLANTED: Spoon Tomato
Sources tell me the spoon tomato is the tiniest tomato of all. Seed reviewers note the overabundance of fruit overloading the plant, the space around the plant and the time given by the grower to pick the small, little salad toppers. Psshhh*. I hesitate to bring up the drought and 100 degree temperatures we dealt […]
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Good Times September
Events are subject to change. Contact event directly for more information. Submit an event for consideration at editor@homegrownjournal.com. SeymourSeymour Apple FestivalSept. 8-10, FreeSeymour Squarehttps://seymourapplefestival.com/ The annual Seymour Apple Festival is celebrating 50 years this Sept 8-10. During the festival, you can see 100+ craft and various vendors, free live entertainment, 5K run, parade, Johnny Appleseed […]
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That Thing You Eat: Make It Local In September
Homegrown is in our name. Submit information about southwest Missouri farms to editor@homegrownjournal.com to be considered for future issues. Click the links below and like their Facebook pages. BIG MEATSBEEFRepublic, Missouri Big Meats provides USDA certified, local beef that has been raised, processed and packaged in southwest Missouri. Purchase beef already cut and packaged, or […]
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Calling, Commitment, and Cambodia
LOOKING AT THE FIELDS Working alongside her father in the Kansas wheatfields was a daily chore for my wife, Carmen, during her childhood. When she was 13, riding in the family work truck and gazing at the crops, it seemed like another summer’s day as her mind shifted toward the upcoming months and the necessary […]
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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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