Hope Deferred

- Kelly Powers

“It’s porch therapy.” This is what my friend declared of the evenings we spend lingering on my front porch, enjoying the arrival of summer, wrestling through the matters of our heart. It is a scared space where questions, joys, prayers, laments and hopes are spoken. And probably a dish of hummus and white wine are savored.

During our last porch session a group of women gathered, all in different stages of life…but all of us are single. So the conversation landed on dating. But it became so much more than that. Beyond the questions about on-line dating and when can a woman ask a guy out, we found ourselves wrestling with this…how do you live fully and faithfully in the face of your hopes being deferred?

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Morning Cup

So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.  2 Peter 1:5-9

Heart Talk (Printable Workout Resource)

- Stephanie Sample

It’s pretty hard to live in the US today and not know how important it is to care for your heart.  Anyone who watches TV, reads online or print media, listens to the radio or even listens to the conversations of bystanders knows we should all be moving our bodies and raising our heart rates nearly every day.  Yep, we’re talking cardio, that most polarizing of fitness topics.  You either love it or you hate it (or avoid it because you think you’ll hate it).  I myself have resided in all three positions, sometimes all in the same day.

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Graduation Reflections

- Troy Hatfield

Last week I received an invitation to a graduating high school senior’s open house.  Once I got over the shock that this girl, who I remember being 8, was wrapping up high school, I started to do the math:  I graduated from high school 20 years ago.

Deep breaths, Troy.

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