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Senior Makes Friend’s Dream Come True
Senior Brandon Qualls of Caddo Hills High School in Arkansas can now go to school with much more ease than before thanks to a significant gesture and act of friendship by his classmate Tanner Wilson. It was Tanner’s wish to make things easier for his good friend Brandon, who would often tire maneuvering his manual wheelchair. So Wilson started saving to be able to give his best friend the surprise of his life: an electric wheelchair. Tanner saved up from his job at a local mechanic shop for over two years in order to give such a generous and selfless gift. “They came in, and my face just blew up,” Brandon…
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He Made $35,000 in Four Days, Donates $7K
Watch the latest video at foxnews.com David Holston is an 18-year-old entrepreneur from Idaho who started a landscaping business in Coeur d’Alene last spring. He recently made a good amount of money in 4 days, more in than many make in a year, from plowing snow. The proactive teen decided to travel to Seattle with his truck and a plow right after the city got hit with historic levels of snow – up to 10 inches in some parts. Holston made a total of $35,000 in four days work and said he plans to give $7,000 of that “to God” through his local church and other Christian organizations. “I plan…
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Can Dreams Really Come True?
Back in the late 1960s, our East Texas school district made some interesting adjustments, or at least that’s how this third grader interpreted the situation. Instead of neighborhood elementary schools, the district divided the students up by grade instead of where they happened to live. Housing all of the third and fourth grade students in the former “black elementary school”, the transition from segregated to integrated schools happened without much fanfare. Because of the way my mother had raised me, I didn’t really think much of the change. What I didn’t realize is what was going on in that small town behind the scenes. A local eye doctor still had…
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Patsy Clairmont and Me
It was a dark and stormy night… No, it was a gloomy, rainy night… Ok, maybe just a dark night in a rental car driving on a winding road I’d never traveled before with another woman I had just met a few minutes ago. It was an adventure I had been looking forward to for several months. A trip to meet Patsy Clairmont at her home for a writing workshop. I’ve loved Patsy Clairmont since the early days when her speaking engagements were aired on Focus on the Family radio broadcasts. I’d read her books and seen her at many Women of Faith events. Recently, I had become one of…
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Our First Date
After letting everyone know that I married my first date, it occurred to me that folks may be interested in our first date. Fitting for me, even still, our date didn’t go exactly as I had planned. It was a Saturday, October 10, 1975, and I had just gotten off work at my grandmother’s dress shop. The rest of my family was out of town, due to return sometime that evening. When my grandmother dropped me off at home, I realized that my house key was missing. Oops! How was I to get ready for my very first date when I couldn’t get into my house? Fortunately, I brought home…
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I Married My First Date
It was a steamy August afternoon when I spotted the tall handsome senior drummer the first day of marching band practice. One of my giddy fellow freshman girlfriends pointed him out to me, since she had a crush on him. Of course, he had no idea any of us wide-eyed ninth graders existed as he strutted on the field a head above all the rest of the band. The summer sun had kissed him in the color of bronze, and his long locks of brown still celebrated a break from the school dress code. Wow, I thought, how could my friend ever think he would notice an awkward fourteen year…
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You Do You, (Christian) Boo
Whether we like it or not – titles usually come with preconceived notions. Lawyer? Argumentative. Homeless? Lazy. Rich? Selfish. Christian? Judgmental. Whether these assumptions are true or not – they do exist. Oftentimes as a Christian we may feel the need to explain ourselves as to not be clumped into the “self-righteous” category. How do you find that happy medium of being successfully in but not of the world? The answer is crystal clear in scripture: “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take…
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God wants us to be reckless
There’s no shadow You won’t light up, Mountain You won’t climb up, Coming after me. There’s no wall You won’t kick down, Lie You won’t tear down, Coming after me. (Reckless Love – Cory Asbury) I wish I could accurately explain the images in my head as I listen to that bridge. The image of God lighting up the dark like an explosion, climbing up mountains in a rage, busting through walls and battling with the enemy… This warrior-like description of God is nothing new – this is part of God’s character. Oftentimes we put God and his angels in a box. God is an old man with a white…
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Hopelessly Ever After
Hopeless romantic. This person sees the world with rose-colored glasses. They love the thought of love. Every scenario plays out like a scene from a romantic comedy. Even when things go wrong, their imagination can spin it as a plot twist as they anxiously await the happy ending. Something as simple as hearing birds singing can launch them into daydreams. Hi, my name is Emily. I’m a hopeless romantic. I was thinking about this term the other day. Hopeless? Thanks. Couldn’t we say something like “optimistic romantic” instead? Hopeless seems better fitted for a pessimist, not someone who is always imagining the best in a situation. In fact, hopeless romantics…
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Face Your Fears…of Humility
As Christians, we are called to serve others. We are called to take up our cross and follow Christ’s humble example. Humility, however, is no excuse for complacency. Humility is not the opposite of being successful or great — that is a lie that pride sneaks into our hearts. Jesus wants us to strive to be great — he just redefined greatness. “They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first…