DIANE O'CONNOR

It's snowing this morning—large flakes floating down lazily from the sky. I sat and watched for awhile, mesmerized by the peacefulness of the morning and the beauty of the white snow against the deep green pines in the background. I started thinking about God and thanking Him for His magnificent creation. I remembered that each teeny, tiny snowflake is unique—one of a kind! So much beauty in something so small and seemingly insignificant. I searched for some photos and marvel

A FOCUS FOR 2022 As 2021 was coming to a close, I was asking the Lord to show me what I should focus on as we entered 2022. I kept hearing the whisper, "Build Community—Build Community." In a time when conflict is running rampant and people are feeling disconnected, I realized that community is what I was craving. In person, face to face relational community. And I'm sure there are others out there who feel the same. So what is community anyway? David Chavis says,"Community i

SATAN ATTEMPTS TO DESTROY THREE ESSENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS In Part 1 I reminded us that we have an enemy that works to divide and conquer. Right now before our eyes, people are being divided and turned against each other—man vs woman, black vs white, husband vs wife, republican vs democrat, state vs federal, masked vs unmasked, vaxxed vs unvaxxed . . . and on and on and on. We are becominge fragmented and distrustful; cautious to share our thoughts out loud for fear of what othe

RECOGNIZE THE ENEMY SO YOU CAN DEFEAT HIM Right now it seems that there are conflicts everywhere we turn. We have an enemy that works to divide and conquer. Before our eyes people are being divided and turned against each other—man vs woman, black vs white, husband vs wife, republican vs democrat, state vs federal, masked vs unmasked, vaxxed vs unvaxxed . . . and on and on and on. We are becoming fragmented and distrustful; cautious to share our thoughts out loud for fear of

A Story of Transformation "If I were a house I’d be a little yellow house, with gables, a white spindled porch, cascading flower boxes, and candles in the windows. I’d be so inviting that if you were to pass by I would call out to you 'Come in, come in! Come sit down and share your heart.'" I wrote those words in 1988 when I dreamed about what our dark brown, straight-across-flat-roofed ranch home might become. I even drew a sketch of what I imagined. We had purchased our hom