About 90 percent of the time, I’m more focused on school, summer, homework, friends, getting my driver’s license or even food than I am on God. It’s pretty pathetic really: I’m showing myself more respect than I’m showing Him. I think we can all relate to that on some level. So serving on the worship team at Grace Church gives me an outlet, a couple of hours where I can forget everything else that’s going on in my life and embrace the Holy Spirit as I worship. I get so wrappe

Well there we were, God and I in the kitchen on a Saturday morning. It was my husband’s birthday, June 25. He loves pies of all kinds, especially fruit pies. No birthday cake for him: pie all the way. My niece had said she would bring two wonderful berry pies to the party that night, so I decided I would make an apple and a lemon icebox, which is a favorite of mine in the summertime. I began on the lemon pie first, because it would need more than six hours in the freezer befo

Like many people, I’ve had this country on my mind a lot lately. With the Orlando shootings, the presidential election, #BlackLivesMatter and so much more, there’s a lot to cover — aka a lot of conversations to avoid with your in-laws. I look at Facebook and all I see is anger and sadness. I read articles and think pieces and they’re all desperate to point the finger at someone or something to explain the injustice that happens on a daily basis. It’s the Republicans’ fault! I

When the generator fires up and begins its incessant rumble, you know it is time to work. The first sounds crank through the neighborhood in a startling manner. They tend to drown out the cacophony of daily life: kids playing soccer in the streets; the occasional propane of fruit sellers slowly winding the dusty roads, advertising over their roof-mounted speakers (“se vende, se vende, saboya, tomate, chile…”); the low beats of a distant radio. The only noises that rise above