I stared at the countless sentences circled in red ink all over the paper, and my eyes filled with tears. The D+ grade at the top of the page glared at me with condemnation. I felt defeated, and it was only my first college journalism assignment. My Penn State professor, known for his strict adherence…
“Help me—help you—help him!” These were the words that echoed in Dave’s ears while he waited to hear if Jerry was going to live after suffering a heart attack. He prayed his CPR efforts were helpful and Jerry would survive. Still, Dave knew the risks. His own heart ached for Jerry as he awaited news…
“Help me—help you—help him!” urged the 911 operator last week in New Haven, Connecticut. On the other line was Dave, a 2015 graduate of The 180 Center Discipleship Program. It was all surreal. Dave stopped in to chat with Jerry, a fellow tenant in the Christian living sober house. Jerry was grateful for the bed…
Back in 2003, long before we had GPS or a cell phone, we found ourselves desperately lost on a road trip at night. We were almost out of gas, and we were in a dangerous part of an unfamiliar city. My husband pulled into a nearby run down gas station. We looked around at the…
I would love to say that once I surrendered my fears about my future to God I was at peace, but I would be lying. I intended to return to work during the pandemic. Still, I wanted more reassurance. Judge it as a lack of faith if you must, but I asked God to give…
Growing up, I remember my family ate dinner in the den watching Walter Cronkite deliver the news every night. We had a set of foldable TV trays and we set up five trays when dinner was ready. While we ate, our visual diet consisted of political unrest, economic updates, tragic events, and many conflicts throughout…
It happened at Tom and Heidi’s home. This precious couple have a way of reaching out and wrapping their arms of love around everyone they meet. Mike and I were fortunate to be part of their catch that night. We navigated through a sea of others to the delicious buffet of food in the kitchen….
My stomach felt unsettled and my mind was fast forwarding through every possible escape route I could imagine. The hand of regret wrapped around my throat, squeezed every anticipated breath from my chest and robbed me of hope for redemption. It was a horrible, speeding, out-of-control roller coaster that I recently boarded and there was…
When Mike and I first came to Connecticut, we attended Gateway Christian Fellowship in West Haven, experiencing passionate worship and compelling preaching. With a missions background, we were eager to get involved in outreach. We discovered our call serving food at the men’s shelter in New Haven twice a month. It felt fulfilling to prepare…
In elementary school I won the spelling bee for my school district. I won on the word achieve. I will never forget that day. A local newspaper snapped a photo of me holding my trophy, smiling from ear to ear, standing next to my parents and Mr. Fairman, my favorite teacher in the world. The…
