CURRENT EVENTS: New Summer Series “Let God Fight Your Battles” begins in July Leave your fear behind and develop a life-changing sense of confidence as you let God fight your battles for you. “Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged … for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” 2 Chronicles 20:15 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM South County Government Building, 2nd Floor 8350 Richmond Highway, Alexandria Lending Library, Fellowship & Prayer available until 9 PM Using book by Joyce Meyer “Let

Friday afternoon, my husband and I left town for a wedding celebration of a dear friend. The sky was blue, sun was shining, and there were just a few fluffy white clouds in the sky when the plane landed. It looked like the perfect weather for an outdoor wedding. By the time we took the shuttle from the airport terminal to get to the car rental location, the weather made an expected turn. The sky was completely full of dark clouds with high gusts of wind. Suddenly a downpour o

Recently my husband and I took a trip overseas to celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary. Spending time day in and day out together was a treat. Usually we are so busy with work and our commitments outside of work, we have only a few moments in a day together. So it felt great to have time to focus on celebrating the deep, rich friendship and love we have for one another and to enjoy the simple pleasures of taking a stroll in the early evening and chat about life while enjoyi

Earlier this week, most everyone was out of the office for one reason or another except for me and one other co-worker. I had an opportunity to chat briefly with her as I was walking back to my cubicle. I mentioned she was coming up one-year anniversary and how quickly the time has gone past. As we talked about our jobs, out the blue she started talking about how joyful I am about my job. She said I may be the only one in this office that really likes what she is doing. She e

Recently, my husband and I enjoyed four of our five grandchildren for our annual “GG” (Grandparent) camp. It is a time set aside to learn from God’s Word, sing memory verses, do crafts, worship, share adventures together, laugh and play. My husband and I enjoy this time to read to them before bed and pray. It is an exhausting couple days, but extremely rewarding. Throughout the week with these little ones, we found ourselves being asked to lift up and carry one of our grandch

My daughter, Christal, unexpectedly had an emergency C-section at 36 weeks on Thursday. I knew I needed to be there and with the support of many dear friends and co-workers, I was able to drop everything to drive to Chesapeake, VA, to help with the grandchildren. This allowed my son-in-law to be freed up to focus on spending time with Christal and their newborn baby, Noah Justice. It had been awhile since I had my grandchildren, Alyvia and Caleb, as my constant companions. On

Each spring I am reminded of the many years my daughter Christal played softball and our son Rob played baseball. It was fun watching them from the stands as each year they played various positions on their team. I loved watching them learn to work with their teammates each season. Often the best season was not always about how many wins, but how well they worked together as a team, encouraging each other to do their best and most importantly communicating with each other. I

This Easter 2016 was fun seeing on social media, the many photos of people enjoying the holiday together as family and friends. It made me think how important it is to have an authentic community in all our lives. Moving around every two years or so when my husband Pat was active duty military offered many challenges. It was before cell phones, e-mail and social media. How did I meet people? I had to be purposeful and intentional. I would bake (anyone who knows me will know t

For months, my granddaughter Alyvia who is five years old, talked about passing her swim test so she could swim in the deep end at the YMCA pool where they are members. I was so proud of how my daughter and her husband worked with Alyvia faithfully each week over the past several months to develop her swimming skills and bodily strength. I still remember when she was much younger not wanting to swim on her own at all. She would have such a defeated and negative attitude when

This weekend my daughter and all her family came up for the last visit before baby Noah arrives the first week in May. It was fun getting to hang with the grandchildren and share precious moments together. Alyvia, the oldest of all four grandkids, is five and had given her life to Christ. The change is so amazing. She is becoming a servant, operating in the God-kind of love to others. What I love is the repentant heart, both humble and contrite. My daughter mentioned that lea