Collene Borchardt

“Mommy can you pray for me?”, my daughter whispered. I placed my hand on her and prayed a quick prayer for God to help her fall asleep and keep her from having bad dreams. Then I gave her a hug and a kiss. And she went back to bed. My daughter has slipped into my room for years with this simple request whenever she has trouble sleeping or a nightmare wakes her. When she was younger, we talked often about God’s love, prayer, and how we can ask Him for anything. We talked about how she could trust God even on her darkest nights. And so she comes in my…

The moment had finally arrived.   I had known it was coming for a long time.   I had made the doctor appointments, gone to the consultations, called the insurance company, and gotten everything prepared for this moment.    But now that it was here, I hesitated.   I reminded myself it was just a minor surgery. I told myself everything would be okay. And yet, when the medical team came into the room and said, “We’re ready.”  I wanted to shout, “But I’m not!”   Instead, I forced myself to step forward, lean over the bed, and give my daughter a kiss as I whispered, “You’re going to do great!”  And then I stepped…

“There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” -John 6:9 NLT All he had was five loaves and two fish.   He had heard that the disciples were looking for food. He looked down at his little sack lunch and then looked around at the massive crowd. He was hungry. And what he had was only enough to feed a few people. Compared to the huge crowd, what he had to offer was so small.   But his desire to help was stronger than his hunger. So, he walked over to the disciples and gave them all he had to…

It was our first trip to Holy Hill.  Holy Hill is an old, beautiful church built up on a huge hill overlooking magnificent forests. You can climb up in one of the steeples to get a breathtaking view or hike on trails throughout the surrounding woods. There are also gorgeous statues and depictions of the life of Jesus all around the campus.   As we were walking around viewing everything, I noticed one statue carved into a rock. The statue was not what caught my eye, though.  What caught my eye was a single, yellow flower growing at the top.   It seemed totally impossible. And yet there it was perched atop the…