Awana Get Involved! My older kids have been involved in Awana since 1997 or so. And now my young kids are involved! I’ve always loved the mission focus and their scripture training. Tomorrow I’m flying to Kenya to see how Awana International is reaching hundreds of thousands of kids in Kenya with the message of Jesus… [Continue Reading]
mission trips
A Bridge To Cling To
A Bridge To Cling To *This post is part of my Beautiful Bridges and Special Kisses Giveaway! Want to link up, or looking for more info on the chance to win a collection of TEN Amish novels? Click here. I remember the moment as if it were yesterday. I was on a research trip with… [Continue Reading]
Homeschool Holiday Volunteering!
What are you doing for your Christmas homeschool break? Shopping? Traveling? Opening your home to family and friends? Have you thought about adding “volunteering” to your holiday festivities? Many homeschooling families take off some time during December from homeschooling, which opens up hours for volunteering. At the same time service organizations seek willing workers to… [Continue Reading]
God Gave Me the Gift of Women With a Similar Shape (and Sprinkles of Beauty, Too!)
I love Christmas gifts, but this year the greatest *new* gifts I received were given to me a few months before Christmas. For me 2012 was a year of connecting my heart with hundreds of other women with the same passion(s) as me: loving God, writing, and being a wife/mom. I thought I was unique,… [Continue Reading]
30 Days of Thankfulness | Can You Help?
I’m excited to announce that I’m participating in 30 Days of Thankfulness with All Things Southern. Thirty Days of Thankfulness is an annual humanitarian effort designed to coincide with the Thanksgiving season. Last year, the campaign worked with Life Today to drill a well in Southern Africa. Even as you read these words, that well continues to supply fresh, life-sustaining… [Continue Reading]
Summer Through Alyssa’s Eyes
Don’t Miss This!!
Thomas Nelson Author and Hoops of Hope founder, Austin Gutwein, to host September 6 online event to focusing on themes his latest release, Live to Give. On September 6 at 8 PM EDT, Austin Gutwein will be hosting a live Facebook web event to encourage participants to conquer their fears and use their talents… [Continue Reading]
I Love Prague
I love Prague. The architecture is amazing. The castles, the cathedrals, the buildings, the shops, the cobblestone, the statues, the bridges, the boats, the sky, the parks, the birds . . . LOL. There is a lot to love. But I don’t love it as much as I did in 2000. Or actually, I love… [Continue Reading]
Cobblestones and River Paths
Have you ever had one of those moments when all seems right in the world? More than that, when life seems to be a series of steppingstones that has led you to one specific place and time? I felt like that our last night in Olomouc, Czech Republic. We’d just had some great pizza and… [Continue Reading]
There Comes a Time . . .
There comes a time when you take “Go, Ye, into all the world” seriously and invite your neighbor out to coffee and look into taking a mission trip with your kids. When you realize people need Jesus and if you don’t reach them, who will? There comes a time when you consider that Jesus meant… [Continue Reading]
A Day of Stories
Auschwitz Today was a day of stories. We traveled to Poland to see Auschwitz-Birkenau. I’ve read many books about Auschwitz. Part of my novel Night Song took place there, and being there was surreal. More than 1.4 million people visit Auschwitz every year, and the place was packed with people from around the world. As… [Continue Reading]