Clarity at the Clothesline

by Linda Hagen

Twitterin' birds and buzzin' bees inspired a foray through the junk drawer to find the old clothespins.  This perfect spring day called for hanging freshly washed white sheets outside in the backyard-something I don't normally do.

Morning sun was making its way through the trees on the mountain as I completed my sheet hanging task and propped up the line with a pole.  Warming, soft breezes came to help and swayed the line gently back and forth.

Ramblings of a Changing Man: Unity

by Steve Ferber

In 1984 Tammy and I, along with three others, went on a mission’s trip to Amsterdam, Holland.  The trip was for ‘Youth with a Mission’.  The Salvation Army had given them a building in the ‘red light district’ in Amsterdam.  They were having groups of skilled labor come at different times to help restore the building.  At the time I was a carpenter foreman; the skill set that we brought to the project was painting, wall papering, build a circular stair case and cabinets.  The trip was successful along with us learning some new life lessons.  One in particular for me was about unity.

Ramblings of a Changing Man: Power of the Cross

by Steve Ferber

The Scriptures are full of ‘miracles’.  We are encouraged by the physical healings, deliverances and other demonstrations of God’s power.  Today we ask the Lord to perform miracles among and thru His people for many reasons.  These manifestations cause our faith to increase and reveal that God loves us, healing and setting us free from bondages.  They also reveal God’s power to unbelievers.

Obedience Training

by Linda Hagen

During my many years as a professional dog trainer, I once had the privilege of teaching Amanda Grace Woods how to train her lovely little Sheltie dog. Amanda is the daughter of New Life's own Dave and Sandra Woods. (Sandra is now living in the presence of the Lamb.)  Amanda was a good student and trained her dog well.  Now grown and raising her own family, she was and is, a Godly young woman. (Nice training, Dave and Sandra)

After each of our dog training lessons, I would give Amanda a homework sheet to use and keep as a reference.  Here is the homework I assigned on the occasion of her thirteenth birthday.

Ramblings of a Changing Man: Riding the Storm Out

by Steve Ferber
REO Speed Wagon wrote and performed a song called “Riding the Storm Out.”  They were what I call a high energy rock and roll band.  As they were traveling from one performance to another they were caught in a bad thunderstorm, high winds and rain so heavy they could hardly see to drive.  They could not pull over and stop because they did not want to miss their next engagement; so they pressed on and made it on time.

Ramblings of a Changing Man: Broken Not Beaten

by Steve Ferber

I remember when my son was considering joining the Marine Corps to fight the war on terror.  We had many conversations prior to his enlistment and all his reasons for doing this were sound and honorable.  He was running among other things to get in shape before he went to boot camp.  He hated eggs but knew that he would have to eat a lot of them so he started gagging down scrambled eggs to get used to them.  He watched Full Metal Jacket over and over again to start conditioning his mind to be ready for the training he was going to receive.

Ramblings of a Changing Man: Motive

by Steve Ferber

Tammy and I went to church last night for corporate prayer.  As Elizabeth opened up the prayer time she spoke of a few areas that she felt God was leading us to pray in, two of those were an enlarged heart and the harvest.  When we broke into different groups for prayer I held back for a few minutes waiting on the Lords direction, I had interest in three different areas and needed to know which way to proceed.

Ramblings of a Changing Man: Trust

by Steve Ferber
This journey started in July 2009.  I had been laid off due to lack of work, I had a really good job but the company I worked for was downsizing drastically due to the economic down turn.  God provided a job in November, but it was for about two thirds of what I had been earning.  I believed that God was going to provide me with a good job; I was doing my part but not striving in the flesh.