I’m hostessing another teen girls’ all nighter at my house this Friday night. I’ve been doing this about twice a year for the last 2-3 years. Often I schedule them when Paul is on a mission trip, but he’s gone back to work again, so he’s not flying off to Africa or some other place for a while. (He’s retired twice now. Third time’s a charm, and he seems to be in the charming work stage right now. That’s another topic for another time.) I have a theme for each all nighter, so this time, I chose my theme based upon the lovely, little chorus, “To Bless Your Heart” which is about blessing God’s heart. Oh, how could we ever bless The Blesser? Continue reading
To Bless Your Heart
Categories: Spiritual Growth
Tags: "To Bless Your Heart" by Wendy Corrick, bless, heart, heart of God
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Monsoon Drama: Another Sacred Stage
I’m sitting on my swing in the front of my house looking out at the Bradshaw Mountains. The sky is filled with billowy clouds, and in the distance I occasionally hear some thunder. It’s the end of the monsoon season here in Arizona. We’ve lived in the Prescott Valley area ( 1 1/2 hours north of Phoenix) for five years now, and this is the most amazing monsoon season I’ve experienced. I didn’t know about North America’s southwestern monsoons before moving here. Continue reading
Categories: Spiritual Growth
Tags: Faith, monsoons, mundane life, storms, trusting God, weather
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Our Hallowed Father blessing hallowed days
I enjoy playing the piano in my home for the pleasure of it, and it also is a lovely opportunity to pray and worship. Yesterday, I was playing the old gospel hymn,”Sweet By and By.”
There’s a land that is fairer than day, and by faith we can see it afar,
For the Father waits over the way to prepare us a dwelling place there.
Refrain: In the sweet by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore;
In the sweet by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore.
That’s the first verse. I suppose many of you remember it, and the melody is now playing in your mind. These are precious words, but the third verse struck me. Continue reading
Journey North Character: New Look; Same Heart
Welcome! We’ve been on summer break, and now it’s time to rev up this blog again! I hope you like JNC’s new appearance! I’ve been writing for Journey North Character under the leadership of Troy Christian Schools in Troy, Ohio. Since I am now “retired,” JNC was recently released to me to manage independently.
I hope that you will continue to join me on this journey. First, we want to make sure we know why we’re here.
JNC exists to encourage Christians to walk closer to Christ, becoming more like Him. Continue reading
A New Chapter Begins
The Grand Canyon: Sunset or Sunrise?
Journey North Character will begin a new chapter in August. When the school year ended, I did not communicate with you our summer plans because I did not know them! After prayer and after conferring with the administration at Troy Christian and with my technical assistants, we have finally made some important decisions.
First, we have decided to move the blog, Journey North Character, from the Troy Christian Schools website to Accentmarks.org, my personal website. Please note that I do not plan to post new articles until August in order to have the month of July to prepare.
I have Continue reading
“How’re Ya Doing?”
When you’re raising children, no matter their age, every week is a big week.
“How’re ya doing?”
“Oh, we’re hanging in there! We’re busy.”
You hear that a lot, don’t you? I can imagine Continue reading
Categories: Being Like Jesus, Parenting, Spiritual Growth
Tags: Character, forgiveness, gratefulness, patience, perspective
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Devotional Thoughts on Forgiveness
Approaching the end of the school year, we look back over the year, remembering where we were at the beginning, considering highlights — both achievements and disappointments — that changed us. It is good to consider how we are different today in comparison to last August. Are we stronger in our faith? Are we better in character: kinder, wiser, more Christ-like? Are our changes energized not from a prideful “I can do whatever I dream” spirit, but from the Holy Spirit? Continue reading
Categories: Being Like Jesus, Parenting, Spiritual Growth
Tags: Character, forgiveness, like Jesus
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In a Fallen World, We Can’t Live Without It
The school year is almost over, so it’s time to explore our last character-driven theme of the year. In a fallen world, no one can survive without this quality. Beyond survival, no one can thrive without it. We learn the need of it even before we go to kindergarten. I suppose it’s like the white cells in our blood stream – necessary in order to keep us clean, protected, and alive. You’ve probably figured it out. Continue reading
Categories: Being Like Jesus, Parenting, Spiritual Growth
Tags: character development, forgiveness
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Character Steps on a Journey Northward
We are like the box top picture on a 5000 piece puzzle: our children get the idea of what life looks like through the pictures of our lives. Other people also provide box top pictures of life for us and our children. We’ve considered Sokvannarra (Sy) Sar, a young man from Cambodia who came to America and has become a classical ballet dancer. Sy’s life demonstrates humility, loyalty, tenacity, selflessness, perseverance, kindness, respect and honor. Recently, we’ve been looking at some scenes from my story. What character qualities do you observe that God was shaping in me? Continue reading
Categories: Being Like Jesus, Parenting, Spiritual Growth
Tags: character development, courage, journey north, loving God, obedience, self-control
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A Fairy Tale Story Begins
After four or five days of driving across the country and sharing special time together, my mother and I arrived in Scotts Valley, California, south of San Jose. We pulled into Baymonte Christian High School’s parking lot in front of the superintendent’s office. I had never seen a school like this! Continue reading
Categories: Parenting, Spiritual Growth
Tags: character development, fairy tale, growing up, obedience, self-control
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Journey North Character 