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The difference a “U” makes.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  (John 3:16 NIV) Lee Bramlett is a missionary that works with the Hdi culture, translating the Bible into their language. One night in a dream, God urged Lee to look up the word “love” in Hdi.  In his study of the language, Lee had found that verbs in Hdi always end in “A”, “I”, or “U”.  He looked for the word “love” and found forms of it ending in “A” and “I”.  Why no “U”?  In search of an answer, he asked the Hdi translation committee. Lee asked, “Could you ‘dvi’ your wife?” The translators replied, “Yes.  That would mean you used to love your wife.  Now the love is gone.” Then Lee asked, “Could you ‘dva’ your wife?” “You could,” answered the leaders.  “It would be love based off

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On a Scale of 1 to 10, What am I?

Does my hair look okay? Is my make-up smeared? Do my clothes look cute enough? Are my curves in the "right" places? Self-doubt, self-image, and self-consciousness are the leading causes of depression in teens, and studies have shown that girls fall into depression easier than guys. You might often worry that how you look or what you do isn't good enough for yourself or other people. In the Bible, there are tons of scriptures to encourage you to see yourself as the beautiful daughter of God that you are - like Psalm 139:13-16 (ESV), "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made...My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, everyone of

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Who’s Your Father?

Yet to all who did receive [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.  (John 1:12-13) He was only a boy, but he already knew about shame and humiliation.  He did his best to stay away from people and crowded places.  He was the illegitimate son of a woman in eastern Tennessee in the 1800s.  His name was Ben Hooper. Ben Hooper always dreaded the questions people asked.  “Boy, who’s your father?” or “Whose boy are you?”  It didn’t matter if it was just a stranger or someone he knew ready to humiliate him.  It always brought a stab of pain to his heart to be reminded that he didn’t have a dad. Then a

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Never Forsaken

God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5b NIV) Every January, my family watches the video.  Every January, we watch Dad filming Mom and my sister as the three wait with their adoption group in the Chinese hotel.  Then, out of a doorway steps a man carrying a round bundle of . . . clothes.  Inside the ball of yellow and red is a nineteen-month-old baby girl. The man walks over to my parents and hands the baby to Mom.  The moment the little girl changes hands, her face crumples up and she bursts into tears. I don’t remember that moment, but it’s easy to understand why I started crying.  I had been living with a foster family for a while, and I must have thought they were my family.  Then, I was handed off to three strangers and taken away to their hotel room.  My

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Sunflower

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.  (Romans 14:17-18 NIV) Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  (Romans 12:12 NIV) What’s big, tall, embodies sunshine, and brings a smile to anyone’s face?  A sunflower!  My mom loves sunflowers, so, of course she grows a lot of them.  A funny thing about sunflowers is that the seeds spread.  Every summer, bright yellow flowers pop up in unexpected places, like along the sidewalk, next to the front porch and in the pumpkin patch. Did you know that the tallest sunflower ever was grown by Hans-Peter Schiffer in Germany in 2009?  It was 26 feet and 4 inches tall.  The largest

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Modest is Hottest

Modern Fashion can be risky. Media attempts to persuade us girls in a myriad of ways. Magazine articles, television commercials, store advertisements: they can bribe our minds to desire risqué and revealing clothing that is unhealthy, for not only our appearance, but our spiritual walk as well. I’m not trying to make this about what you should and shouldn’t wear, but it is important for us as women of Christ not to be sucked into the “seductive wave.” First off, as a woman of Christ, it is essential that you know it’s important you stay pure and modest, no matter how old you are. If you are searching for attention from guys that would place you as their distraction piece or are looking for that feeling of seductiveness, there might be a bigger issue that needs to be dealt with. When you get dressed in the morning, think to yourself, “Do

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Adventure With God

Just think—you don't need a thing, you've got it all! All God's gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that.  (1 Corinthians 1:7-9, The Message, emphasis mine) I climbed on top of the car, lay against the back window, and gripped the edges of the open windows along the sides.  A friend of mine climbed up and wrapped an arm around my waist.  In front of us, a boy sprawled across the front part of the roof.  Five other people

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Interview with Author – Donita K. Paul

[gallery] Several years ago, my brother started reading a series of books called The DragonKeeper Chronicles. And when my momma heard the author, Donita K. Paul, was signing books one weekend, she took him to have the books signed. My momma had met Miss Donita before, but this was the beginning of a deeper relationship. One meeting lead to another and soon they were good friends. Then I decided to read The DragonKeeper Chronicles. I fell in love with them. I read them over and over again, and now I’ve read the entire series seven times with a few “re-read my favorite ones” (DragonSpell and DragonKnight, the first and third books) here and there. Soon, Miss Donita allowed my brother and me to be early readers for her books, and—no joke or emphasis—I CAN’T wait for her next one. (Patience is not my strong suit.) Donita K. Paul has written many books, some of

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Death by Waterslide?

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:12 NIV) “I’m going down the orange one,” I told my older sister. We climbed up the stairs to the top of the waterslides. My sister walked to the line for the open-top, green slide. I stood in line for the closed-top, orange slide. The dark hole gaped at me. Heart hammering, I sat down and pushed myself in. I lay back and zipped down an unexpected drop-off. I started going faster and faster, whizzing through the darkness so fast I couldn’t scream. The only thought running through my head was, I’m going to crash and die at the bottom. Light glinted up the sides of the slide. I plugged

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