We heard shrill shouts and the dull thud of coconuts hitting the wall. From granny's bedroom where my brother and I were supposed to be sleeping, we listened to the drunken brawl pitting my mother against my aunt. After my mom ducked the coconuts, my aunt pulled a knife on her. Mom retreated behind a locked door, but kept... >Read More

Tags: becoming a christian, changed lives, Christmas, closet issues, faith & spirituality, Family, family issues, hardship & suffering, LIFE, Louise Rousseau, parenting, Women

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Are you lonely this Christmas? Come talk to a mentor. In 1962 I was preaching in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was single and it was Christmas time. I was heading home to Michigan to enjoy the holidays with my family. It was an extremely cold day and it was snowing. The wind was howling out of the north, blowing thick clouds of... >Read More

Tags: becoming a christian, Christmas, Culture, faith, faith & spirituality, family values, growing in your faith, holiday, John William Smith, Men, prayer, priorities, purpose, spirituality, Women

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'Tis the season to be … gloomy? Feeling low this Christmas season?  You’re not alone.  Amid cheery songs, festive parties, gifts and good wishes, many lonely people are crying or dying on the inside.  Maybe you’re one of them.  I was. During a horrible year, my wife of 20 years divorced me, my employer of 25 years fired...... >Read More

Tags: becoming a christian, challenges & conflict, Christmas, Christmas blues, depression, divorce, faith & spirituality, God, grief, hardship & suffering, holiday, loneliness, lonely, Rusty Wright, Seasonal Affective Disorder

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I lost my dad to suicide at the age of five. Shortly after that a family member started sexually abusing me. Several years later I lost my step dad to a horrible fire that destroyed our home. We were left with nothing except for haunting memories.  Later, I turned to drinking to ease the pain that tormented me day in and day out... >Read More

Tags: BDD, becoming a christian, body dysmorphic disorder, changed lives, faith, faith & spirituality, FamilyLife Favs, going to church, healing, Jesus, LIFE, Self, self-esteem, sexual abuse

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Story told by Jeff Yellow Owl, written by Patty Duncan In 1923 the government took my grandmother from her parents and put her in a boarding school to immerse her in the white man’s culture. She remembers bumping along in a wagon, watching her home and family disappear in the rolling hills of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in...... >Read More

Tags: becoming a christian, faith, faith & spirituality, family issues.life, family values, growing in your faith, hardship & suffering, Jesus, Native American Indian, Patty Duncan

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I did not want to be another divorce statistic, but the numbers were not in our favor. My husband Rudy is a bus driver and I work in dentistry - both careers that rank high in divorce statistics. We have a severely handicapped son. We struggled financially. My husband has been fighting depression for most of his life. My life... >Read More

Tags: baby, challenges & conflicts, changed lives, closet issues, commitment, divorce, faith & spirituality, Family, hardship & suffering, health, husband, improving your marriage, jocelyn ratzlaff, marriage, parenting, pregnancy, sex and love, Women

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I was born in Montreal and raised in Vancouver, Canada. My parents were morally upright but non-religious. Our neighbors could also be described as non-religious. I did not know any Christians or serious followers of any other religion while I was growing up. Though my neighborhood was poor, its public schools were outstanding and its libraries...... >Read More

Tags: astronomy, becoming a christian, Bible, changed lives, closet issues, evidence, faith, faith & spirituality, FamilyLife Favs, growing in your faith, hugh ross, Men, religions, science, spiritual growth, spirituality, start faith adventure, Women, world view

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