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When the Major Political Parties Have Become Unacceptable
About four years ago, my family stopped watching television. Â The main reason we stopped is because we were paying a lot of money for something we never got to use. Â My children are gymnasts and we spend a lot of time away from home, so it didn’t make sense to keep paying for something…
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The Five Things I Teach My Kids When It Comes To Truth
“Truth?! Hello?! Truth?! Where are you?” Apparently, in our day and age, it’s nowhere to be found. We’ve taken truth, smooshed it into a box, buried it somewhere where no one can find it, dusted off our hands, and marched off to immerse ourselves in our world of believing only what we want to believe.…
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Through My Brokenness, God Made Good Out of Bad. He Can For You, Too.
He swept into my life completely unexpected. I knew of him in high school, but we were about as different as you could get and barely acknowledged each other. He was bad and that’s about the best description I know how to give. Â Just bad. And not in that rough exterior, good interior kinda way.…
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July’s Featured Married Couple: Ernest and Sarah "Love is a Choice"
July’s Featured Married Couple is Ernest and Sarah.  I met them while we were stationed together at Edwards AFB and now we are stationed together again.  Small world…even smaller Air Force.  They are a beautiful couple that have been married for 13 years.  They met at the Air Force Academy and married three days after graduating…
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Military Life Is Not A “His/Her Turn,” Situation–It’s An Our Turn
“So, when your husband retires from the Air Force, it will be your turn then, right?” I hear this a lot as a military spouse. Â We are still several years away from my husband retiring, but we are on the tail end of this wonderful, crazy life. Â I knew when marrying my husband that the…
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Featured Married Couple of the Month: Erin and Michael “Cooperating with God’s Grace”
June’s Featured Married Couple of the Month is Erin and Michael from Louisiana. Â Like last month’s couple, I have never met them, but I follow Erin’s blog and have truly enjoyed reading her thoughts. Â I first came across a blog of hers written on miscarriage and I could relate on so many levels. Â Erin blogs…
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Question and Answer: How Can You Overlook The Church’s Sex Scandal?
Question time. I’m tackling a difficult subject today and I hope you’ll stick with me through to the end to get my thoughts on the matter. Question: Â How you can overlook the long, long history of Church authority figures (sexually) abusing children? Â How do Catholics move past this horrific thing? Right off the bat, let’s…
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Teaching Teens About Authentic Love
“You don’t know what real love is!” How many teenagers have heard this statement from their parents? Â I know I did. Â While parents may be right in this statement, it is unfair to treat teenagers as if they don’t know, especially when parents haven’t taught their kids what real love is. I was a late…
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Pornography Never Equals Freedom: It’s Slavery For All
Usually, when people find out what my degrees are in, they wince. Why would anyone choose to specialize in sex crimes, they wonder? Well, when it hits home, it hits home. God often uses your tragedy as your story and then your vocation. When I first started out working in this field, I could not…
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Monogamy–That "Out-Dated, Old-Fashioned" Call To Love
 A few weeks back I wrote about monogamy and touched on the very basic claims against monogamy.  You can read that here.  I didn’t want to go too deep philosophically or morally, because this is a complex topic and trying to cover too many things at once gets overwhelming. One of the claims against…
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Abstinence: Not Just For Religious People
This is a guest blog by a woman I deeply respect and love. Â I first met Shawn when I was working at the Salvation Army Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Center in Panama City, Fl. Â Shawn just has a way about her–she is funny, intelligent, honest, a self-proclaimed diva, a wonderful friend, one of…
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Featured Married Couple of the Month: John-Paul and Annie "Learning to Put the Other First"
This month’s featured married couple is John-Paul and Annie from Ohio. Â You know the funny thing about life now is that you can know people without having ever really met them. Â I discovered Annie on Facebook through reading some of her Catholic blogs and I really connected to her freshness, positive attitude, and her devotion…
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Abraham and His Wives: Does This Mean Polygamy Is Permissable?
So earlier this week, I wrote an initial blog discussing monogamy. Â I answered some very basic claims and you can read that here. Here was the claim: Claim: Â Monogamy is unrealistic and unnatural. Â Monogamy is a religious ideal pressed upon humans. Â We find in the animal kingdom monogamy, polygamy, and same-sex activities and humans are…
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Monogamy: Unrealistic? Unnatural?
I research a lot around the internet and since I blog and write about marriage, dating, and relationships, I often run into secular or atheistic beliefs with regards to these topics. Â I also run into a lot of “Christian” websites that miss the mark on Christ’s messages by leaps and bounds. Â I’ve seen a lot…
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Featured Married Couple for March: Shawn and Dawn “Marriage is a continual ‘Yes’”
In our world, especially our culture, we are bombarded with negativity surrounding marriage. Â We hear over-and-over of divorce, 5-minute marriages, and even disdain for the sacrament of marriage. Â I want us to celebrate marriage and show couples that are bringing to life what marriage truly is–a beautiful, messy, difficult, totally-worth-it blessing. Â I’m going to feature…
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Question and Answer: What’s Up With Catholics and Birth Control?
Question:  Does the Catholic faith view birth control as optional or completely discourage it?  Are condoms, pills, IUD’s, permanent (tying of tubes, vasectomy) procedures all shunned?  If so, why?  Does it have to do with Catholicism believing Christians need to populate the Earth?  Why aren’t there huge Catholic families anymore if birth control is forbidden? Answer:…
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Give Yourself Away This Lent
Lent. Eh? Unless you are Catholic or Orthodox, chances are, the arrival of Lent on Wednesday didn’t even hit your radar. I know that some Protestants do recognize it (as the church of my youth did), but for the most part Lent is regarded by many as primarily a Catholic tradition. Hold on. Come on…
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How Marilyn Monroe Taught Me Beauty Isn’t Everything
I’ve always thought Marilyn Monroe was probably one of the most beautiful women…ever. It’s a personal opinion, I know, but most people don’t deny that there’s just something about her. A few years back, I watched the movie Some Like It Hot starring Ms. Monroe and I loved it. I highly recommend watching it. I wanted…
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I Won’t Change For You, but I Will Grow For You.
The other night, our family sat down to watch “Runaway Bride.” Â My husband and I had seen it before, but it was the first time for my two girls. I’m pretty sure everyone’s seen it, but here’s a quick re-cap. Â Maggie, played by Julie Roberts, is a woman afraid of saying, “I do.” Â She has…
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When It’s Hard to Leave a Home
I’m a sentimental fool. Â I blame my dad, because I get it from him. Â I really should blame my grandma, because it’s really her fault. Â She started it all. Â I say that lovingly, though, because I like our sentimental hearts. I’m getting ready to move across the country…again. Â I came to Virginia from California and…
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An Advent Tradition: Presents for Christ
So last year for Advent, I read about a neat idea to help the family focus more on Jesus during the Christmas season. Â Each person in your family gets a strip of paper and each day you write down a good deed you did for your fellow man. Â At the end of the day, the…
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How The Military Life Can Strengthen Your Marriage
Since Veteran’s Day is celebrated this week, I thought I’d merge marriage and the military life into a blog. Â I’ve been a military spouse long enough now that I can look at how the military life has positively affected my marriage and many others I’ve had the privilege of meeting. Â This blog is in no…
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Hey, Married Couples, Submit Already! (Oh no, she did not just say that!)
We all read the Bible a little differently. Â The Bible is so rich and deep that even the same verse can speak in different ways on different days. Â At different times in our life, different passages will speak more to us than others. Â Overall, though, when reading the Bible, there are four ways to read…
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Why Do Girls Love Bad Boys?
Bad boys.  They appeal to women, don’t they?  Women don’t like the “bad” part of the boy so much, but their confidence draws us in.  Bad boys generally exude an air of confidence, though most of the time they are covering for their lack of self-esteem.  They’ve learned how to play the game and they realize that…
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4 Dating Tips: How to Prepare Your Teen
High school is quite the time in life, isn’t it? Â I don’t know anyone who went through high school and came out on the other side without a few battle wounds. Â It’s a raw time of life: Â Your body is flooded with hormones, your parents seem completely unreasonable on all issues, and your relationships with…
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We Have to Start Talking About Dating with Our Kids
Life is not fair. Â Love is not fair. Â It sucks, but them’s the breaks. Â It’s a cynical way of looking at the world, but if we are going to approach dating, or marriage for that matter, with a Disney princess view of it all, we are in for a shock. I was a late bloomer.…
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Chastity: Seeing Sex as More Than a Test-Drive
You wanna hear the most romantic relationship line in the universe? You’re gonna love this. No, no, it’s not from Romeo and Juliet. Ready for it? Here it is: Â Hey, baby, before I commit to you on the marriage level, I’m gonna need to test drive you first. Translation: We need to have sex before…
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The SCOTUS Ruling Is My Fault
I have a confession to make: It is my fault that “same-sex marriage” passed a couple weeks ago. I share this blame with millions and millions of other Christians who failed to hold the same stringent convictions about marriage with themselves as they do with homosexuals. We can sit here and bemoan the decision of the…
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“Question Everything”: Atheist Mantra Meant to Evangelize
Do you question everything? Â No? Â Well, you should. Â At least, that is what atheists are telling us to do. Â The mantra, “Question Everything” (with some variations) has become extremely popular these days. There are T-Shirts: There are buttons, cups, bumper stickers, memes, and billboards. As you can see, this is the way atheists have attempted…
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Don’t Judge Me Judging You: Our Country’s Present Day Logic
I dislike inconsistency with thoughts. I dislike it because it isn’t particularly logical and it’s always emotional. This makes for bad conversations. In fact, it makes for no conversation at all. To be sure, I’ve had my fair share of inconsistent thought processes in my life. I’m sure I will till the end. Why? Well,…
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The Day My Little Brother Changed Me For the Better
When I was about 17-years old, I was driving my brother and sister home from school one day. Â My brother, who was around 12 at the time, was seated in the passenger seat and my sister was in the back. Â As we were heading towards home, an elderly woman pulled out in front of me…
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To Work or Stay Home: The Military Spouse’s Dilemma
When I was fresh out of college with my degree in Criminology, I was ready to take on the world. I was eager to get out into the work world and wrangle in some criminals. Little did I know that marrying a military man would make having a career very challenging. As we moved to…
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My Ten Children I’ve Never Met
Ten miscarriages. Sometimes that number overwhelms me. I have laid awake many a night dreaming of who they would be. I have daydreams about who they would become, what their voices would sound like when they called me, “Mom,” and what special traits they would add to our family. For five years, our family suffered…
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When Hope Wins Out: What I Learned Through My Miscarriages
Things do not always go the way we plan them.  Events happen in our lives that can knock us to the ground so hard it is difficult to rise again.  I’ve been knocked down a few times.  Losing nine children to miscarriage definitely knocked me flat on my face.  During times of immense pain and grief…
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Oh The Places You’ll Go: A Military Spouse’s Perspective On Moving Around
I spent the first 23 years of my life living in the same state. Then I married a military man and my time in the great state of Kansas came to an end. Those first few years in the Air Force were extremely hard on me. I felt like a great oak tree that had…
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Did Gandhi Really Say, "God Has No Religion"?
“Killing kittens is fun.” “Whoa, Amy. Â What the heck? Â What is going on here? Â Oh my gosh, did you hear that Amy Thomas said that killing kittens was fun? Â She is a horrible human being.” “Now, hold on guys. Â Just a minute. Â That is not what I said.” “Oh yes, you did. Â Somebody posted it…
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67 Shades of Love
Romance and love are a beautiful thing, aren’t they?  Here we are, a few days removed from a holiday all about love and romance.  But, how do we know when someone really loves us?  What is true romance?  Is it chocolate, flowers, date nights, and love notes?  Yes, in some ways it can be that.  But,…
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Giving a Voice to the Unborn: My Issue With a Recent Pro-Choice Argument
My husband and I frequently listen to a radio show called “Catholic Answers.” It’s apologetics for the Catholic faith and we find it extremely interesting to hear all the questions and disagreements. Often times, they only allow people who disagree with them to call in. The other day the topic centered around abortion. Only people…
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My Conversion Story: Why I Became Catholic
This blog has been brewing in me for quite some time. The reason it hasn’t been written until now was that I have been afraid: Afraid people wouldn’t read, afraid of reactions, afraid of offending people. But, this is my blog and if I’m unwilling to reveal and share who I really am, then it…
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Jesus Would Not Be a Liberal…Or a Conservative
“Jesus would be a liberal!” “Jesus would definitely be a conservative!” “Jesus would be a card-carrying Democrat!” “Jesus would support the Republican Party!” “Jesus would be an atheist!” (I’ve actually heard this and it makes me wonder if we aren’t on the slippery slope to insanity.) Yes, Christ would deny His existence–makes sense doesn’t it?…
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IN GOD WE TRUST: The Truth About Our Motto on Money
So, I’ve stumbled across another assertion that seems lacking in truth. Â The assertion? That the motto IN GOD WE TRUST did not actually appear on US money until the 1950s. Â In all honesty, I didn’t know if this was true or not, so I decided it was time to do some digging. Â This is an…
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Just a Christian Girl Livin’ in a Material World
Sometimes it’s hard for me to accept my limitations. Â There are certain areas of life where, honestly, I feel stupid. Â I watch my husband sometimes read scientific things with ease and I grow frustrated. Â I grow frustrated because science and math don’t come easy to me, in fact, sometimes they just don’t come at all.…
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Why I Love Being Married
Dustin and I will celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary this coming Monday. Â Each year of our marriage has brought new joys, new challenges, new growth for both of us, and, yes, sometimes sadness. Â Through these years, I have only grown in my wonder for the beautiful sacrament of marriage and I feel blessed to walk…
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My Type A Personality Was Killing Me
I’ve decided I’m going to have to scale back my blogs a little, while learning to adjust to having a baby in the house again. Â So, my blogs will be more like journal entries and shorter, until I can find more time to write more elaborate pieces. Â Just writing something down always helps me…
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Steps of Motherhood: How Your Children Help You Climb to Sainthood
“The laborious steps to the Kingdom of Motherhood are not always so beautiful, but today they are for you!” A dear friend of mine sent me these words along with a gorgeous picture on Mother’s Day one year. I’ve pondered upon the words my friend wrote and I realize that her words are full of…
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Saved Through Tough Love
I was a hard-core criminal when I was six-years old. Â Hard to believe, I know, but it’s true. Â I was on my way to a life of thievery. “Oh, come on, Amy. Â What did you steal? Â A lollipop at the grocery store?” No, ladies purses were more my thing. Â Initially, I got caught a couple…
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Dropping the Chains That Bind Us
You know something I like to do frequently? Â I like to think I’m pretty awesome. Â In my defense, I do it mostly subconsciously. Â Okay, maybe not mostly subconsciously. Â Alright, alright, not at all. Â I know full well that I consciously think that I am better than “that person over there.” Â That darn humility train is…
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Am I Getting Old, or Just Becoming a Nerd?
Man, I disliked history when I was young.  Booorrring.  Can I get a big, fat yawn?  Why is history so dull, so lifeless, so sleep-inducing when we are kids?  And why does our repulsion for it switch later in life?  Trust me, I know  there are some people that will never find a way to…
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Is Chastity Too Extreme?
I’ve really struggled with this blog.  Not because I feel wishy-washy about the topic, but because, to me, it’s so important that I’m not sure I can give it due justice.  I’ve recently heard a lot talk regarding this issue and it’s left me…well, disheartened.  Fear crept in over the negative attention I know it will…
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For Father’s Day: Shield of Male Defenders
When I was 16, I worked at a mall. One particular evening, I headed from the entrance of our store to the food court for my dinner break. As I walked out, a middle-aged man approached me. He had been standing off to the side, obviously waiting for me. Closing in on my personal space,…
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My New Career Choice: Lighthouse
So, I know what I wanna be when I grow up. Â I wanna be a lighthouse. Â It’s taken me a long time to come to this conclusion. Â First, I wanted to be a veterinarian, but me and needles don’t really see eye-to-eye. Â Then, I wanted to be an FBI agent, but marrying a military man…
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A Military Spouse’s Introduction to Southern Living
I could never have anticipated the things that I would learn as a military spouse. Nothing can prepare you for all the twists, turns, obstacles, joys, and surprises that the military life supplies. I grew up a Midwestern girl. Born and bred in Kansas, I had never really experienced a whole lot outside of Tornado…
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While You Were Sleeping
I’ve never taken Advent as seriously as I have this year. Â Maybe it’s because I’m weary of the hoopla that the secular world has injected into the season. Â Maybe it’s because this year has been a remarkable and profound spiritual journey for Dustin and me. Â Maybe I’m finally realizing that this is what I need…
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My Hero Watching Heroes
When I was little, I didn’t know my paternal grandfather well. He would always hug and kiss me on the cheek when I would come bounding through his door, but he was quiet and reserved. He never told me much about himself or where life had taken him, but a lack of curiosity has never…
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Why I Get Excited About Guilt
That’s me in the picture to the left. Yep, there I am carrying around my heaping bag of guilt, while crying about about how unworthy I am. (Sigh) The sad, little Christian lugging around bags of guilt and feelings of unworthiness is truly sad. If only we would let go of our belief in unicor…excuse…
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The Broken Baby Birds in our Lives
The first time I met her, I felt like a broken, baby bird had been placed into my lap. Â I had never, ever met another human being so fragile and broken. Â She was broken physically, emotionally, spiritually. Â Kelly (I’ve changed her name) came to my office on a referral from the police department. Â As she…
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Columbus: The Man, The Myth, What Really Happened
I feel duped!  I feel tricked, hood-winked, bamboozled! My “wonderful” public school education taught me that “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue” and he proved to all of Europe that the earth was round. Before that point, everyone thought the earth was flat. Most of you were all taught this too, right?  It probably…
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The Picture That Broke My Heart
One Christmas, my then brother-in-law (who was a cop) came home after working the night shift and had quite a story to tell my family. He said, “You guys gotta see this.” He then proceeded to pull up online a picture of a girl he had arrested that night. I have never seen a picture…
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Crazy is, as Crazy does.
My kids on occasion tell me that I’m crazy.  They usually tell me this while I’m playing a mean air guitar to some rock song.  I like to do air drums from time-to-time, but I don’t feel I’ve got my moves down as well. When I go to add a cymball crash it just messes…
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When Faced with Tragedy, How Will You Respond?
Who in this life has been dealt a perfect hand? Â Not many I would guess are going to raise their hands to this question. Â But is being dealt the perfect hand the goal for life? Â I don’t think it should be. Â I realize that sounds cold and callous, because shouldn’t I want everyone to lead…
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9/11 We Will Never Forget
In 2005, I stood at Ground Zero. There I was, just staring into a gigantic hole of rubble. It didn’t seem real. I looked up at the steel beam cross positioned in the middle of the destruction and I was brought to tears. People had jumped to their death where I was standing. People had made frantic…
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Silly Christian, Science Isn’t For You
You might say, “Don’t do it, Amy. Don’t go there.” I know, it’s gonna be shocking, but, yes, I am going to use the words science and religion in the same blog and not to contradict each other.WAIT! Don’t leave yet! I promise this will be good. I know what your thinking. “Seriously, Amy, why? …
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12 Years of Marriage: Our Love Story
Here in a couple of days, my Dustin and I will celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary. Â I thought it would be a great time to share our love story–how we came to be. Â It’s a pretty cool story even if I do say so myself. Â But to tell it, I have to take you back…
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A Daughter’s First Date Should Be Her Daddy
I remember it like it was yesterday. Â I had my hand on the doorknob to my front door, my boyfriend was honking for me in the driveway, and my mom was trying to teach me a valuable lesson. “Amy, do not go out there if he honks. Â He needs to come to the door and…
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Figure Something Out
I used to work for The Salvation Army Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Program. Â What I learned in my time there is invaluable. Â But, working for a non-profit organization, while rewarding, can have it’s definite moments of frustration. Â Little money to work with coupled with high demand for service can lead to periods of time…
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Touch of the Holy Spirit
I’m the oldest of three kids. I’m a stereotypical oldest sibling–protective, lecturer, Mother Hen, organized, and a fixer. These traits can be a good thing, but then at times, they can be a burden on myself and others. I’m sure my siblings can attest to that. As kids, oldest children feel compelled to be the…