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September 16, 2024 Melissa Valerio   “The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9 HCSB  A horrible thing happened 2 weeks ago in Joppatowne, MD (article HERE). The greatest fear of every parent of a school-aged child. A mother sent her son to school in the morning, believing […]

September 9, 2024 Melissa Valerio   “For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7 ESV    To be an effective leader, you must be clear in the goals and expectations of those you lead. Makes sense, right? How would anyone know what to do unless they understand the end goal? […]

September 2, 2024 Melissa Valerio   I read an article the other day that broke my heart (you can read it HERE). Young girls nationwide are on a viral beauty trend of trying to prevent aging. Using products not intended for young skin, they’re damaging their skin by trying to avoid something natural and beautiful […]

August 26, 2024 Melissa Valerio     John 8:1-12    Because the sin of adultery deserved a punishment of death, the leaders of the law shoved this woman in Jesus’ face and in-effect said “You’re the wise teacher, tell us… what should we do with this woman?” They already made up in their minds that […]

August 19, 2024 Melissa Valerio   History has a way of worming itself into our memories and surfacing at just the wrong time, doesn’t it? Like a negative label that someone placed on us in the past. Or even negative labels we’ve placed on ourselves, thinking we’re not good enough or capable enough or qualified […]

August 12, 2024 Melissa Valerio   There’s a story of a man who died and was transported to hell. He was surprised to find hell a beautiful place, except that all the people there were emaciated. He went to the dining hall and saw that even though the food was plentiful, everyone’s health was bad. His […]

August 5, 2024 Melissa Valerio   “At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to him and to bless in his name, to this day.” Deuteronomy 10:8 RSV     This verse got me thinking “Minister to the Lord? What does He […]

July 29, 2024 Melissa Valerio   Compassion: sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.     There is a problem when we see someone in need and feel nothing more than pity for them. Sort of like a “Aww, you poor thing” attitude, but nothing beyond that. Nothing that will actually move […]

July 22, 2024 Melissa Valerio   When my oldest son started 6th grade, I decided it was time he got a cell phone. When is the “right” time? Well, I suppose that’s different for every family. But, for me, this was the time. Upon handing it to him and going over the times he’s allowed to use […]

July 15, 2024 Melissa Valerio   What is the deal with people making YouTube videos about nothing? I get the tutorials and instructional videos, but what about the people making videos of their everyday lives? Going to the dentist, or shopping for dinner, or cleaning out the cat litter. Or the videos of people playing […]