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Bottled water is now the second leading beverage in the U.S., surpassing beer, coffee and milk. Recently at the corporate office of a large local business, they made the announcement that they no longer will be offering bottled water to their employees during their business meetings. When confronted for the reason for the cut, the spokesman surprisingly said, “We will still offer our employees water, but it will be from the tap and not from a bottle. For after all…a lot of bottled water is just tap water in a bottle!”

I personally made the switch from drinking…  ( Click for more )

My mom was unable to write a devotional article and asked me to take the honors this week. I must warn you, as many of you will soon find out, that I am not the writer in the family. I am sure that it will become apparent why I am not an English teacher. I am in the teaching profession, but instead of teaching about the joys of writing and parts of speech in the English language, I focus more on the logical side of the fence. Numbers, variables and equations are my strengths. I recently moved to South Carolina to begin my teaching career. In fact I was so ready…  ( Click for more )

I am more convinced than ever, that one of the greatest gifts that God gives us is friendships. And the amazing thing is that it is a gift that cost us nothing. Okay, maybe it costs us time, but that is all. However, in a real good friendship you don’t mind spending time with that other person. In fact, it seems that when you walk away from spending time with certain people, you actually take away more than what you gave.

I recently had this kind of experience that I would like to share with you. This past January I was asked to guide a Bible study that was created for “Busy…  ( Click for more )

I could not believe what I was seeing last Monday night as I watched Marie Osmond slip right out of the arms of her dancing partner onto the floor. If you watch Dancing with the Stars, you know what I am talking about. For the other two who do not, let me bring you up to date.

Dancing with the Stars is a unique television program that pairs up celebrities with professional ballroom dancers in an intense live competition in front of a studio audience and the nation. The pairs are then judged by a panel of expert judges as well as by the viewers at home. One team is eliminated each…  ( Click for more )

Valentines Day is fast approaching, and many of us anticipate receiving lots of hugs, kisses and other affirmations, that let us know that somebody really does love and care for us. But for some people, this coming Thursday will be a sad day. Many people never receive the love they so desperately yearn for—on Valentines Day or any other day. They often find themselves asking the same questions the Bee Gees asked in a song that they recorded back in 1971: How can you mend a broken heart? How can you stop the rain from falling down? How can you stop the sun from shining? What…  ( Click for more )

“If you are not living on the edge, you are taking too much room." I remember hearing this quote a while ago. I don’t think I truly grasped the meaning of this contemporary proverb until very recent. As I think back to people who have made the greatest contribution to life and society, I realize they were always risk-takers. Even though these people always received my greatest admiration, that’s all they could get from me. I would never think of joining their ranks.

Last year at my daughter’s college graduation, the main speaker talked about using…  ( Click for more )

Before the days of cell phones there were the walkie talkies. They were not as complex as today’s modern cell phones, but they stilled offered you the ability to communicate to someone even if they were a distance away.

In 1997, my family along with some friends of ours, decided to take a trip to Myrtle Beach. Because we were taking two separate cars, we thought it would be a good idea to take walkie talkies with us―just in case one of us made a wrong turn or something. Well, I should say, in case the Chwialkowski’s made a wrong turn or something. Our friends…  ( Click for more )

I answered the phone tonight and on the other end was someone I had never met. But as I glanced at the caller ID, I recognized the name, and knew it was a co-worker of my husband's. Or should I say, former co-worker, since my husband is now officially retired. He asked for Kirk and as I was waiting for my husband to pick up the phone, I casually made small talk and asked him how things were going. Kirk had shared with me that this guy recently made a commitment to follow Christ and what I heard on the other end was evidence of this new commitment. This guy was overflowing with joy.…  ( Click for more )

Okay I have to admit it. I do not like driving on bridges. Especially long or very tall bridges. I know bridges are very helpful, for without them how could you ever get from point A to point B? Though I understand the purpose behind the bridge, it still does not alter the fact that I freak out everytime I find myself on one. So I have learned to keep my eyes straight ahead and not look to the left or right, until I have safely reached the other side.

At one time in my life, there was another bridge that I was completely leery of. It was the bridge that God created to fill the…  ( Click for more )

My husband and I have been playing a game. It’s called, “How many fingers can you see?” He holds up his fingers about 2 – 3 feet away from me and I guess how many fingers he is holding up. Sounds like child play, doesn’t it? But it really is helping me monitor the healing that is taking place since my recent eye surgery. I have to admit there are days I feel like the blind man that is talked about in the Scriptures. The following verses are from  Mark 8:22-26.

Some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.

He took the blind man…  ( Click for more )

It’s hard to believe that it has been 25 years since that night. I remember like it was yesterday, the night my heart was forever changed. It happened on the evening of August 24th 1982. I was sitting in my lazy boy chair, and I was reading from a pocket sized New Testament that someone at work had given me to read. I accepted it from her, in order not to look rude, but I was convinced I would be returning it untouched. However, God had other plans. The depression was very intense that night, along with feeling so lost and alone. It was out of desperation that I got out this…  ( Click for more )

I love to put jigsaw puzzles together. Always have, and probably always will. There is just a good feeling when you finish one, and you see the complete picture without any missing holes. But you would have to be a jigsaw puzzle enthusiast to understand this. To my husband, working a puzzle is a complete waste of time. He doesn’t understand the sense of accomplishment that is achieved when you put that last piece in. I guess it all comes down to perspective.

We are all about to embark on finishing something much more complicated than a jigsaw puzzle. It is almost time to…  ( Click for more )