Christ, Coffee, and Cornfields

   The holiday season is here, which means that many of us will be attending family gatherings of some kind. With lots of people together under one roof, there will more than likely be differences of opinions, which is totally fine! The thing is, not everyone knows how to disagree well. I don't claim to be an expert in the area of debate, but there are some general rules of etiquette that everyone should probably be reminded of if you plan to discuss anything remotely controversial. Remember your relationship. At the end of the day, you're still family. Yeah, squabbles happen, but you can't escape family; they'll always be in your life. Keep it clean. A cardinal rule of debate is to keep personal jabs off the table. It's one thing to throw in a harmless joke or to tease someone, but if you want to have a productive conversation, leave hurtful comments out of it. To booze or not to booze? This is one where you really need to know yourself and your counterpart. If alc...

 **This article is purely opinion, NOT medical advice. Please see the CDC website or contact your health care provider for any questions or concerns.**   With cases of the coronavirus, (COVID-19 for short) now in South Dakota, I figured I would write up a little something to help everyone survive the outbreak. While the COVID-19 situation is certainly serious, it isn't nearly what the media is making it out to be.    Social distancing may seem like overkill, but it is a very good idea. The whole goal is to slow the spread of the infection in order to keep our hospitals from hitting capacity.  "If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms: Fever over 100? Cough? Shortness of breath? [Sore throat?] Have you been to South Korea, Japan, China, Italy, or Iran, or been exposed to someone with COVID-19? Call your facility before entering. Do not visit family in a health care facility while sick."        - "Message for the General...

  A few weeks ago, I posed a question to my readers asking what I should write about. I got some really good answers! This is my first "request" post. If I could write a letter to my 16 year old self, what would I say? What have the past 5 years taught me; how has my life been different than I expected? Although my maturity level has always been higher than my respective age, I still went through many of the same experiences of a typical high schooler. Puberty doesn't discriminate, after all, nor does drama.   Dear 16 year old me,   I know how alone you are feeling right now, how it feels like there is no guy who will ever want to marry you. How you think your acne will never clear up or that you will never be able to tame the frizz and curls on your head. A school this size leaves slim pickings for true, lifelong friends who want to share their hearts with you, and trust them with yours. All the hours of making awesome music in the band and choir rooms will come to a...

  I've had many people ask me what they can do or how they should approach me and this topic. I really appreciate that, because reaching out shows love. **A little disclaimer: every person is different, so my pointers may not be applicable to every person at every time. User discretion is advised.** I've compiled a list of some do's and don't's, but it's by no means the most thorough list. It has been organized to where each set of do's and don't's are complements of each other. However, the best thing to do for someone struggling with infertility is to just ask them how to approach things. Do ...inform them of your pregnancy one on one and invite them to your celebrations. Text or phone call is probably best when breaking the news, if you're able. Infertile couples still love you and your baby! They want to celebrate with you. Don't ...complain about your pregnancy symptoms to them. It's like getting punched in the gut. Do ...share...

  It’s really hard to quantify the feelings running through my body at this moment in time. Every death hits you differently, and this is no exception. Many of you know that my maternal grandpa unexpectedly passed away yesterday. He had terminal cancer originating from his lungs (PLEASE don’t smoke, people), but what killed him was a blood clot. I won’t go into detail into which hospital or the exact care he received, but let’s just say as his granddaughter and a nurse, I’m currently not a happy camper. There are so many things that I had planned to do and say, but I never got the chance to do any of them. Those are the regrets I have. So many regrets.   Many relationships go through ups and downs, and ours was no different. Unfortunately, we were in the in the middle of a slump where we’d get somewhere and then slide back down to the bottom of the dip. I know that I’ll go through the stages of grief in my own time, but as this moment I’m a total wreck. Praise Jesus for my w...

We saw "Incredibles 2" last week at the drive-in, and let me just say that it was totally worth waiting over a decade for. It was definitely geared more toward those of us who were kids when the first movie came out, but it was still enjoyable for my younger siblings. As much of a void-filling movie as it is, there were many themes and messages throughout the film that were thought-provoking and refreshing coming from the entertainment industry.   From a critic standpoint, there was at least one major plot hole that is still wide open, and the animation is slightly different. However, that was to be expected since animation styles have changed drastically in recent years and I didn't really notice it as the movie progressed. One thing I thought was absolutely hysterical as a nurse and someone with IBS was the superhero by the name of Reflux. You can about imagine his superpower! Overall, I thought that it was a very worthy sequel to a next to perfect original movie.  ...

  Serving others is what every Christian is called to in some way or another. Some people are called into the mission fields of third-world countries. Others are called to be domestic servants, helping those in their own community. And all of us are called to be servants in our families. As parents. As siblings. As friends.   Christians have the example of Jesus Christ to show us how to be servants. He defined the word by how He lived. Jesus constantly desired the well-being of others. He was always putting others' needs before His own. And He lived a very full and prosperous life as a human being. His followers saw the life Jesus lived and how it not only bettered the lives of those He served, but it also was very beneficial to His own. They then strived to live a life like His. Did it tire them? Sure it did. Were they worn out because they served so many? Of course! But it had to be done, and in serving others, the followers of Chris...

  I was picking basil in the garden today and I started thinking about the movie "The Incredibles" for some unknown reason. Here is what I came up with.    "The Incredibles" is a great movie that has many parallels to regular family life.    Bob and Helen have their own unique love story and are faithful to each other through thick and thin, but they do have spats every once in a while. Their kids are generally well behaved, but they each have their own insecurities and problems and they fight with each other just like normal siblings do. They work, go to school, and eat supper together. As much as they feel like they aren't, the Parrs are a fairly normal family.   Every family has their own secrets. The Parrs are superheros. That's a pretty big secret, but it is a secret all the same. One family might have crazy relatives in an asylum, another might struggle financially. It doesn't matter what the secret is, every family has at least one. The point ...