Tina The Storyteller

What feels like a lifetime ago, Joel and I had the pleasure of meeting Barry C. Black at a conference in Montreat. If you're a part of a small congregation in the PC(USA) I would highly recommend checking out Wee Kirk (http://www.montreat.org/wee-kirk/), it was a huge blessing to our family during our time in small church ministry. Anyway, back to Barry C. Black, he's the Chaplain of the United States Senate. This little jewel of a book on prayer was born out of his recent speech for the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast. Make Your Voice Heard is a practical application of Biblical truth. Each chapter is grounded in scripture and the easy application of those verses. The book starts with a new look at the Lord's Prayer/Our Father. Black does an excellent job of marrying the traditional prayer with the ACTS prayer. He explains easy ways to take this prayer that most of us know and how to expand it to create a genuine and intense time of prayer with God. The rest of the b...

I posted this picture on Facebook this morning. I was reminded today that I quit smoking over 16 years ago. I do dream about it on occasion and talk with friends about it, too. But I have yet to go walk into the drug store or gas station and buy myself a pack or even bum one off of a friend since I quit. I wish that I had that same willpower towards Facebook. I posted that image up there because I have not been able to break my habit. This past winter I've found myself in a vicious cycle of checking in circles. Meaning I'd check Facebook, go check my email, maybe Instagram and then go back to Facebook and start the whole thing again. I was not good for my mental fortitude. To sit there and recognize your addiction and not be able to do anything about it. I decided to do something about it. I'm not sure if it will work because honestly, I have created a lot of spaces of responsibility on Facebook, some of which I don't share with anyone else. So if I don't do i...