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Day Five – Time for Some Reflecting! Today we start on a serious note. All the work that we are putting our hearts and hands into is to restore the home of Ms. O. She is 62 years old, uses a wheelchair, and was denied monetary assistance to repair her home four times. The title […]

PDA Mission Trip #29 (New Bern, NC): Day 5

Mission Trips

April 1, 2022

Jenna Bruni


Day Four – The Clock is Ticking! Our fearless construction leader Fletcher Tukes, who personally feels responsible for getting as much work done at our house each day as possible, is fond of saying, “Time is not your friend!” In other words, we are racing the clock to complete as much of this house as […]

PDA Mission Trip #29 (New Bern, NC): Day 4

Mission Trips

March 31, 2022

Jenna Bruni


Day Three – In the Zone! I think everyone slept well last night, and we found our work rhythm today! The first day is always a little choppy as we figure out what needs to be done, how to do it, and who should do it. But today faithful followers, we were in the groove. […]

PDA Mission Trip #29 (New Bern, NC): Day 3

Mission Trips

March 30, 2022

Jenna Bruni


Day Two – The Gloves Come On! The work gloves, that is. Yes, finally time to get down and dirty. The sun rose in a beautiful Carolina blue sky. After a hearty breakfast we were anxious to caravan to the work site. Usually, a portion of the first day is spent getting the lay of […]

PDA Mission Trip #29 (New Bern, NC): Day 2

Mission Trips

March 29, 2022

Jenna Bruni


Day One – New Bern Revisited!   Welcome back, faithful blog readers! Has it really been almost six months since we’ve brightened your lives with our tales of mission trip happenings and hijinks? Rest assured that this trip is unfolding with the same tried and true traditions that have become a hallmark of an Adult […]

PDA Mission Trip #29 (New Bern, NC): Day 1

Mission Trips

March 28, 2022

Jenna Bruni


  Simplicity for Families   Simplicity for families comes down to teaching ourselves and our children how to be the people that God put us here to be, not the people the world calls us to be. Who does God want us to be? God wants us to be people who love God with all […]

Simplicity for Families, Parents, and Children

Young Families

March 27, 2022

Jenna Bruni


Listening for God for Families   One of the ways we can all learn to be better listeners for God is to slow ourselves down, and simply pay more attention to precisely where we are and what is happening right now – around us and inside us. This is called mindfulness. Here are some very […]

Listening for God for Families, Parents and Children

Young Families

March 21, 2022

Jenna Bruni


Family Prayer   adapted from Traci Smith’s book Faithful Families for Lent, Easter and Resurrection    “Now close your eyes, fold your hands and bow your heads.” One of the traditional ways we teach children about entering into prayer, expect that none of those things are particularly child friendly. How about instead if we encourage kids […]

Praying for Families, Parents and Children

Young Families

March 17, 2022

Jenna Bruni


  Fasting for Families adapted from Traci Smith’s book Faithful Families for Lent, Easter and Resurrection     I – Instead of: Giving Up screens or reducing screen time  Try: Heading outside  We all use screens, we use them for work, school and just plain for fun. But while we are outside, leave the screens […]

Fasting for Families, Parents, and Children

Young Families

March 16, 2022

Jenna Bruni


One of the great things about explaining theological stuff to kids is that is causes you to slow down and pull out the most essential aspects of the idea – to translate the abstract into something concrete. The next set of our curriculum, Follow Me, focuses on Spiritual Disciplines. We might call this set Being […]

Being Like Jesus

Young Families

March 13, 2022

Jenna Bruni