By Guest Writer LuraKate Pijanowski

Sometimes the easiest way out is to run from our problems. Or so it seems… until the problems come running right back to us.

I know about that. (more…)

By Staff Writer Jennifer Grimes

I could feel my eyes widen and my face heat up.  My thumb lingered over the television remote’s “go back” button, but I didn’t press it. My eyes were glued to the screen. I was now a victim of the movie’s creators and my own curiosity. I was trapped. (more…)

by Staff Writer Jamin Goecker

Tim Hawkins, an outstanding Christian comedian, once said that when people say you have a servant’s heart, it means they’re calling you a pushover. There’s a job they want you to do (i.e., stacking chairs after church).

But a pushover isn’t what comes to mind when I think about Odis, someone I had the pleasure of meeting on a missions trip to Alaska. (more…)

by Staff Writer Derek Hanisch

We were a well-oiled machine. A scoop of chicken-flavored protein. A scoop of vegetables. A scoop of soy. A scoop of rice. Weigh the bag. Seal it. And there you go: one meal packed for a starving family in a third world country.

As I was packing food with Feed My Starving Children, I risked a glance around me. Surrounding me were 600 people who had given their time to serve. It brought joy to my heart to see all of these people who had willingly become servants for a higher cause.

The 600 people in this community were not only giving up their time for a two hour shift to package food for Haiti. This was a 24 hour event. For 24 hours servants in groups of 600 were able to do something great. They were able to be the hands and feet of Christ, putting their faith into action. (more…)

by Assistant Editor Halee Matthews

It was a goner. Dead and gone. Lifeless. I was convinced.

Oh well, I tried, I thought as I tossed it into the backyard. I figured that was the last of it.

I was wrong. (more…)

Happy Retro Day! This is for all of you who have or had braces. (I’m a post-braces kid too. Never been so happy to get rid of something- 2 years without popcorn is an eternity!) I love the way Catey turned her not-so-great orthodontist appointment into a hilarious story. Enjoy! ~ Halee

by RTF Staff Writer Catey Yuen

So, I’ve had braces for almost the 18-month slot they allotted me (and if I have to go a day over, I think I will go mad).

Let me tell you a little bit about my braces experience. I HATE THEM.

I am a rule keeper as it comes to a lot of things. I got this nine-page long braces care sheet when I first got braces and on that nine-page long list sheet was this million-item list titled: THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT EAT WITH BRACES.

So I didn’t eat the stuff on there.

My friends aren’t really rule keepers. They saw THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT EAT WITH BRACES and read it as THINGS THAT YOUR ORTHODONTIST WOULDN’T LIKE YOU TO EAT WITH BRACES BUT YOU CAN STILL EAT ANYWAY. (more…)

Happy Retro Day! This week’s retro piece is a great reminder that no matter what kind of darkness you may find yourself in, you are never alone. And if you ever need someone to talk to, we’re here. Email us. ~ Halee

by RTF Editor B.J. Hamrick

I’m not the type of girl who likes to be put in a box. But on a warm Fall day in the mountains of North Carolina, my friend Laura talked me into it.

Literally.

“It’ll be fun,” she said. “Just crawl in.” (more…)

by RTF Staff Writer Derek Hanisch

I was in the middle of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a very bustling, modern town, yet when I looked around me I saw none of that. Instead I saw a warehouse that had been converted into a marketplace, sectioned up into stalls where Somali (from Somalia, a country in Africa) Muslims were selling goods and clothing of all kinds. It was quite a sight to see, quite a culture shock.

Here I was, a in a group of white men, about to journey through a Somali Mall filled with African Muslims. Many of the women in the market stalls were wearing the full hijab (Muslim women head covering), chattering away in their own language. Man, I was intimidated, I was nervous, I was even a bit scared.

They were so unlike me. They were so different. What was I doing here? (more…)