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By Lesli Nolen
January 2011

Wow, what a year! The year 2010 has come and gone, but in a number of ways it will have lasting effects.

It was a year ago this month that Haiti was hit with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. This catastrophic earthquake hit 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital. The earthquake was the worst one they had had in 200 years. Then, the flooding that hit the city not too long ago has made rebuilding a difficult task for Haiti.

Another city that is familiar with rebuilding after nature hits is New Orleans. They rebuilt their city and their faith in football. Last year the New Orleans Saints won their first Super Bowl in the club’s history. The Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17. Drew Brees was named most valuable player of the game. I think New Orleans is still celebrating!

While we’re on the subject of sports, we can’t leave out the Women’s NCAA Basketball Championship, The Masters Golf Tournament and most recent, the 2010 World Series.

By Lesli Nolen
December 2010

He’s making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty or nice, Santa Clause is coming to town. Yes, it’s that time of year again. Time to cook, clean, shop, decorate, all the stuff that fills our lives during the holiday season. Time to fill shoe boxes at the church, go to candlelight service Christmas Eve, Christmas carol, and make sure everything is ready for the big day. But too often enough we get so busy doing that we forget the true meaning of Christmas. We’re making list, checking it off, hanging stocking, wrapping presents and in the midst of all the holiday cheer we forget about the gift that’s already been given to us. Have you ever thought about how Santa and God are really alike?

Santa is like God in that He knows everything about me. He knows when I’m sleeping, he knows when I’m awake, he knows if I’ve been bad or good (so be good for goodness sake). God knows the desires of my heart and wants to give them to me. He knows everything on my Christmas wish list.

Don’t we, as kids, write down everything we want for Christmas, then go to the mall, sit in Santa’s lap and ask him for what we want? Isn’t that what God wants us to do too? But with God we don’t have to wait all year for this. We can tell God what we want everyday. He tells us to ask unto him and it will be given, to knock on the door and it shall be opened. When we ask, whether we ask Santa or God, don’t we believe it’s going to happen, just like it happens every Christmas morning. We use words like believe and faith, to give us hopes in something.

The dictionary defines believe as to take as true or real; to have confidence in a statement or promise. Faith in the Bible is defined as being sure of what we hope for and the certain of what we do not see. Well it’s no wonder we hear those words so often used around our children. We want them to believe in Santa Clause. We want them to believe that miracles do happen. We want them to get up Christmas morning and look at all the presents Santa left. We want to see their eyes light up, a smile on their face and most of all we want them to see love. We get the glory on Christmas morning of seeing our children happy and knowing that they got what they believed would happen.

By Lesli Nolen
September 2010

About mid-July, I decided to not wear make-up for two weeks.  I wanted to experiment with the idea of how I would be treated based solely on my looks.  I didn’t think this would be a hard assignment. What started out as an experiment to see how others viewed me without make-up turned into a self examination. I discovered I am my own worst critic, not others.

Before doing this I talked to my husband, Breech and daughter, Skylar about doing this. Breech was all for it. Skylar on the other hand was a different story. She immediately began asking questions. What if we run into one of my friends and they make fun of me because my mom doesn’t have any make-up on? What if... What if....?  I tried to explain to her I wanted to know how others viewed me if I didn’t wear make-up. I wanted her to know that outside appearances doesn’t make the person.  I told her  I am who I am because of my heart not because of what I look like. After talking to her for a while and getting her to see the big picture of this, she was on board.

By Lesli Nolen
August 2010

The story begins with a young married couple struggling with the difficulties of life. Financially, they are barely making it, the car keeps breaking down and the house is in need of repairs. The young wife is trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant, and the young husband, a football coach, has not had a winning season in six years.

It seems as if their life could not get any worse. Every time they turn around something else is going wrong. They question why this is happening to them. They feel so down and ashamed. They are completely broken. Then, at his lowest point the husband pulls out his Bible and begins reading it. The wife catches sight of what her husband is doing and she immediately hits her knees and begins to pray.