10.01.08
Posted in Overcoming Circumstances, Overcoming Through Faith, People Who Make A Difference at 9:13 am by Shelah Ogletree
Homeowners Raeford and Connie McLeod and their 18-year-old daughter, Brooke, bow their heads in thanks to God for their newly remodeled home. Grace Chapel Church and the North Carolina Baptist Men gutted and redid the home entirely. ‘It’s better than before,’ Mr. McLeod said. ‘After the fire we found we’d been living with black mold inside the walls, but that’s all gone now.’
When God told Erwin resident, Raeford McLeod, Associate Pastor of Grace Chapel Church, to anoint and pray over his Erwin home he never expected to return to a smelly, charred mess nine hours later.
“I got up around five and did devotion,” he said. “I was putting my Bible back on my nightstand when my eyes fell on this little bottle of anointing oil I keep, but haven’t used very often.”
Mr. McLeod said upon seeing the bottle the thought “you need to get that for something” popped into his head.
“I questioned it a little, but I just felt the Lord was telling me ‘anoint your home before you leave this morning’ so I just set about doing what I was told.”
It’s a very good thing he did.
Read the rest of this entry »
Permalink
Posted in Everyday Faith, Overcoming Circumstances, Overcoming Through Faith at 9:12 am by Shelah Ogletree
Passing a homeless person on the street most people squint their eyes in suspicion. “Must’ve done something bad to wind up like this,” they think.
The list of reasons for homelessness is long: mental illness, addictions, abuse, tragedy, even poor life choices, but Betty Love of Beacon Rescue Mission says homelessness can happen to anyone.
Here’s the story of how 24-year-old Kiah Brooks joined the ranks of America’s homeless. Read the rest of this entry »
Permalink
Posted in Everyday Faith, Overcoming Circumstances at 9:12 am by Shelah Ogletree
1. Stay Positive - Keep in mind you’re not the only one paying more at the pumps or on the grocery store aisle. Recessions don’t last forever so try telling yourself “this too shall pass.” Form a support network or join one. Local churches are a great source of encouragement and information.
Read the rest of this entry »
Permalink
Posted in Everyday Faith, Overcoming Circumstances, Overcoming Through Faith at 9:12 am by Shelah Ogletree
By Antonio McNeill
I’m 23 years old, smart, charming and on the very brink of greatness. I can take care of myself. I even have it tattooed on my arm – “God bless the child that can hold his own.” So how did I wind up face-down on a deserted highway in a pool of my own blood?
Antonia and Uncle David Owens serve the same God same.
It all started with a scheme to double my college PELL grant money.
Read the rest of this entry »
Permalink
Posted in Overcoming Circumstances, Overcoming Illness, Overcoming Through Faith at 8:10 am by Shelah Ogletree
One night Dunn resident Phyllis Massey had a strange dream. All of her children were grown with lives of their own, but she dreamed of another child, a beautiful girl who was very tiny, and very ill.
- Alyssa shows off the tiny scar left by the tracheotomy she no longer needs. ‘See this,’ she said. ‘I’m healed.’One night Dunn resident Phyllis Massey had a strange dream. All of her children were grown with lives of their own, but she dreamed of another child, a beautiful girl who was very tiny, and very ill.
“I saw this baby struggling to breathe with at least seven machines surrounding her,” she said. “I didn’t know what it meant, but in my dream my heart went out to her and she was mine.”
Months later Mrs. Massey found out what the dream meant.
“I had signed up to be a foster parent – see if I could help someone,” she said. “The social worker called and asked if I could pick up a child from Chapel Hill hospital. They didn’t tell me anything so I didn’t know what to expect.” Read the rest of this entry »
Permalink