4 min read
Are you familiar with the game Jenga? It’s a tall tower of blocks where each player attempts to remove one single block without toppling the tower. Of course, eventually the weakened structure crashes. When one of Robin’s teachers used a Jenga tower as an illustration of what had happened in her life, it made sense. Rather than building solidly block upon block, holes had been created through abuse and neglect until the structure of her life simply could not hold. Everything came crashing down. The teacher then asked Robin to draw a picture of what a whole, restored life would look like for them. Robin drew a slightly lopsided heart. She colored outside the lines because she wanted to remind herself that it wasn’t about being perfect. A strong vine, representing the presence of Christ in her life, wrapped securely around the heart, and flowers were beginning to bloom. Because, Robin said, life can be beautiful again.

5 min read
Walking Where the Pain Is
In Clarkston, WA, Pastor Jeff Pernsteiner leads Confluence Community Church with a passion rooted in both deep faith and deep compassion. “We started...

3 min read
Communities Are Moved By Regular People
Kailee and Kyle Miller were born and raised in Spokane, WA, and they deeply care for their city. Three years ago, they received a UGM mailer asking...

LeAnna - Lost
Throughout her life, LeAnna Vargas was repeatedly treated as though she had no value, and eventually, she began to believe she didn’t. Feeling...

Binding up the Brokenhearted
“I believe what drives people to bad behavior, whether it’s addiction or abusive relationships or being abusers, is brokenness of heart. They harden...