Here it comes again — that deep longing to go home. I usually get homesickness in faster rolling waves as the weather heats up in the desert, and I’m really looking forward to our trip to Wisconsin this summer.

Most first-year club sports teams often struggle to find an identity. But that hasn’t been the case for Club SPAWN, a local baseball team that is ranked nationally. In its inaugural season Club SPAWN’s record is 69-22. 

Before every Desert Vista football game that I covered the last two years one of the first things I did when I hit the sidelines was find Benny Hinds, especially before a big game like Hamilton and the Ahwatukee Bowl.

Three students recently promoted from the eighth grade at St. John. Bosco Catholic School in Ahwatukee recently received scholarships for private high school tuition, each worth $8,000.


My son Brett, the comeback athlete

Four years in the making, Mountain Pointe High School graduate John Swan recently launched a Christian clothing line he hopes will be appealing to all walks of life.

Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Two old friends paid me a visit last week. The first slipped in without a word, freezing my mind for an instant, like the shock of ice cream gulped down too eagerly on a hot day. As we visited for a while, I noticed the familiar voice is edged with a steely insistence, somehow sharpened rather than blunted by a hunger for news of trouble, and the scent of brewing chaos. By God’s grace and through His perfect timing, there, just in nick of time, was another beloved friend knocking on the door of my heart, gently enfolding me in loving arms. This beloved voice speaks quietly, yet perfectly clearly, sharing a different story, at once both old and fresh. The voice carries words brimming with abundant life, like a lush oasis in an otherwise barren and hostile desert. Such is the power of moments of fear to paralyze our senses, and to leave us feeling isolated and lost. Such is the power of the unparalleled peace found through our faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in the comforting words of Scripture.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12).

I am writing to express my sincere gratitude to the women of Mesa Arizona Hermosa Vista Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My Sisters’ Place recently received 60 beautiful handbags filled with an assortment of makeup, jewelry, lotion, perfume and notes filled with love and encouragement for the women in our shelter.

You may remember one of the most well-known miracles that Jesus performed in Mark, chapter 6: Thousands have gathered, it’s getting late, and most (if not all) are hungry. The natives are starting to get restless, and much like I get when I’m hungry, I’m sure that irritability was going up as patience was on the decline. So, Jesus tells the disciples to feed the masses of people who had followed them there, to which their first thought was to make a run to the local market and buy all the bread they had left (Mark 6:37). We know where the story goes from there — Jesus performs another miracle, turning close to nothing into a feast, satisfying all who were hungry.

Principal Shelley Conner said she’ll miss camaraderie the most at St. John Bosco in Ahwatukee.

Being a person of faith isn’t like being a football player or a plumber. In those cases, everyone knows the rules, the skills and who qualifies. Christians don’t even have universal agreement of what it means to “belong” or “get in” the club, let alone answers to life’s most pressing questions.

I recently heard something pointed out that had not occurred to me before last week. At Jesus’ baptism, God told Jesus He loved Him and was pleased with Him BEFORE any public ministry had occurred.

The Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU) emphasizes the difference between traditional religious practices in the past and how newer Christian clubs, like CRU Downtown, an Arizona State University religious organization, have changed the mentality of worship.

After graduating a group of 10 new instructors in February to teach Christ-centered yoga, The Center for Living Well is starting another round next week.

He is Risen, Indeed!

It’s such a strange feeling when you know something is done. Our son just turned 20 and his teen years are in the past. Our oldest daughter will graduate in May and her lifetime of home-schooling days will be over. My sister’s fiancé is retiring after more than 35 years with the Denver Fire Department. There is such finality in all these things. When they’re over, they’re over.

Every year leading up to Easter, on a temporary, five-story, outdoor stage erected near downtown Mesa, the story of the life and mission of Jesus Christ, taken from the Bible, is portrayed in live performance, music and dance.

They come from all parts of the Valley — 475 men, women, teens and children — and spend countless hours in practice and performances during the month leading up to Easter. The goal: presenting to the community the story of the life and mission of Jesus Christ in music, drama and dance.