Write On!

When I first started listening to Christian music about fourteen years ago, there were a ton of male artists and bands but it seemed the female Christian music artists were not so abundant. Of course there were a few, like Rebecca St. James and Crystal Lewis but it seemed for the most part, the males dominated.When I wrote the article, My Ten Favorite Christian Female Artists , three years ago it still seemed to be the case. Nichole Nordeman via Flickr @ CM Central Nowadays that doesn't seem to ring true anymore. Currently, there are many new female Christian music artists on the scene, many of them not even 30 years old! These are the kinds of gals that are true role models for young girls, very unlike the Katy Perry's and Miley Cyrus's of the world! Something else that's different about modern-day Christian music is its new reliance on digital music and social media. No longer do artists have to rely on simply getting heard on the radio and selling albums to b...

Welcome to my Throwback Thursday where I'll be featuring a blast from the past in the form of photos, blog post or who knows what else! This post is from April 24, 2012 that I had on a different blog that I have since taken down. It features Miss Rodeo America Ashley Andrews Alderson speaking at a Charity Lutheran's Women's Event on how she won the crown while beating cancer. ______________________ Miss Rodeo America, Ashley Andrews Alderson, spoke at a women’s luncheon event called “Faith through Adversity.” The event was put on by Charity Lutheran’s Charity Women in Mission for Christ. As Ashley spoke, it was quite apparent this former rodeo queen was not only beautiful on the outside but inside as well. Ashley, originally from the small community of Bowman, was crowned Miss Rodeo North Dakota in 2006. During her reign, she was diagnosed with a type of cancer called Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She endured chemotherapy treatments for six months. Through it all, she vowed...

Every year I look forward to attending the JOY Breakfast, an annual event put on by JOY International right here in Bismarck, ND. Not only do I look forward to attending this amazing event that draws nearly 700 women, I also look forward to volunteering and helping out as needed. This year I was a table hostess and helped put together over 100 name tags for all the hostesses, volunteers and leadership team. Each year, the breakfast has a wonderful nationally-recognized speaker. This year, Bismarck was blessed to have Micca Campbell, a speaker with Proverbs 31 ministry, fly here from her warm home in Nashville, Tennessee. She talked about the secret to finding contentment and gave part of her testimony which entailed becoming a widow at the age of 21 while being a new mom. Along with the speaker there was beautiful music, a skit that every woman could relate to, prayer and lots of door prizes. I had so much fun seeing my JOY friends and meeting some new ones too. I was also blessed ...

One of the most exciting parts of being a mom – especially a first-time mom is the baby shower and all of the fun things that are given for a mom’s precious newborn. For some women though, especially teenagers who are in a crisis pregnancy, a baby shower is the furthest things from their minds.  Their first thoughts are whether or not they are even going to have the baby. Many of them feel alone and scared and feel there is no hope. This is where the FirstChoice Clinic comes in. FirstChoice clinics are located in Bismarck, Fargo and Devils Lake, North Dakota. Upon making the decision to go to a FirstChoice clinic, women will have the following services offered to them: Limited ultrasounds by trained nurses Pregnancy testing and counseling Financial assistance Parenting programs One of the parenting programs that FirstChoice Clinic offers is called Earn While You Learn. Women who go through this program at the clinic earn points which enables them to go shop...