Suzanne Schaffer

Meet Sylvia. Sylvia is a pastor. Sylvia is soon to be eighty-two. Sylvia preaches weekly and leads worship. Her congregation is in a small town no one heard of until September 11, 2001 when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field so close she could see the smoke.   Sylvia was inundated with visitors at her church for months afterwards. People who would've never stopped in her small town were now in her audience. She was able to minister to people you and I may never have contact with. The crowds have diminished but Sylvia is still there. Week after week. She is a fireball and if you met her you'd gasp when you realized her age because she is young in everything she does.  Sylvia also runs in marathons and consistently wins for her age group. Mostly because she is the only one competing in her age group. Sylvia is a hero to me. She doesn't let her age stop her. She doesn't let the "population of ..." signs in her town keep her from giving hope

I had a brief encounter recently where someone shared how deep their hurt is and that no one else has had such a painful existence as they. I took the opportunity to express that we all go through hard times. Life has its ups and downs and no one is exempt. Some of the painful times are harder than others but learning how to handle it and how to rise above it is what sets some people apart. Those who look like they have it all together have only learned how to get up and get going, moving past the circumstance, and do what needs done.  Sometimes pain can envelop your mind and you can't see past the storm, but you are not alone. The Bible is full of people who experienced pain like yours and worse.  That is one reason we have the Bible. So we can read it and learn from it.  The painful times, the trials, the rejection, the rumors, the hard times of life...God uses these times to make us stronger if we will let Him. Sometimes the biggest lessons come from the most painful tim

We've all lived long enough to know that signs are only posted because they are needed. There were reasons for this. I'm not sure I want to know what they are, but when people do a bad job at people-ing we have to put up signs.

  While in Camp Hill, PA last week we found this Greek restaurant. I thought I'd share their dessert case with you. Because...look at it. Why do people eat things like Little Debbie snacks when there is stuff like this out there? Madness.    Then I realized the pictures of the whole case weren't enough and that you deserved to see each one individually. You're welcome. Let me know in the comments which ones speak to you.  We went for dessert one evening and then for lunch the next day. On dessert night we shared this baklava cheesecake. I had the beautiful hot chocolate and he had some kind of latte. The next day we ate lunch and took a black forest cake to go. It too was yum. But those sweet potato fries pictured above? I'm changed. Seriously. Drizzled with honey and cinnamon. This should be part of my daily routine. Yup. That good.