Can your prayer reach an oil pipe on the sea floor? Can it protect the creatures and coastlines caught in the spreading slick? Can it strengthen the efforts of relief crews?

Yes—because effective, healing prayer isn’t asking a distant Deity to engage in a human disaster and mysteriously disentangle us from these overwhelming problems.

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The Dutch called her “New Amsterdam,” Washington Irving dubbed her “Gotham,” Frank Sinatra sang, she’s “a city, that doesn’t sleep.” And on my first visit to New York City at age seven, I called her a dream. Through my impressionable young eyes the city was a surreal place where more happened in one minute than during the entire year in my second grade classroom back in Orange County, California. I absorbed every taste, scent, sight, and sound, from the skyward soaring concrete and glass on Sixth Avenue to the earthbound trees and grass in Central Park, and left with a new dream—to come back and stay.

Twelve years later, my dream was fulfilled. Only problem, it felt more like a nightmare than a dream. (more…)

Last December, I was spending a lot of time cramming for finals and trying to get all my past work done to turn in. Math was the worst. I’d always struggled with math in general. I thought I couldn’t understand the concepts, so I tended to just give up.

A week before finals, I went to my math teacher and asked if he would do a pass/no pass grade for the course so at least an F wouldn’t show up on my transcript. He told me that if I continued to come to class and try my best, if I still failed, then he would agree. (more…)

Last year my studies at college seemed particularly difficult. Even though I enjoyed studying, I had to work hard to make up for deficits, or areas in which I was behind. Although during my course of studies I’d learned to let God guide me when I had to choose courses or solve complicated calculations, a certain pride had gotten hold of me. It was an I can do it myself attitude.

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I have been active professionally for 6 years. During that time I decided to go back to university to continue my studies. I am an active member of a Christian Science church in Yaoundé, Cameroon, where I have served as Clerk/Treasurer for the past 3 years. For many years the Cameroon government had recruited young people like me, but without a signed contract! As the years went by many of them began to worry about their future. I did not want to get caught up in this anxiety, however legitimate it seemed, because I knew that God goes before us no matter the situation! (more…)

I’ll be honest with you, I’ve been dreading the American president’s State of the Union on TV this week. Don’t get me wrong, I’m interested in politics and I like following the news and staying informed about what’s going on in the United States and around the world. But recently I’ve seen so many Facebook statuses with political rants, name-calling, and frustration that my interest in politics has worn thin. (more…)

I was praying about Christmas a few weeks ago. From the news around the world to some news in my own family, I was starting to feel that this would not be a joy-filled Christmas but rather one filled with doubt, fear, and loss. But I LOVE Christmas! There is no other time of year I like better. I love the decorations, the spirit, and most of all, I love the focus on the Christ that my family has always brought to the season. So I was feeling like all the unhappy news was coming at such a bad time. Not that there would be a good time for it, but coming at Christmas just made it worse. (more…)

What I remember about seventh grade is finding myself in a new school about five times as big as I’d ever known—I was stumped by algebra, and the girl who wanted to help me get through that class was my only friend. Neither of us were cool, and she didn’t care, but I longed to be accepted by the in-crowd. But every attempt to connect with them ended up in some awful embarrassment. It was a painful time of learning how to make friends and how to be a friend.

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Als ich letzten wieder mal am Flughafen war, sah ich all die Schilder, die vor der Schweinegrippe warnen. Und was man Alles tun muss um sich zu schützen.

Soviel Angst und Furcht steckt dahinter. Ich dachte kurz darüber nach wie stark diese Furcht und Angst die Gedanken der Menschen beeinflussen wollen. Gleichzeitig dachte ich darüber nach, wie man sich vor dieser angsterfüllten Beeinflussung frei halten kann. Ein Wortspiel half mir dabei. Schweinegrippe ( swine flu) = Schweineinfluenza ( swine influenza)= Influence =der Einfluss, Beeinflussen (Influence). (more…)