The New York Times operates under the famous motto “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” but the unofficial motto of Living Stones News has been “All the Good News That God Sees Fit to Print.”

Powered by prayer, strengthened by faith, led by the Word and prodded by an unwavering vision, the people God gathered to publish Living Stones News never lost sight of the chain of command. LSN always was – and always will be – God’s newspaper to proclaim the life-changing and soul-saving power of His Son, Jesus Christ.

I used to have a poster on the kitchen wall showing a gorgeous mountain and waterfall and saying, “What appears to be the end may really be the beginning.” During my life that saying has held me through rough spots and brought me some thrilling beginnings. If only change wasn’t so hard. Living Stones News is changing, but our God is not.

Apparently God is all for change and all for discarding the old and bringing in the new. He uses those topics many times in His Word. The website http://www.openbible.info lists 47 Scripture references under the heading of New Beginnings. Many of the references you are very familiar with, including:

This year I put up a fancy climbing device for my pole beans. The metal pole supports two circular rings, one near the ground and the other 6 feet high, joined by intertwining strings that guide the pole bean vines. In past years, the deer hadn’t touched my outside-the-fence plants, so I rationalized that it would be safe to erect the climbing device outside the fence, too. The fenced gardens had no room for pole beans.

It’s hard to believe that this One Rock Alone column has been a part of my life for the past eight years. As I look back through the archives, I feel like all of those different columns and poems reveal a lot about what I was pondering in my teenage and early adult years. The things I saw that bothered me or inspired me, or those things in my life that I contemplated, became the sources of my essays, rants and poems that came to be called One Rock Alone. I have been privileged to write this column for many years, and I also have enjoyed writing missions stories, testimonies and helping with Little Pebbles for many years as a writer for Living Stones News.

Former Take The Fall frontman releases poignant solo effort

I did something I have since regretted -- I had acrylic nails put on. I have always wanted to have nice nails, but the reality is they are weak, brittle and I absolutely hate to wear rubber gloves when doing dishes.

Is Jesus Christ for real?

That is a question everyone must ask and then decide. Either you believe in Jesus or you don’t believe. There is no gray zone. God has given everyone free will to say, “I don’t believe in Jesus,” but if you are wise -- in light of where you will spend eternity -- you will check out the consequences of not believing in Jesus as the Son of God and your only ticket to get into Heaven. No one can do that for you. It is your responsibility.

So, how can you check out if Jesus is for real?

I regularly use the Bible application on my iPhone. So, in a sense, I’m rarely in a place where Scripture isn’t immediately accessible for me. But I don’t often think about the sheer power of what I’m holding in the palm of my hand. The Apostle Paul tells us that God’s Word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. And whether those words are on the weathered pages of a book or the smudged screen of my phone, they posses a life-changing power when they are heard and taken to heart.

The young woman and her friends have a rare opportunity. They’re invited to see something few have ever seen. Something so valuable, it’s priceless.

All worries cease. All thoughts, too, as she sees it. She literally stops in mid-step, frozen in time. As if savoring each second will make life literally stand still. It’s so beautiful. A shimmering red with hints of blue and green, reminding others of the ocean and the prairie at the same time. But the red, now that’s something to see.

One time while visiting the Crex Meadows Wildlife Area in Grantsburg, Wis., I watched a red fox family at its den. While three of the kits romped and tumbled nearby, the mother lay outside the den entrance and washed a fourth. Holding the kit still with one paw, she proceeded to lick it clean from the nose down to the pads of its paws. She worked with diligence and thoroughness, showing her mother’s heart throughout the process. It was a delightful sight. And to think she had to do this three more times.

As she leads her horse toward the arena, her nerves feel frayed. Having spent countless hours practicing for showmanship, it’s finally time to see if the work has paid off. Her horse seems to feel her anxiousness and he shifts his feet and perks his brown ears forward. Dressed in business western attire, the judge of the horse show stands in the center of the arena. His expression gives no emotion, but he is watching everything.

I suspect that in 5 seconds or less you could name one person in your workplace that you would categorize as difficult to work with. The work world is chock-full of the slothful, the pushy, the naggers, the whiners, the hostile, the neurotic, the over-sensitive and the naysayers. When they enter our work space, they are not only a daily irritant, but they also tend to be obstructionists. Any work initiatives run the risk of being stifled with these people. They have an uncanny way of bringing an entire team to its knees if allowed.

Recently someone asked me if I’m becoming more impatient as I grow older. On the contrary, I said that I seem to show more patience than ever before. Rethinking my answer, I must add an exception. I show less patience when interrupted by someone or something, perhaps realizing I must make the most of the time I have left.

Interruptions can distract us. As a young mother, I often told my kids, “Don’t interrupt me now.” Even today, I feel stressed when the phone rings during a crucial part of my editing. Sometimes I cringe, frustrated when someone interrupts me while I’m trying to say something.

It was back in March that we said goodbye to our older Bonneville and welcomed a Fusion into the family. (When the kids leave, vehicles and animals become your kids -- sort of.) I had only driven the new vehicle a couple of weeks when driving to town the low tire-pressure warning came on. I thought I would just go to the post office and then stop to get air when I returned.

But when I parked at the station and looked at my right rear tire, it was flat. How in the world could a brand-new tire be flat? I asked the attendant, Davey, to put enough air in the tire so I could park and he could fix it for me later. But the tire wouldn’t even hold air, and that’s when he discovered there was a hunk of metal in it. When I picked up my car, he said there was a utility knife blade stuck upright in between the treads and there was no holding air. But he got the job done.

Colossians 3:22-23 says: Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

In modern times, we might say, “Workers, obey your bosses in everything, not only when they are watching, but out of the sincerity of your hearts. Be single-minded, as in serving your Lord.”