 By: Joe Kowalski
Encompass Champion Like many of you I have a few choice verses and even books of the Bible I gravitate towards. The first book of the Bible I can remember reading was James, New testament, not very long and very practical for new a believer. There are several verses that even non-Christians would likely be familiar with even if they couldn’t cite them: John 3:16 (for God so loved the world…), Genesis 1:1 (In the beginning…), and then there are the verses that are often misquoted: ‘God helps those who help themselves’ most often attributed to Ephesians 2: 4-5, and ‘Money is the root of all evil’ pulled from 1 Timothy 6:10. And then there are those verses that we just can’t seem to get away from….in a good way. They pop up in sermons, in small group, and seem to apply to so many situations we are going through in life.
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 By: Kermit Rowe
Encompass Relationship Facilitator For better or worse, till death do us part, our family remains our family. We can ignore them, refuse to have a personal relationship with them, but we can’t ignore the blood connection to them given to us by God through our birth. If God is the God He claims to be – the holy, perfect one with no beginning or end, who has no evil or error in Him – then it follows that He makes no mistakes. And it follows that the family He placed us in is the family we are meant to be a part of. In His perfect, infinite wisdom. To question our family origin is therefore questioning Him. He could have sent us into any family, in any hometown, in any native country, at any point in history. But He chose to send us into the life and family we currently occupy.  By: Abby Glaser
Encompass Community Advocate This month our theme at Encompass is “start here!” This month is also Human Trafficking Awareness month! Considering that, I’d love to take a few moments to give you some info on human trafficking. I’ve worked with trafficking survivors for over 20 years now and serve on the Miami Valley Human Trafficking Coalition, so this issue is near to my heart. While the topic has gained more attention in the past few years, a lot of information floating around is often false. So, let’s start with a brief understanding of what human trafficking is. By: Ronda Nissley
Encompass Co-Director I grew up in the small town of Kalona, Iowa as the seventh of nine children. My mother never worked outside the home and Dad was employed by a variety of small Christian schools and church agencies – earning a modest income even by standards of that day. Looking back, I’m sure our family would have been classified as “poor” by pretty much any economic measure. To my parent’s credit, I never figured that out until I was an adult. Thanks to my mother’s large garden and skills as a seamstress-we were always well fed and clothed.  By Abby Glaser
Encompass Community Advocate I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of finishing well where it applies to parenting. Obviously parenting never really ends, but the seasons of it change! For context, my husband and I have five kids that range from 14-24. So, we have three out of the house now and two still left at home. We are in the home stretch of active parenting after two and a half decades of our lives revolving around it! When my kids were little, I often thought this would be the easier stage…what could be harder than breastfeeding and sleep deprivation and potty training? I laugh now at how unaware I was to the realities of parenting teens and young adults! While I’m not finished yet, I’ve learned a few things in this process of how to finish well with your kids that I wish someone had told me!  By: Hollie Kowalski
Encompass Outreach Coordinator Oh, how I love this boy. My son Dominik has his mother’s…well, everything. He is the most like me out of my four kids. The poor kid got my need for control, independence, my stubbornness, sensitivity, and poor math skills. But he also got my big heart, my passionate, charismatic personality, my drive, determination, and eyes that tend to see the best in people. The two of us stick together like glue…until we don’t. Due to our passionate and sensitive nature, if we don’t agree on an issue, our home becomes a battleground and unfortunately the innocent bystanders, known as our family, get drawn into battle as well.  The September theme for our social media and blog posts is devotion/faith. Gina Craun and her family experienced the ultimate loss, but through it all maintained their faith and devotion to each other and to God. See where it's brought them in the following blog post by Gina.
This was my 3 year old daughter's bold and unquestioning response when I asked her what she learned in her class while I was in service one Sunday. I laughed and asked her what she meant and, without even looking up from the sucker she was trying desperately to unwrap, she informed me, “They said that Jesus lives in my heart… so I think right now He’s cookin’ in there.” And you know what… I can’t disagree. When our oldest son, Cainan, was 2 years old he was playing on the floor with his cars and seemed a bit sluggish. When I felt his body burning up again, with yet another fever that month, we took him to our family doctor to get some antibiotics. Little did we know that within 24 hours we would be packing overnight bags and be admitted to the closest children’s hospital. Within hours, our world was turned upside down and the word “leukemia” entered our daily vocabulary. Because of the strength his specific type of leukemia possessed, chemo alone was not going to be enough. We began prepping for a bone marrow transplant. A transplant that our oldest son at 2 would be receiving and our youngest son, at 11 months old, would be donating bone marrow for. During this time I began an online journal. It was my goal to find God’s plan and purpose in each day and each step of our journey and share that hope and light with others. I found such encouragement in this because… you see what you look for. And I wanted to see what God was cooking up for our family through this.  The theme for August posts will be Finances/Money in Marriage, which seems to be a common issue between spouses. This post is a bit longer than usual and comes from Ron Blue, a financial planner and consultant for more than 30 years with some excellent tips.
Here is the summary of Ron Blue's post as well as an outline of the content. "Teaching kids about money is a matter of sharing your ideas and values with your kids as you go through the routines of daily life together." Motivation: The current cultural climate Foundation: Biblical perspectives and principles Application: Putting beliefs and ideals to work Method: "As you go" while teaching kids about money Our appreciation to Ron Blue for this content.  Ronda is the little girl sitting on her Daddy's lap. By: Ronda Nissley
Encompass Co-Director A year ago, I gifted my 92-year-old father a Storyworth subscription for Father’s Day. Each week, he was given a question to which he could respond or simply write his own story. Although we’re still working on completing and editing the stories into their final format, I’m sharing one that has given me a renewed appreciation of the huge responsibility he carried providing for a family of nine children.  By: Hollie Kowalski
Outreach Coordinator Parenting a teenager is no small feat. We have four children, currently three teenagers. Nothing will send me to my knees in prayer quicker than my kids! Through the chaos, the conflict, the blessings, and the battles, I must keep reminding myself: God is in control. My husband Joe is a logical, levelheaded parent with much patience. I, on the other hand… well, I like to say I’m a very “passionate,” person, especially when it comes to my kids. Joe would interpret this as emotional and easily excitable, but also a “pro” when it comes to loving on, caring for, and guiding our children. Together, we make a pretty great team, but even the very best parents don’t always have the answers. So when we’ve been consistent, loving, patient, supportive, good role models (most of the time…) and we’ve “chosen our battles carefully,” where do we turn when one of our children comes to us with anger and insecurity that won’t subside, or when one of them just wants to give up due to the fear of imperfection, or there is an undeniable ache from a loss or a badly broken heart from “the one they thought they’d marry?” |
HostsDr. David Marine and Theresa Mabry are Co-Directors of Encompass since June 1, 2024. TOPICS
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Encompass Connection Center services are provided to all eligible persons on a non-discriminatory basis. Encompass Connection Center complies with all applicable laws and regulations concerning discrimination does not discriminate on the basis of the potential participant's race, gender, gender orientation, age, disability or religion.
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Program content is the sole responsibility of Encompass Connection Center and does not necessarily represent the views of the funders.
Encompass Connection Center services are provided to all eligible persons on a non-discriminatory basis. Encompass Connection Center complies with all applicable laws and regulations concerning discrimination does not discriminate on the basis of the potential participant's race, gender, gender orientation, age, disability or religion.
Registered 501(c)(3). EIN: 37-1485217