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.
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Cindee's husband Dave By: Cindee Johnson
Encompass Relationship Facilitator I love Christmas. I mean, I really LOVE Christmas. The decorating. The lights. The celebrations. The shopping. The traditions. The cooking. The gifts. The tree. It all has its place. Or so I learned. The hard way. Because I had no peace. Only perfection. When Dave and I married 34 years ago, I had this vision of a perfectly packaged Christmas, everything done up just right. And it all began with the Christmas tree. Which had to be fresh cut. As in Dave lying on the cold, snowy or icy or often muddy Ohio ground, cutting down the tree while our children and I held it in place. By: Ronda Nissley,
Co-Director of Encompass Connection Center There are few things I find more annoying than a stoplight that turns red just as I am approaching the intersection. It’s personal – the green light sees me coming, quickly turns yellow and then red – forcing me to come to a complete stop! Several months ago, as Lavern and I were hurrying across town to make it to our next meeting, I couldn’t help but notice that we were literally hitting EVERY SINGLE RED light!! I could feel the exasperation and tension rising inside of me and was getting ready to express that frustration when Lavern joyfully announces, “Have you noticed we have been first at every red light?” Incredulous, I told him I noticed we were getting stopped by every red light, but I certainly didn’t see that as a good thing! He responded by saying how much he enjoyed being “first in line” so he could take off unimpeded when the light turned green. By: Cindee Johnson, Relationship Coach
Are you making those holiday lists and checking them twice? What do you gift the kids? Your spouse? Friends? Family? All. Those. Lists. Yes, we are in the midst of the greatest gift-giving season of the year. Also, the most stressful... By: Abby Glaser It’s hard to believe the holidays are here! If you are like me, you are already making progress on your shopping list for Christmas. One of my favorite parts about the holiday season is seeing the generosity of our community. There’s something about the Christmas spirit that brings out the best in us! You may like to give to organizations that help those in need or you may prefer to do it yourself through adopting families or giving trees. However you spread Christmas joy this year, consider giving the gift of dignity! You may be wondering what that means... allow me to explain!
By Abby Glaser “It’s the most wonderful time of the year…”
The holiday season is upon us after a monumental year! You may be looking forward to the holiday or you may be dreading it. You might even be feeling a little bit of both! Nothing has been typical about 2020 and that includes how we will all celebrate the holiday season. For many, holidays can bring stress, anxiety or loneliness. After a crazy year you might be unsure how to navigate this season. Here are five tips to help your days be merry and bright! By Kermit Rowe
(Kermit is a relationship facilitator with Encompass) There’s no denying it … the holiday rush has kicked into high gear. Finishing the shopping and baking, the decoration hanging and last-second plan-making. Lots of “-ings” but not lots of time left to be “finish-ing” them. What’s a person to do? Or for the purposes of this post, what’s a couple to do? While checking our list twice, we do well to ask ourselves who should be at the top of that list. |
HostsDr. David Marine and Theresa Mabry are Co-Directors of Encompass since June 1, 2024. TOPICS
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