Author Ava Pennington
Author Ava Pennington

Unpleasant Choices

I’m watching toxic liquid drip into my husband’s IV as I write these words. Later this week, he’ll experience a needle in his eye. He didn’t easily agree to either activity. That brings me to choices.   Some are fun. Vanilla ice cream or chocolate? Tennis or...

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Who are You? What is Your Purpose?

Today I contemplate my purpose. What defines me? In our culture, after we learn a new person’s name, the next question is almost always related to what they do. Other times we’re defined, not by what we do, but by what happens to us. Rape victim. Cancer survivor. I am...

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My Personal Hope for 2017

A new year, a new word. In 2015, my “one word” for the year was release—a word I didn’t like, but did need. These posts explain my choice and my experience in applying my one word. The following year, my word was joy…a word that seemed to be the opposite of release,...

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The Danger of a Post-truth Perspective

Every year, Oxford Dictionaries chooses a word of the year. A word that, in their estimation, exerted significant influence on our language. A word that attracted much interest or encapsulates a significant change in our culture. For 2016, the Oxford Dictionaries Word...

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A Different View

In the past two months, I’ve been aware of several eye problems occurring among my friends. One friend had cataract surgery in both eyes. Another’s son experienced scratched corneas in both eyes. Although his eyes are now healed, at the time the doctor considered the...

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What’s Their Story?

Do you love a good story? I do. And I was recently reminded of the multitude of stories – real life stories - all around me. But all too often, I’ve been clueless. This past week, I attended a Celebration of Life service for a friend’s 99-year-old mother. Both women...

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A Mother’s Job Description

I spent more than 20 years in corporate human resources and reviewed more job descriptions than I could count. Those job descriptions were especially useful in determining the best candidate when recruiting. But there’s one position for which I’m thankful I never had...

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Measuring Time

I did it again. Wrote the date with the wrong year again: 2015. You’d think that by now, four weeks into the new year, I’d get it right. But every year I get to February before I develop the habit of writing the correct date. At least this year it’s easy to convert...

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Culture War

Are we fighting a culture war? Maybe the better question is, should we be fighting a culture war? Many Christians today believe we are. That our nation has not just taken a wrong turn, we’ve forgotten our destination. Cue the protests. Boycotts. Name-calling....

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