Musings

By Rev. Pete Hyde Just a few more days until Christmas. Just a few more days to get in the spirit of the secular celebration.  Just a few more days to make those final travel plans.  Just a few more days.  It’s on the news.  It’s in all the commercials. ...

By Kirk McCarley Have you ever been told you had a unique skill or talent and were then challenged to do something with it?  Perhaps it had something to do with a business or enterprise.  “You should try opening up a boutique.”  Maybe it had to do with a craft. ...

By Victoria Ostrosky Tragedy is always an unwelcome visitor.  Typically unexpected, and not requested; but often the catalyst for experiencing an intimate, soul-changing participation in God’s infinite love.  All through the Bible – both the Old and New Testaments, God continuously reveals His love, His desire for relationship and His...

By Kirk McCarley During my years working as an executive in large organizations I observed that those most impacted by change were almost always the ones most resistant to it. Let me explain. In 2008 the organization I was with at the time embarked on one such journey of change by transitioning...

By Rev. Pete Hyde I turned out of the sub-division onto the crowded, school-traffic-clogged main road.  Though it had been dark when I awoke, the sky had brightened from gray to pink and now to yellow as the sun floated above the eastern horizon.  I turned east on the highway...

By Doug Stauffer The most controversial issue on the November ballot is Amendment 4, titled the “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion.” Abortion is, unfortunately, divisive, but this amendment is deceptive. This change to the state’s Constitution would forever alter Florida. While Amendment 4 is being marketed as a...

By Kirk McCarley Best-selling author Jacob Morgan wrote that we become who surrounds us. “If you surround yourself with negative people, you’ll become negative. But if you surround yourself with successful, growth-minded people, you’ll become successful too. I experienced this firsthand.  For years, I surrounded myself with those who didn’t support or...

Rev. Pete Hyde serves as chaplain with the South Walton Fire District The morning was still and serene.  The sun had been up an hour or so and the air was thick with gulf humidity.  The bay stretched out before us like a sheet of mirrored glass pushing its way...

By Victoria Ostrosky A poignant scene in the Gospel of Mark is set against the backdrop of a lesson Jesus taught his disciples about the importance of having faith like children.  It’s a quick little scene typically used as a stepping-stone to the ‘bigger lesson’. Kenneth Wuest, a Greek scholar, in...

By Pete Hyde They sat at a corner table directly in front of a wall of plate glass windows seemingly oblivious to the crowd at the small restaurant located in what is called “Under the Hill” in Natchez, Mississippi.  It was a typical muggy, lazy, Mississippi Sunday evening.  A flotilla...