MVC Story BLOG
Writing to help you bump into Jesus.
Recent posts
Waiting
by Guest Author | August 3, 2022 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
WAITING By MVC Guest Author, Karen Barstow It seems that much of our life involves waiting! As infants, we cry out awaiting the relief of hunger or discomfort. As toddlers, waiting for our turn with a toy or turn to get pushed on the swing seems such a long time....
My Transformation Story
by Guest Author | April 11, 2022 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
My Transformation Story By Guest Author, Jaime Smith I've been on this journey of transformation for almost 8 years. I first got introduced to the concept of transformation by Pastor Ken on a Sunday morning when he spoke on being transformed by God's love. I had...
Acts in a State of Being
by Chris Giambelluca | January 5, 2022 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
Acts in a State of Being By Casey Giffen American poet and essayist John Haines stated, “The task of the poet is to make poetry out of what happens.” Last summer, the pastoral staff embarked on a 25 Sunday-sermons series on the Book of Acts. I imagined how creative...
Gardening
by Guest Author | November 30, 2021 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
Gardening By Guest Author Karen Barstow November 2021 Flower gardening is something which has brought me pleasure and comfort throughout my life, something which, no doubt, I inherited from my maternal grandmother and my mother. I imagine that many do flower gardening...
How Do I Disciple?
by Nancy Rapp | July 20, 2021 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
How Do I, Disciple? By MVC Guest Author, Karen Barstow How do I DISCIPLE Lord within my current circumstances? I ask this question often and listen for direction. Surely First: I DISCIPLE within myself: in daily time spent with God, with the Holy Spirit, in walking...
Why I’m Excited!
by Guest Author | June 7, 2021 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
Why I’m Excited! - by MVC Guest Author, Bob Rasmussen Monte Vista Chapel has occasionally gone through periods when God has thrust us into new directions. These are reminiscent of the times when the early church was visited by...
The River of Life
by Guest Author | May 4, 2021 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
The River of Life God, the great artist, has painted my life like a river, from its origin high in the mountains where He pulled us out of the crevices, crashing down rocky walls, winding and meandering through valleys, quiet meadows, over raging waterfalls, across...
The Holy Place Of Love
by Guest Author | April 16, 2021 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
The Holy Place of Love. By Guest Author, MaryKate Morse We have a mini-woodland in our backyard, and one morning my husband, Randy, and I could hardly contain ourselves because of the creative antics of one little gray squirrel. He was doing everything in his...
Vulnerability with God and Others
by Nancy Rapp | February 21, 2021 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
Vulnerability with God and Others II A Small Group Snapshot The Journey is a year-long spiritual formation and discipleship cohort where participants learn to follow and become more like Jesus in deeper ways. Part of the experience includes connecting with others in a...
An Inspirational Flower
by Guest Author | February 19, 2021 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
An Inspirational Flower - By Guest Author Phil Payne On Valentine's day, each resident (or couple) at Covenant Living received a lovely bouquet of roses and poppies. As I looked down at one of the poppies I saw a thin ring of gold at the center. So - thanks to the...
Ash Wednesday || An Invitation Into The Season of Lent
by Chris Giambelluca | February 16, 2021 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
Ash Wednesday || An Invitation Into The Season of Lent - Pastor Chris Giambelluca Today is Ash Wednesday. Marking the beginning of the Lenten season of the church calendar, Ash Wednesday has been observed by Christians over centuries and is embraced by many...
You Can Jump In
by Eric Johns | February 11, 2021 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
You Can Jump In -By Pastor Eric Johns “I Am” lyrics by Judah Akers from his Album “7” Confession: the choice to trust that Jesus actually knows better than I do has been more difficult than I have preferred as of late. In my household, we are coming up on a year of...
Reflections
by Guest Author | January 20, 2021 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
REFLECTIONS - By MVC Guest Author, Karen Barstow I look out the window at the last few leaves on the almond trees. As an old almond farmer, I appreciate the seasonal changes for these trees, knowing that each stage is critical in the yearly life of that tree....
An Advent Series: LOVE
by Guest Author | December 20, 2020 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
An Advent Series: Love By Pastor Ken Van Vliet Last month, Kelsey asked if I would consider writing a ‘love letter’ to the congregation as the final installment of our advent story blog. I have to admit, her request made me a bit squeamish. Not because I don’t love...
An Advent Series: JOY
by Guest Author | December 13, 2020 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
Finding Joy during Christmas of 2020 By MVC Guest Author, Erin Nelson Advent 2020 feels like the first recorded Christmas. Darkness and uncertainty mixed with anticipation and wonder. Since our brains are wired to avoid pain, we naturally want to escape the dark...
An Advent Series: Shalom
by Guest Author | December 6, 2020 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
The Sigh for Shalom By MVC Guest Author, Debbie Smallwood Don’t you long for it… that elusive land of completeness where days are winsome, whole, and simple where all our words are properly understood where our most heartfelt intentions are purely and gracefully...
An Advent Series: HOPE
by Guest Author | November 29, 2020 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
An Advent Series: HOPE By MVC Guest Author, Lisa Cox Good things are going to happen. This has been written on the chalkboard in my dining room since early summer. It was a daily reminder that things weren’t always going to be this way. In a time of grieving from...
Turtle Tea Time
by Nancy Rapp | October 26, 2020 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
Turtle Tea Time By Kelsey Henderson Donatello. That was the name of my date for tea that day. He was an unusual fellow, stood about 3 feet tall, wore a purple mask, and was quite the snuggler. His giant turtle shell never seemed to bother me, though he was certainly...
The Security of Knowing Love
by Guest Author | August 12, 2020 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
The Security of Knowing Love - By Pastor Dave Nieuwsma One of the struggles our culture is walking through right now is living with an underlying fear, because of the uncertainty which daily is in front of us. And for each of us, that uncertainty may come from...
The Next Right Thing
by Guest Author | August 7, 2020 | MVC Story Blog, Uncategorized | 0 Comments
The Next Right Thing - By MVC Guest Author, Lisa Cox When Frozen 2 came out, I was not the first in line to see it. Heck, even when it was released on video I waited. I first heard the song, “The Next Right Thing” when I was listening to Disney songs on Pandora...
Maintaining Joy During Quarantine
by Guest Author | July 8, 2020 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
Maintaining Joy During Quarantine - By MVC Guest Author, Jaime Smith Over a year ago I told my sister that sometimes I feel like I am left alone in a dark corner of the world to die. That's how lonely I felt then in our little Hobbit hole on the Westside of...
The Power of “I Believe You”
by Nancy Rapp | June 29, 2020 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
The Power of "I Believe You" - By Kelsey Henderson (This piece was inspired by a gift I was given to hear a Zimbabwean woman's experience of racism.) Remember when Lucy wandered into the wardrobe and discovered Narnia? She roamed a new world, meeting Mr....
Seeking the Spark
by Guest Author | June 26, 2020 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
Seeking the Spark - By MVC Guest Author, Erin Nelson My husband Bryan spent his 50th birthday saying he feels like his life has been hijacked. I’m wondering if we all feel a bit that way. Have you ever felt this confused? Few of us know what’s really going on...
A Tribute to Daddys
by Guest Author | June 19, 2020 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
A Tribute to Daddys - By Guest Author, Karen Barstow In the early 2000s, I found myself searching for a new church home. The WHY behind that is a story for another day. Since I live in Ballico, I was searching for a Turlock location, and having grown up in a...
Experiences Shape our Lives
by Guest Author | June 15, 2020 | MVC Story Blog | 0 Comments
Experiences Shape our Lives - By Guest Author Karen Barstow Experiences shape our lives. In trying to make reason or understand the chaotic hatred, rioting, and vandalism throughout our nation this past week, I was reminded of one such life experience:...