This past weekend we had a memorial service for a wonderful man in our church family who recently passed away at 90, Steve Stoltzfus. He had an extraordinary life and the service went almost 2 hours as people shared how they had been impacted by him. The word “legacy” comes to mind. Several people asked for a copy of the devotional I wrote. I typically don’t publish sermons. They’re hard enough to listen to in person, haha! But in this…
This past weekend was a great reunion for the Benedicts in East Earl. Amanda came up from Richmond, Josh and Alaina traveled up from Northern Virginia, and Katelyn came home from university out in Pittsburg. Justin couldn’t make it because of his marching band schedule out at IUP, but he sure was missed! One of the things I look forward to when our children gather, is the opportunity to connect face to face. I really appreciate texting, email, Facetime, phone…
Pam and I are headed to Uganda on November 3rd and it just got REAL! Our airline tickets have been purchased and yesterday we went to the infectious disease clinic at Reading Hospital and received our immunization for Yellow Fever, Typhoid, and Polio. OUCH! My arm is sore this morning and we’re nervous, yet excited about this completely unique ministry opportunity. When we scheduled our current sermon series, “Right Where U Are” about being available to serve God by using our…
Our Fall Sermon Series is making an impact! I’m pretty excited. “Right Where You Are” is a study of men and women in the Bible who God used in powerful ways to change their world- people like Gideon, Daniel, Esther, and Mary. None of them were prophets, priests, or pastors and yet God used them right where they were to make a big difference. Isaac, our pastoral intern, came up with the series concept. And so far, it’s been both…
A devotional by Kate Martin Running errands with my busy 18-month-old daughter can be a challenge. In this current season, when I go into a store, my goal is to get in and out of the store as fast as possible. Anything to avoid having a toddler that is trying to climb out of the cart, grab everything of the shelves, or throwing a fit. On Thursday afternoon, my perspective of this goal changed during a trip to Hobby Lobby. …
“Make yourself at home. We’re so glad you’re here!” Pam said as our long-anticipated house guests finally arrived. Eric and Lisa Simpson are career missionaries to England and longtime friends. For quite some time they’ve been wanting to return to the US to report to their supporting churches and reconnect with family. And now with COVID finally settling down a bit, they can. Although they’ll be gone most weekends traveling to churches, they’re based out of the apartment we recently…
A little-known fact (that I’m a little embarrassed about) is that Pam and I have scooters. I purchased them during COVID, complements of the second round of stimulus checks that Uncle Sam sent out. I was pretty conflicted about it at the time. It felt like a rather extravagant purchase during a world-wide pandemic. But they were relatively inexpensive Chinese knockoffs that I was able to get for under $1,000 a piece. They’re street-legal and have actually been a big…
A devotional by Pam Benedict When Steve & I were in Israel this past March, we were part of a large tour group which included 6 other buses. Each bus had its own guide to keep things personal and well connected. But even so, there were times things could get quite noisy and crowded. To compensate for this, Inspiration Tours used a “Whisper Wireless Tour Guide System.” Each member of the tour was issued a “Whisper” headset. This device was…
A devotional by Sandy Martin When my daughters were little, I had this hard plastic molded bike seat mounted on the back of my bicycle. My oldest daughter and I had more time to bike the back roads of New Holland, because there would not be a sibling until 3 years later. I became very confident with the additional weight on the back of my bike and began to take her on longer and longer road trips. One particular afternoon…
Yesterday was blazing hot. The kind of hot which could melt your sneakers to the pavement if you stayed in one place too long. KYW said it was 99 in Philadelphia with a heat index of 110, And I’ll tell you what, Lancaster County wasn’t far behind. I went out as needed, but pretty much decided to make it an office and administrative day… in the air conditioning. I can’t imagine how our tradesmen fared yesterday. I know I wouldn’t…