The day started early on Giving Tuesday in 2023. At 8 a.m., a Nickelodeon crew arrived at our home to feature kids who were leading their own holiday giving efforts. They filmed CJ and Kollin, along with the host, as they built a blanket fort together in our loft — hands busy, fully engaged —...
With little food and even less medicine, there is not much hope. We worked tirelessly to care for as many people as we could each day.” Cuba is a paradox. She is that mysterious neighbor–a Boo Radley of sorts; a country so close to the US, and yet seemingly so far. We ask ourselves, what...
In youth sports today, families often feel trapped between two extremes. On one side is Upward league or general recreation league play — fun and accessible but sometimes lacking the level of competition young athletes crave. On the other side is the intense world of travel sports, where weekends disappear into tournaments, schedules become relentless,...
Picture a scene in which a symphony of children’s squeals of joy and laughter rises and falls against a background of water splattering like applause. Just steps away, a cacophony of jubilant cheers rain down on an Olympic-sized pool as athletes of all ages slice through the water toward individual and team achievement. And just...
If you have driven through Hampton lately and noticed a new local spot drawing attention, that is likely Via 14 Restaurant, a family-rooted concept blending Mexican, Italian, and American favorites under one roof. Sandra has lived in McDonough for more than two decades, so when the opportunity came to open a new concept in Hampton,...
When Isabel Castro began her career with Aylo Health at the front desk in McDonough, she didn’t imagine her role would lead her to the clinical side. At the time, her work supported clinic operations behind the scenes. It wasn’t until she was offered the opportunity to join a medical assistant training program through Aylo...
Community Christian School’s college prep culture is easy to describe on paper. Students explore multiple post-high school pathways, from four-year universities to military service, two-year programs, and trade schools. Families are included. Courses are matched to student interests. Scholarships and outcomes are celebrated. But the real engine behind that culture is a person. After nearly...
On a quiet afternoon near the end of chemotherapy, a nurse named Melissa paused at Caroline Mason’s chair and asked a deceptively simple question: “So, Caroline…what’s next?” Caroline didn’t have an answer, at least not right away. The question lingered through the beeps and hushed corridor noise until it settled somewhere deep, amid months of...
Talking about myself doesn’t come naturally, because my focus has always been on the people God places around me and the work happening through the church. But my journey helps explain why lifelong spiritual learning has become such a central part of my ministry. I was born in Wisconsin and raised mostly in Mississippi, and...
If you wandered Southlake Mall in the early 1980s, you know there was a restaurant called Subs, Salads, and Soups. Owned and operated by Empson Fogle and his son, the restaurant eventually left the mall and became Fogle’s. When they moved to Rock Quarry Rd. in 2006, the name changed to Empson’s Deli as a...