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 — talking with them about why they give and modeling how kids can lead through service. Afterward, Kollin climbed into our red wagon, and CJ pulled him through our neighborhood, collecting blankets and socks from neighbors to donate to foster youth during the holidays. The 12-hour...
Caring for Cuba
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 actually goes on over there? From the glory days of the 1940s to today’s humanitarian crisis, Americans have watched Cuba with a sense of romanticized curiosity, empathy, and maybe even fear. It’s hard to ascertain exactly how bad things are, however, because Cuban authorities chronically...
Three23 Sports: Building Athletes Without the Burnout
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, and burnout can happen before kids even reach high school. Three23 Sports was created to offer something in the middle. Born out of a desire to develop young athletes without sacrificing faith, family, or balance, the ministry-based sports organization is quickly becoming one of the...
Jump In, the Water’s Fine
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 beyond all that exhilaration, another body undergoes aquatic rehabilitation, someone experiences swimming for the first time and others participate in a revolutionary form of exercise. The common element and the catalyst for these smiling faces? Water. Some 15 years ago, the sights and sounds that...
Via 14 Restaurant Brings Global Flavor to Hampton
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, it felt like the right fit. She appreciates the town’s character and wanted to create a place where families, friends, and neighbors could gather around food that offers something for everyone. Owner Sandra Palacios brings more than 30 years of restaurant experience to Henry County....
A Legacy of Care
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 Health that she began to consider a more hands-on role, caring for people in a new way. “It wasn’t something I originally had in mind,” Isabel said. “But it felt right, and having my mom as a medical assistant really encouraged me to take that...
Dr. Cindy Balsam Builds Confidence First, Then College Plans
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 a decade at Community Christian School, Dr. Cindy Balsam has become the kind of counselor students look for in the hallway, the kind of educator parents call years after graduation, and the kind of steady presence that helps a teenager stop counting themselves out. “It...
From Task to Patient
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 fighting and fatigue. What had made her happiest before everything changed? Caring for other people. That truth rose to the surface. “I’ve always wanted to be a nurse,” she finally said—a whisper that would become a life she hadn’t yet dared to imagine. In March 2021,...
Lifelong Learning Through Faith and Community
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 I first sensed God calling me into ministry as a teenager when I was given the chance to preach at age fifteen. Even so, my path wasn’t straight. For many years I worked in business and technology in places like Nashville, Boston, and Phoenix, gaining...
Empson’s Deli: On the Move
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 tribute to the founder. The popular deli is on the move this spring to The Bridges at Jodeco plaza, located at Chen Parkway in McDonough. Empson’s Deli will now have more space – 3,000 square feet – and will be able to offer more of...