A Christmas to Remember - MTL Magazine

A Christmas to Remember - MTL Magazine

by Lauren Scruggs


When church was over that evening, we headed to Mike and Shannon’s, friends of ours who had invited us over for a casual dinner. Some other friends came over too. We all ate chili and salad around the long wooden table in their dining room. Christmas music floated in from the sound system.



“Hey, Mike, you mind if I borrow your plane?” one of Mike’s friends asked.



“Help yourself,” Mike said. “You know what to do.” Mike and his friend, I knew, both had their pilot’s licenses.



“Who wants to go flying?” the friend asked. “The Christmas lights are going to be great tonight.” A bunch of people waved their hands.



I don’t know how or why I got to go for a ride first. Everyone else must have been feeling generous. I followed Mike’s friend out through the backyard and into the hangar that’s directly behind the house.



I was helped into the plane and slid into the seat behind the pilot. It was a small plane with only two seats. We put on headphones so we could talk to each other. The pilot went through his checklist, started the plane and warmed it up, and we taxied out.



The night was dark and rainy. Shadowy clouds were thick above us in a starless sky. For some reason I began to feel cold. The heater was on in the tiny plane, but it wasn’t that type of cold. It was more a tingle. A shiver. I took a deep breath and looked out the window.



“Nice lights,” the pilot said.



“Uh huh.”



The feeling shot up my spine again. Unmistakable fear. This is stupid, I thought. Completely stupid. Not the experience of flying but this definite feeling of dread coursing through my body. Mike had vouched for his friend as a strong pilot who was qualified on several levels and owned his own plane. Get a grip, Lo, I told myself. You need to relax.



Up in the air, the atmosphere grew calmer. The rain let up and turned into a slight mist. There was no thunder or lightening. No strong winds. All I heard was the friendly drone of the plane’s engine and the occasional crackle over the microphone’s earpiece. But I still couldn’t shake this crazy fear.



My body grew tense, and my breathing became shallow. My heart thumped in my chest. It wasn’t like me to be afraid. I’m the type of girl who loves an adventure, particularly a tame adventure like we were having tonight. I like to ride bikes and go snow skiing and slalom water-skiing.



I gripped both sides of the plane’s seat harder. And then it hit me. We’re going to crash. I thought my heart was going to explode. Jesus, I prayed. This plane’s going down and we’re all going to die. Oh Lord, my parents and sister. Please watch over them. Whatever happens, God, my life is in your hands.



The Christmas lights were pretty, but I couldn’t really concentrate on them. I don’t remember anything about them. The plane flew in a big circle.



And then we landed.



The air went out of me like a rush from a leaky tire. My fear went along with it. We were safe. Completely safe. The plane taxied back to Mike’s house and pulled up facing into the wind and parked on the tarmac, all set for whoever was going to fly next. Hmmm, maybe I’m cracking up, I thought. I wonder what that was all about?



I don’t remember the pilot saying anything directly to me. I don’t remember anything he said at all. He might have said something. I don’t remember. It was hard to hear him without my speaker on. It’s still pretty loud with the plane’s engine running, sitting on the tarmac.



I remember sliding out of the plane.



I remember my feet touching the tarmac.



I remember the sky was black; we were on the dark side of the plane.



Those three memories took place in a split second, about the time it takes to walk two steps.



It was December 3, 2011, and after that split second, I remember absolutely nothing.



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A Wreath of Snow by Liz Curtis Higgs

The Website of Free Christian Products | Christian Contest

Christmas Eve 1894


All Margaret Campbell wants for Christmas is a safe journey home. When her plans for a festive holiday with her family in Stirling crumble beneath the weight of her brother’s bitterness, the young schoolteacher wants nothing more than to return to the students she loves and the town house she calls home.
Then an unexpected detour places her in the path of Gordon Shaw, a handsome newspaperman from Glasgow, who struggles under a burden of remorse and shame.
When the secret of their shared history is revealed, will it leave them tangled in a knot of regret? Or might their past hold the threads that will bind their future together?
As warm as a woolen scarf on a cold winter’s eve, A Wreath of Snow by best-selling author Liz Curtis Higgs is a tender story of love and forgiveness, wrapped in a celebration of all things Scottish, all things Victorian, and, especially, all things Christmas.
Click here to watch a trailer of the book.

Legacy of Hope - MTL Magazine

Legacy of Hope - MTL Magazine

by Casey Schutrop




Christmas, the season of hope and good will. It is when a dark world pauses to consider the ‘why’ of our past year and the ‘what’ of our future. It is when we seek a glimmer of hope to refresh us. This is the true gift most seek. ‘Peace on earth and good will toward men’…the true Father of Christmas, our Heavenly Father wills this for us, just as a good father is compelled by compassion to gift a blessing of inheritance to his children.



And as an inheritance is given, it is a legacy we are to leave…

As seen in the Word of God, genealogies—the blessing of the father and the Covenant of Peace—show clear that the forming of heritage is gifted by the Father to extend from generation to generation. Just as the Israelites, young and old, gathered to celebrate yearly the Passover meal, traditions can serve as a bridge to teach spiritual heritage from one generation to the next, passing our values, identity and purpose. For it is here we learn values and thus find our value. It is here we learn ‘who we are and to whom we belong’.



Yet now, many families and cultures, rather than leaving a legacy, are leaving this very call. With these bridges fallen, this heritage is not passed. And in the same way, a culture without identity fails. “For without vision the people perish…” KJV Proverbs 29:18. The secret strength of God’s chosen people was their understanding of who they were called to be, along with a unified mission to pass-on a spiritual legacy, and so it is to be ours. For what is the very essence of a generational blessing? To gift…hope.



Framework to families in shifting times…

However, these shaking and shifting times in our culture reflect losses for many—causing the very foundation of our families to be shaken, then in turn, the shifting of personal identities. Therefore, family identities are challenged. Families are made, not from the sharing of mere DNA, but from times together, love given and memories made. Family is how and where we learn to love. Traditions help these memories to take form, providing a strong framework to remind us that we are family. This is the gift we share with one another. For as an inheritance is given, it is a legacy we are to leave.



This is the clarion call: to impart a legacy of HOPE. Yet, how can we pass this hope to the next generation—the very hope of the Church? With traditions that teach, like the grandmother gave within the story, Grandma’s Christmas Legacy, the Testimony of the Tree.



Late one Christmas Eve, a loving grandmother, knowing it may be her last, sat wrapped by the warmth of the fire and within the faint glow of the Christmas tree. It was then she bowed her head and asked God for a gift: that they may know all they need to know of all they are to be. It was then, she looked up and there it was—glistening and adorned in all its glory. And it was then she knew what she was to do. So as the months passed, before she weakened, she penned the pages of a book and prepared the contents of a mysterious old trunk. The story opens almost a full year later under the snowy tufts of winter as the family gathers for the annual decorating of the tree. Here the family makes an amazing discovery.



As an allegory, the Testimony of the Tree message brings rich meaning to our lives as we celebrate Christmas. Here the Lord decorates our lives, adorning us with the ornaments of the beauty of the Lord—the fruit of the Spirit—and crowning us with his purpose that we may leave the ‘why’ of our past to know the ‘what’ of our future; and finally, to stand as a glimmer of hope in a dark world. Perhaps it takes a grandmother’s heart to reveal how the Christmas tree stands to tell the greatest story of all.



“Instead of the thorn bush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.” NIV Isaiah 55:13



For the wonder of Christmas is this…As the babe in the manger came—salvation has come. As the angels announced—hope is ours. As the wise-men bowed—we are invited to do the same. For as an inheritance is given, it is a legacy we are to leave—just as that star which shone over Bethlehem for all to see, that we may stand adorned in strength and beauty, as symbols of hope in a dark world, pointing others to God. For this is our testimony. This is the testimony of the tree—that all would see and know Jesus, the Christ child, the light and HOPE of the world. “For a life devoted to things is a dead life— a stump; but a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.” Start a tradition…Leave a legacy.



© 2012 W.O.W. Ministries Intl



Casey Schutrop is an award-winning author, speaker, and a passionate Bible teacher sharing in creative and compelling ways, insightful teaching and original evangelistic presentations. She is the founder of W.O.W. Ministries International, a non-profit 501c3 organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she lives with her husband Marty and their three children.

The Website of Free Christian Products | Christian Contest

The Website of Free Christian Products | Christian Contest

Enter for a chance to win a guitar autographed by Third Day!


Register for a chance to win an autographed guitar from Third Day!



There comes a time in every artist’s career when they need to re-imagine, re-invigorate and dream it all over again. For Third Day, that time was in the fall of 2011. As the band prepared to write and record its upcoming album, Miracle, they hired legendary producer Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, The Fray, Train) to help them forge a new sound.



Musically, there are sounds that have never been heard on a Third Day album, including layered guitars, stacked harmonies and sing-a-long gang vocals. Yet the classic Third Day sound everyone loves is still there, just refreshed and rejuvenated.



Third Day’s upcoming album Miracle will be in stores November 6—just in time for Christmas!



Only one valid entry per person. Contest ends November 16, 2012. Click on the “about” tab for official rules.

Enter for a Third Day Signed Guitar

The Website of Free Christian Products | Christian Contest

Enter for a chance to win a guitar autographed by Third Day!


Register for a chance to win an autographed guitar from Third Day!

There comes a time in every artist’s career when they need to re-imagine, re-invigorate and dream it all over again. For Third Day, that time was in the fall of 2011. As the band prepared to write and record its upcoming album, Miracle, they hired legendary producer Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, The Fray, Train) to help them forge a new sound.

Musically, there are sounds that have never been heard on a Third Day album, including layered guitars, stacked harmonies and sing-a-long gang vocals. Yet the classic Third Day sound everyone loves is still there, just refreshed and rejuvenated.

Third Day’s upcoming album Miracle will be in stores November 6—just in time for Christmas!

Coping with Cancer - MTL Magazine

Coping with Cancer - MTL Magazine

by Michael King




I was thirty-five, married with three little girls at home, and the doctor was telling me I had colon cancer. He didn’t know how far advanced it was, more testing would show that. I had no idea what the future held, how deep the valley would become. I went home and that evening my wife and I argued. She didn’t understand why I wasn’t more upset; I didn’t understand why she was so upset.



Over the next year I learned what it was to suffer, what it was to watch my body waste away, to battle depression, nausea, weakness, more depression, what it was like to feel abandoned and stranded on an island of uncertainty and fear. But I also learned to know God on a whole different level. I learned to rely on Him like I never had before.

Searching for Significance - MTL Magazine

Searching for Significance - MTL Magazine

by Pattie Mallette




For years this disconnect had me convinced I was adopted, because I always felt like I didn’t belong.



Every now and then something would drive that powerful feeling to the surface and I’d go on a rampage. I remember one time in my teens when I frantically searched the house for a piece of evidence— anything that would confirm I was adopted. I had convinced myself my birth mother was somewhere out there. Maybe she was even looking for me.



I threw open every cupboard in the kitchen, rattling the glasses and china like an aftershock. I opened and slammed shut desk and dresser drawers throughout the house. There had to be something somewhere. Just one measly document. I rummaged through closets, tossing aside old shoes, musty sweaters, and dusty boxes of God-knows-what. I turned the house upside down that day like a narc looking for drugs.



With an unexplained desperation, I finally cried to my mom, “I know I’m adopted! Stop lying to me. Just tell me where the papers are. I know it’s true.”



My mom must have thought I was nuts. “Stop it,” she begged. “What are you talking about?” She grabbed a pair of photos and shoved them in my face, comparing our baby pictures side by side. “You look just like me! Why would you even think you’re adopted?” But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. And I couldn’t calm down. Something in me was still convinced I didn’t belong. This was not my home. She was not my mother.



Damaging feelings don’t just show up out of nowhere. They’re birthed from experiences, from moments that wield the power to shape us. Sometimes we can’t even recognize the magnitude of those pivotal events until years later.



When my dad left us, it ripped a hole in my heart—one that began filling with thoughts and feelings that would challenge and ultimately damage my identity and self-worth. The wound of being abandoned travels deep and forever changes you.



Even today I can still close my eyes and feel the emotional chaos that marked my heart when he walked out. I was only two when my dad left, but I still remember it vividly, as if it happened yesterday. In fact, it’s my earliest childhood memory.



Pattie Mallette, known to most of the world as Justin Bieber’s mom, is more than just the mother of a world-renowned pop sensation. Pattie walks a rarely traveled road parenting her son through the unpredictable journey of fame. As a young woman and a single mom, she fought hard to rise above her painful past of abuse, shame, and poverty. Pattie hopes to encourage troubled youth, struggling single moms, and the broken-hearted through her story. She continues to expand her outreach to young women and youth (including her 1.3 million followers on Twitter) while overseeing the management of Justin and his team.



An accomplished writer, A.J. Gregory has collaborated with fascinating high-profile figures on nearly twenty books. She is also the author of Silent Savior and Messy Faith.