Have you ever felt like God’s blessing has passed you by? The feeling is a constant companion for me. Ever since I was young, I not only desired but expected to one day get married and have children. That expectation has led to years of wrestling with God. I’ve asked...
So here we are. You in this office, never having imagined until relatively recently that this was even on your radar or God’s radar. Tell me a little bit about that journey. The journey has been amazing as I reflect on how the Lord has used a number of circumstances...
There are people with pets and there are pet people. Anyone who knows me knows I am, indeed, a pet person. In my family, pets were always family members, children—more than just side characters in our day-to-day lives—taught best by my grandparents who always had six,...
What does it take to parent children who have been in the foster system? Tears. Prayers. A support system. Patience. And a new level of trust in God. We spoke with two First Free couples who have been foster parents and who have adopted children they had been...
Paul and Diane Geddes never really imagined themselves as snowbirds. Now that they’re both retired, though, you won’t find them in Illinois during the dead of winter. The past three winters, they’ve used the month of January to head south—not to beaches or golf...
Don Oleson was still principal of Rockford East High School when First Free sent its first mission team to Czechoslovakia in 1992. He watched with interest and thought, I could do something like that after retiring. But he had no plans to retire any time soon. God has...
