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Dana Rongione 14/09/2026 Dana Rongione 14/09/2026

Can You Add That To My Cart, Lord?

This morning, Jason was baking scones (which has become a normal weekday activity in our house). When the oven timer buzzed on the Alexa app, he peeked at his golden-brown goodies and hollered, "Alexa, add two more minutes."

Now, under normal circumstances, Alexa is a fairly obedient little assistant. She usually chirps back with something like, "Two minutes added to the timer." Simple. Done. Exactly what he needed.

But this morning, Alexa apparently woke up as tired and foggy as I felt, because her response was, "I've added two minutes to the shopping list."

I'm sorry, what? You can't buy two minutes at the shop, Alexa! Believe me, if you could, I'd have a standing order.

Jason tried again. Same confused response. It took three attempts before Alexa finally caught on and actually added the time to the timer instead of the shopping list.

Dana Rongione 11/09/2026 Dana Rongione 11/09/2026

Aim at Nothing, Hit It Every Time

I've heard it said that if you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time. I laughed the first time I heard that line. Then I cried a little, because it described me perfectly in more ways than one.

Here in Wales, Jason and I have spent years trying to convince our community that Christians aren't the uptight, joyless folks Hollywood loves to portray. We've tried to show them the difference between true Christianity and "religion." We want people to see that we're normal. Fun, even. So we've done what any well-meaning, slightly overzealous missionary couple would do: we've planned community events. Lots of them!

A ladies' luncheon in the spring. A carnival game day in the summer. A Holiday Bible Club in the fall. A "Soup and Singing" in the winter. And that's not counting the "let's throw something together" gatherings and special chapel services squeezed in between. We've invited everyone in the community: believers, skeptics, the curious, the couldn't-care-less. Our flyers practically shout, "Come one, come all, no strings attached!"

Dana Rongione 09/09/2026 Dana Rongione 09/09/2026

Discerning God’s Will in a World Full of Noise

I have never been in the military, but I am convinced that church business meetings are the civilian equivalent of trench warfare. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone has a "the Lord laid this on my heart." And somehow, all those burdens contradict each other.

I remember one particular meeting years ago where we were trying to decide something that, in hindsight, was not nearly as important as we made it out to be at the time. One dear soul stood up and said the Lord had told her one thing. Another dear soul spoke up two minutes later and said the Lord had told him the exact opposite. I sat there thinking, "Well, Lord, You're going to have to pick a lane, because right now You appear to be talking out of both sides of Your mouth." (I know full well He wasn't. But it sure felt that way from where I was sitting.)

That's when I stumbled onto a verse I'd read a hundred times before but never really heard until that moment. Paul, writing to the Corinthian church about spiritual gifts and orderly worship, drops this little nugget in the middle of his argument: "For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?" (1 Corinthians 14:8).

Dana Rongione 02/09/2026 Dana Rongione 02/09/2026

Stamping Out Bad Thoughts

Some mornings, my mind resembles the world's least efficient office. I sit at my desk, herbal tea nearby, Bible open, and a stack of unruly papers piles up in front of me. Except the papers are not bills, book ideas, or that mysterious note I wrote three weeks ago that now appears to say "Buy turnips for dragon." No, the papers are thoughts.

"You are failing."

"You will always be sick and will never get better."

"You have messed up too much."

"God has forgotten you."

"This situation is impossible."

"No one wants to read your pathetic attempts at writing."

And suddenly, my imaginary office has an urgent backlog.

As I considered Philippians 4:8 this morning, my mind brought up an amusing image (as it tends to do). I pictured a giant, old-fashioned librarian's red rubber stamp.

Dana Rongione 27/08/2026 Dana Rongione 27/08/2026

Is Social Media Adding to Your Anxiety?

I did an experiment last week. I opened Facebook, set a timer, and told myself I'd only scroll for five minutes. Five minutes, folks. That's it. Forty-five minutes later, I looked up with a crick in my neck, a weird sense of dread, and no memory of what I'd even seen. I just knew I felt worse than when I started.

Anybody else? Because I don't think I'm the only one.

We joke about our phones being "addictive," and we laugh about wasting hours mindlessly scrolling as if it's a harmless quirk, the way some folks bite their nails or twirl their hair. But the more I've paid attention to how I feel after I close the apps, the more I've realized it's not so harmless after all. Social media has a sneaky way of stirring up anxiety and even depression, and it does so in several ways.