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A Tale of Two Peters
Spiritual Growth Dana Rongione Spiritual Growth Dana Rongione

A Tale of Two Peters

For the past few months, my personal devotion time has taken an unconventional turn. Instead of working through a specific book of the Bible or following a structured study guide, I've been exploring selected fairy tales, fables, and classic stories, searching for spiritual truths buried within them. As a lifelong lover of stories who has spent more hours than she'd care to admit curled up with a good book and a cup of tea, I thought this might be a fascinating exercise.

I have not been disappointed.

I know it sounds like I've traded my Bible for a bedtime story collection. But stick with me, because this study has led me to powerful truths and spiritual lessons I never expected.

Today, my lesson revolved around a character most of us met in childhood: Peter Pan. You remember him, right? The boy in green tights who refused to grow up.

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Are You Just Watching Jesus, or Are You Reaching for Him?
Spiritual Growth, Positive Life, Purpose Dana Rongione Spiritual Growth, Positive Life, Purpose Dana Rongione

Are You Just Watching Jesus, or Are You Reaching for Him?

Picture the scene: a dusty road just outside Capernaum, packed shoulder-to-shoulder with people who had dropped everything because word got out that Jesus was in town. A synagogue ruler named Jairus had thrown himself at Jesus' feet, begging Him to come heal his dying daughter, and now the whole neighborhood was tagging along to see what would happen. Front-row seats to a miracle? Nobody was missing that.

So, there they were, pressing in from every side, so tightly packed that Jesus could barely move. And in the middle of all that shoving and jostling was a woman nobody wanted to stand next to. She'd been bleeding for twelve straight years. Twelve! She'd spent every coin she had on doctors who only made things worse, and under Jewish law, her condition made her ceremonially unclean, which meant she wasn't even supposed to be in that crowd, touching people, brushing up against their clothes.

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Exhausted and Withering? Stop Producing, Start Digging
Encouragement, comfort, Weary, Spiritual Growth Dana Rongione Encouragement, comfort, Weary, Spiritual Growth Dana Rongione

Exhausted and Withering? Stop Producing, Start Digging

I've never been much of a gardener, but I've become a bit of an accidental tree-watcher since moving to Wales. Between our hikes through the countryside and my endless fascination with anything that grows without complaining, I've picked up a few strange little facts that have stopped me in my tracks. For example, when drought hits, a healthy tree doesn't just stand there and wilt dramatically as I would. It has an ingrained survival strategy.

The tree stops producing new leaves. It pulls back from growth mode and turns its energy inward. And then, rather than throwing a fit about the lack of rain, it sends its roots down deeper into the soil, searching for whatever moisture is still hiding beneath the surface. The tree essentially says, "Fine. If it's not coming from above right now, I'll go find it below." No drama. No dying. Just digging.

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Too Far Gone? Grace Might Disagree
Grace, Redemption, God's goodness, God's power Dana Rongione Grace, Redemption, God's goodness, God's power Dana Rongione

Too Far Gone? Grace Might Disagree

I never expected to nearly bring down the song service with a botched lyric, but there I was, hymnal in hand, feet planted, voice lifted... and disaster struck on verse two. We were belting out that grand old hymn, "Jesus Paid It All," and I opened my mouth to sing about the power that can "change the leper's spots"... except what came out was "leopard's spots."

I froze. Did I really just sing that? Yes, I did. And once the mental image of a literal leopard, spots and all, standing there getting a divine paint job hit me, I lost it. I spent the rest of that verse biting my tongue, shoulders shaking, desperately trying to look like a woman having a spiritual moment instead of a woman about to snort-laugh in the middle of church.

Here's the thing about me: the laughter fades, but the pondering never does.

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When You Feel Alone, You Don’t Have To Be
Dana Rongione Dana Rongione

When You Feel Alone, You Don’t Have To Be

Have you ever scrolled through your phone for "just five minutes" and come away feeling like the whole world is on fire and you're the only one not equipped to fight it? Yeah, me too. More often than I'd like to admit.

Turn on the news, and within thirty seconds you're bombarded with war, inflation, crime, and some fresh disaster you didn't even know existed yesterday. Scroll through social media, and it's somehow worse. Everyone else's life looks perfectly curated while yours feels like a dumpster fire held together with duct tape and prayer. Add in the endless parade of "experts" offering solutions that boil down to "just love yourself more" or "manifest your best life," and you've got a recipe for feeling completely, hopelessly alone.

Even the things meant to give us a break from reality don't always deliver.


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