A Place at the Table

by Amanda Hanson

When Pastor Meggan asked if I would be interested in taking the Master Food Safety course I will admit I was a bit hesitant. Things had been pretty difficult after losing our son Klayton and I wasn’t sure I could make that big of a commitment. Then, I took a moment and thought about what I had promised Klayton before he passed. I promised that I was going to take more time to help people. You see, he was able to help someone at only 6 days old and give the gift of his kidneys to a mother of two. So, with that I started on the journey of learning about food preservation. Continue reading →

by Meggan Manlove

One of the things I remember about moving into the parsonage in Soldier, Iowa (where I served as pastor from 2004-2010) was the dirt.  I grew up on a hillside in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  We never had a lawn to mow.  We had Ponderosa Pine needles and pine cones, a gravel path from the garage to the house, and gatherings of grass all covering fine brown soil that would fly away with the slightest breeze.  The dirt in Iowa was black.  It looked different, felt different, and smelled different.  This was not dirt; it was soil, soil perfect for growing corn, soybeans, grass, weeds, vegetables and flowers. Continue reading →