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Leaky Buckets
Life's Journey, Christmas Dana Rongione Life's Journey, Christmas Dana Rongione

Leaky Buckets

I apologize for missing several posts last week. No matter where I am, the Christmas season is a busy time. I spent much of last week preparing our house for the holidays and practicing for our carol service at our chapel last Sunday. Now, with all that done, I can focus on my writing more. . .hopefully.

Friday night, we braved the frigid, snowy weather and attended a concert in town hosted by a local choir. We have several friends in the choir, so we wanted to show our support and enjoy an evening of Christmas songs.

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I’ll Make It Work
Life's Journey Dana Rongione Life's Journey Dana Rongione

I’ll Make It Work

A few days ago, I was posting an update to our ministry website, and the process involved embedding a video. This is something I’ve done a hundred times or more on this particular website platform, but for some reason, it was giving me grief. I tried refreshing the page. No joy. I thought maybe a complete computer reboot would fix the issue, but it didn’t. I even attempted the process on my laptop, but nothing I did seemed to help.

Finally, frustrated over all the time I had spent on a task that should have taken less than a minute, I employed a workaround and embedded the video directly by using up some of the limited storage space on my website.

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Tripping Over Tess
Dog Devotions, Life's Journey, Spiritual Growth Dana Rongione Dog Devotions, Life's Journey, Spiritual Growth Dana Rongione

Tripping Over Tess

Jason and I have had five dogs during our married life, each of which could be classified as clingy. If I left my office to go to the kitchen, they would follow. When I went to the bathroom, they would accompany me and stand guard. Inside, outside. It didn’t matter. Where I went, they went. I’m well acquainted with this particular characteristic.

But Tess is a next-level velcro dog. She is so in step with me that I often lose track of her because she’s so close behind me that I can’t even see her.

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It’s Just Like Riding a Bike
Life's Journey, perseverance Dana Rongione Life's Journey, perseverance Dana Rongione

It’s Just Like Riding a Bike

Not long after moving here, Jason decided he would like an e-bike. (For those of you who are ignorant like I was, an e-bike is just a bicycle with a motor, which really comes in handy when one has to climb the many hills around here.). Anyway, the e-bike makes a lot of sense. Being only five miles from town, Jason can easily ride into town to pick up things, drop items off, or conduct any other business he may have. It’s also been a great tool for our letterboxing ministry as he can ride up and down the streets, neighborhoods, and farm roads and distribute our church literature to the mailboxes of each home.

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The Valley of Distraction
Dog Devotions, God's goodness, Life's Journey Dana Rongione Dog Devotions, God's goodness, Life's Journey Dana Rongione

The Valley of Distraction

Typically, walking with Tess is a piece of cake. She doesn’t pull on the leash. She minds well when I tell her to leave something alone. In general, she’s very chill. This morning’s walk, however, offered several more challenges to tempt and distract my well-mannered terrier.

The first distraction came from the stinky leakage left behind by the trash trucks. I don’t know what the appeal is, but I haven’t had a single dog that could pass by without wanting to roll around in that nasty goop. Gross!

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Trailblazing Through Life
Life's Journey, Positive Life Dana Rongione Life's Journey, Positive Life Dana Rongione

Trailblazing Through Life

I recently heard a comment that made me laugh out loud. A woman exclaimed, "I've never understood what people see in hiking. It's just walking where the ground doesn't cooperate." Take it from an experienced hiker; she's not far off. As someone who has had my fair share of tumbles on the trail, I can testify the ground isn't particularly cooperative.

So often, we refer to our spiritual journey as a Christian walk, but after examining this woman's statement, I think it would better be described as a Christian hike. After all, seldom does the ground cooperate.

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Growing Tired of Square One

Growing Tired of Square One

I've spent the past two weeks recovering from a severe flareup from my back injury and let me tell you, it's been excruciating. Not just the pain, mind you, though that was enough to keep me in bed for over a week. But the frustration of knowing that once I was better, I would have to start back at square one. Boy, am I tired of square one!!!

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Empty Places
Life's Journey Dana Rongione Life's Journey Dana Rongione

Empty Places

After scavenging through the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer, a man stands back and declares, "There's nothing to eat!"

A woman (who may or may not have red hair) peruses her closet for twenty minutes only to conclude she has nothing to wear that day.

A couple sits together on the couch in the quiet of the evening, mindlessly flipping through the channels on the television. Two hundred channels later, they come to the same conclusion: there's nothing to watch.

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Are You Ready?
Life's Journey Dana Rongione Life's Journey Dana Rongione

Are You Ready?

Walking in Wales is—well—unpredictable. One minute the sun is shining, and the next, it’s pouring rain. Sure, you can check the weather forecast, but it’s seldom accurate and of little use. If you’re waiting for the perfect weather to take your daily stroll or do some outdoor activity, you’ll be waiting a while.

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