By Loren Crow For liturgical Christians, the season of Advent is the beginning of the Church year. We start the year in expectation. At one level, Advent is the season in which we look forward to Christmas, with lots of readings from the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah’s coming. It’s an annual re-enactment of…

  In this time of giving and as we near the completion of 2013, many individuals are looking for ways to minimize their taxes and maximize their gifts? Here’s a list of 12 ways you can consider supporting NCU through charitable giving. 1. CASH A simple and common way to make a gift. Donations of…

Twas a mountain-chilled Christmas morn. Gifts had been opened; hot sugar-glazed cinnamon rolls were overeaten. I loaded our young daughter Elizabeth into a chest pack, left our cabin and started up the road, Valley of the Falls Boulevard. I hoped to work off the calories from the eggnog. Nearing the crest I watched in horror…

Yesterday I received another one of my routine junk emails from Redbox with the subject line: “Instant Gratification”.  I instantly deleted it, taking some gratification from that act!  But Redbox’s empty promise of instant gratification lingered in my mind as an unfortunate sign of the times.  Regardless of how much we try to slow down…

Advent is a Latin word meaning “coming” or “presence”.  We use the word of the season approaching Christmas because we are celebrating the coming of Christ to redeem the world.  We spend a lot of money to buy gifts to give to people.  Merchants promote the Christmas season to push their annual sales into the…

Traveling during the holidays is chaotic. Extreme weather, clogged roadways, and overbooked hotels. It is enough to make you frustrated, mad and even a bit cynical. I know over the next few weeks the challenges of seeing family and finding a deal on the quota of necessary presents will take much of our attention. It…