Dianna Buchwalter

“Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come.” Proverbs 31:25 (CSB) The door opened at 14,000 feet! With someone strapped onto my back, I prepared to plunge to my death. Or, so I thought. Tears streamed down my cheeks as we inched our way to the door. “NO!" I screamed. There was no way I could jump out of that plane. One step is all it would take but I clung to the door until my knuckles were white. Apparently, the skydiving instructor thought I said go instead of no and suddenly we were free falling at a rate of 120 mph! I had difficulty breathing and I was sure I'd be in the arms of Jesus in less than 5 minutes. After what seemed like 5 hours of plummeting, a single cord was pulled and a bright colored umbrella sprouted out above us. We sailed through the sky and in that moment I was able to take in the magnificent beauty that was all around. Once my feet hit the ground, a wave of accomplishment washed over me. "I did it. I conquered my f...

The older I get, the more I seem to reflect on my childhood. One major milestone for me and I assume a lot of youth, was getting my drivers license. I was 15 and my first car was a blue Pontiac Grand-Am. I drove that car until the tires were bald. You couldn’t tell me anything at that age because I knew it all. Yep, I had all I needed in that 4 door car. What an accomplishment it was to have this new found independence and freedom. 15 was also a hard age. I wasn’t a little girl anymore. I was stubborn and far from God. I believed in Him but I wanted no part of living the Christian life. The Christian life was boring. I wanted fun and to make my own rules. As I was reading out of 1 Samuel this morning, I had to stop for a moment to ponder on David. A man after God’s own heart. David was the youngest in his family. A shepherd. Most know the story of how David killed the giant, Goliath, with a rock. Some think he was around the age of 15 (give or take a few years). David ki...