Author Archives: Bella Morganthal

Captain America: Civil War is the hardest Marvel movie for me to watch. And please bear with me if you couldn’t pick out Iron Man of a lineup. You won’t need much superhero knowledge at all to understand where I’m going with this one… The Marvel Cinematic Universe — a series of twenty-two interconnected superheroContinue reading “Church, What Will Divide Us?”

How many times this week have you felt majorly stressed out? I know for me its been way too many to count. I’m talking about the moments when your mind is overwhelmed with the mental to-do list of a hundred things you need to catch up on. Or the moments when you’re overwhelmed by theContinue reading “What to Do When You’re Too Stressed Out to Know What to Do”

Yesterday I took a drive through Caledonia State Park. As I drove up the mountain, I was surprised by the beauty of the forest and how tall the trees were. There were many fallen trees scattered throughout the forest–evidence that there had to have been strong winds or a storm at some point. When IContinue reading “How Deep Are Your Roots?”

One of my favorite worship songs we sing in youth group is “Yes I Will” by Vertical Worship. If you ask any of our teenagers, they’ll tell you that I have us sing that song most of the time, and I can’t get through the song without talking about the message behind it in someContinue reading “Choosing to Praise”

I have a twin. And we look a lot alike. Which confuses people. Sometimes a lot. I have so often run into people who know my sister and believe that I am my sister–when I’m definitely not my sister. One time I ran into someone that I knew and they were trying to figure outContinue reading “Do We Go to God Before Anything Else?”

“I will study Your commandments and reflect on Your ways. I will delight in Your decrees and not forget Your word.” Psalm 119:15-16 Do we delight in the Word of God? In reading it, in studying it, in sharing it? I believe we would want to say yes to this, but when we think aboutContinue reading “10 Creative Ways to Have Family Devotions”

I eat super healthy. Or so I like to tell myself. I like to create Pinterest boards filled with recipes including fresh fruits and vegetables. I especially like to pin the healthiest looking salad recipes and fruit bowls. And if you were to ask my Pinterest followers, they would definitely tell you I eat superContinue reading “God Wants Me to Be Happy (And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves About God)”

I used to love carnivals. The kind where you get on those pop-up amusement park-like rides (that sometimes made me fear for my life), or you play a game and win a bag of water with a fish (that probably won’t make it through the week), or you walk around and talk with friends whileContinue reading “Why Our Perspective Matters”

Below, you’ll find words in bolded, italicized blue. These are lyrics from the song “I Still Believe” by Jeremy Camp I’ve always been afraid of the dark. When I was a little girl I would run out of a room anytime we had to turn the lights off, to get back to where there wasContinue reading “I Still Believe”

The students at our church are very familiar with something that we call “Thankful Things.” “Thankful Things” is simply when each of us takes a portion of our prayer time to share and thank God for one thing from the week. It can be really small or really big, something obvious or something we couldContinue reading “How Gratitude Changes Our Attitude”

When I was a teenager, I played drums with my youth group worship team. There were about seven of us in the team, and if you put seven teenagers together you know there will be drama at some point. One of the last times I play with the group was for a big event ourContinue reading “Loneliness is Not Your Enemy”

I’ve never enjoyed waiting. And I’ve never really been good at it either. Which is maybe why God has always found ways to teach me in seasons of waiting. The other day I saw a quote come across my Instagram feed which simply said, “I don’t want to just ‘get through it,’ I want toContinue reading “Worship in the Waiting”

If I’m honest, I’ve been having a really hard time with everything happening in the world around me right now. At the beginning of March, I sat down with a friend and ranted, “I just can’t go through anymore change right now. I’ve reached my limit for change. I just want everything to be normalContinue reading “Truths to Hold Onto In Uncertain Times”

If you turn on the television or logon to social media, even for just just a few seconds, you’re going to see coverage or news on COVID-19. All I have to do is open my web browser and fifteen different articles on the virus and its spread pops up. It can be exhausting. But theContinue reading “Helping the Young People in Your Life During COVID-19”

When I sat down on the first of March, I did what I do every month. I mapped out my schedule and plans for the entire month. Almost every day was filled with at least some sort of activity, meeting, or plan. And now everything on my calendar has seemingly been cancelled. I’m sure youContinue reading “What COVID-19 Has Not Cancelled”