Articles
Behind the Walls
I took an afternoon stroll to the mailbox. While walking back to the house thumbing through the envelopes of junk mail and bills, I came across a plain white envelope addressed to me. The return address took me by surprise. Written beside the name of the sender was a prison number.
Pornography: The Fire Consuming Our Kids and Fueling the Demand for Sex Trafficking
Do you know who’s in bed with your child?
While this may seem like an absurd question for some parents, the reality is it could be anyone if your child has their smartphone with them at night.
Reaping Peppers
Each summer, my family plants a small garden to which we find varying degrees of success. This past summer, we added Carolina Reaper peppers to the mix. They were created near my hometown of Fort Mill, SC and I’d been wanting to give my homemade salsa an extra kick—two excellent reasons to try our hand at growing what is said to be the hottest pepper in the world.
Letter From the Editor: Fall 2023
Tis the season! SEC football, mountain escapes, Trick ‘r Treating, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and all things Winter. Between now and the next issue of Living Real, there will be numerous occasions where we can show Jesus to a world desperate for truth, hope, love, peace, and joy. Tucked between the covers of this volume of Living Real Magazine are life-transforming stories, reflective devotionals, and deeper faith challenges, all steeped in the Word of God, and all designed to help us live out our real faith every day.
Fighting for Two Lives
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Feaster. The biopsy confirmed that it is breast cancer.”
One sentence from a phone call on November 17, 2021 changed my life forever. I couldn’t have cancer. I’m only 25 years old, and I’m six months pregnant. How could this be true?
University of South Carolina and Lexington Medical Center Build Partnership to Train Nurses
Construction is underway on a new building to train University of South Carolina nursing students at Lexington Medical Center.
This project will grow a public-private partnership between the university’s College of Nursing and Lexington Medical Center. A 52,000-square-foot state-of-the-art nursing simulation center and teaching space will be built on the hospital’s campus to provide clinical training for the University of South Carolina’s growing nursing student population.
Alive Again! Reflecting on God's Work Through My New Cookbook.
When the Lord imparted on my heart to begin my first recipe book in 2019, I was terrified. For six long months I wrestled with Him.
A Cold: Curse or Blessing?
Catching a cold is not something we look forward to when winter rolls around. In fact, if our family makes it to Spring without using a legion of tissues, enduring the vapor of Vicks, and the after-taste of menthol cough drops, we consider ourselves victorious. One winter, after we left the holidays in the rearview mirror, sore throats, congestion, and body aches crept in, shattering our cold-free streak. I was so frustrated. How could I possibly accomplish all I need to do while fighting this nasty cold? Sickness was cramping my style.
A Captive Woman
At sixteen, I married the man my father chose, but only a month later, before I could join him and his family in the UK, he died. My in-laws would never say more than that...
Glittering Hope
The darkness of human trafficking is extremely pervasive. Too often, people become aware of human trafficking but believe it to be happening in some third world country or in a back alley. No one believes this could be happening on the streets of their city or at their next-door neighbor’s house.The enemy would love for us to remain this naive.
Wailing Walks
We adopted our youngest two children from Rwanda when they were preschoolers. Blending their early developmental trauma with our imperfect parenting skills has led to some challenges. When my daughter was ten, one of her chores was to walk the family dog with me—which she hated. She always made sure I was aware of her displeasure. Stuck in her negative emotions, she typically spent the first ten minutes of our walks wailing.
When the Bell Rings
School drop-off is routine for most parents. Whether drop-off is at the bus stop or in the car line, parents hand their treasured blessings off to adults that may or may not have their child’s best interest at heart. When the bell rings, do you know what your children are being exposed to? Sadly, most parents never give it a second thought.
The Battle for Truth
The battle for truth constantly rages around us. Satan uses as his mouthpiece those who preach a heretical theology-a false gospel-and the doctrine of demons. This can be seen in recent displays of Satan worship (i.e., the 2022 Common Wealth Games Opening Ceremonies, the 2023 Grammy Awards). To some degree, false teachers have wormed their way into every Christian denomination, church, school, college, seminary, and media outlet. By using Satan’s power of deception with false miracles and false visions, they lead immature believers away from the truth to embrace the enemy’s lies.
Letter From the Editor: Spring 2023
Lazy days are upon us, my friends. Cookouts in the backyard, pool parties, and family vacations are on the horizon. At the close of Summer, memories made will be talked, reminisced, and laughed about for years to come.
To Silence the Enemy
The implosion of America does not lie at the feet of the wicked, but at the heart of the Church. For decades we’ve ignored our Christian responsibility to “train up a child in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6) and have allowed the secularists to train them. The number of children who have never stepped foot in a church or even heard the name of Jesus, except in vain, is continuing to increase. Even those who’ve grown up in the church are leaving the faith at alarming rates. Why do you think this is happening?
All Is Well: Maintaining a Healthy Immune System
Being sick is miserable, especially when you could be spending time with family and friends! With colder weather comes the usual maladies. Try these tips to maintain your energy and vitality.
Lexington Medical Center Partners with University of South Carolina for Clinical Training Programs
Lexington Medical Center and the University of South Carolina have two new partnerships that will provide workforce development and clinical training for UofSC’s growing nursing student population and help meet local and statewide needs for primary care physicians through an affiliation for graduate medical education.
iPhone Baby
On June 29, 2007 Apple released the first iPhone. The creators thought it would be a fun, easy way to send a few messages. They had no idea how dramatically it was going to change the world again—how people learn, work, communicate, and are entertained.
Let Your Light Shine
As beautiful as our world may be and as blessed as we all are, there is no doubt we are living in a godless world. God’s Word affirms it, and the struggle for every born-again believer is real. How can we possibly be “salt and light” given the monumental darkness we face? How can we be all that Christ Jesus calls us to be when faced with such opposition and so many relentless attacks from Satan? How can we be “in” this world but not “of” this world?
Afghanistan, Real-Life Hunger Games
Afghanistan may not be in the headlines, but it remains the site of a real-life Hunger Games for our friends and allies trapped under Taliban rule. Hunted, many move from house to house to avoid detection. With their employers gone, they struggle to keep their families fed and sheltered. Those who have relatives outside the country survive on any remittances they’re able to provide. To work—if a job could be found—they would have to come out of hiding, an extraordinary risk.