January 13, 2026 Jason Bonnicksen HOLY COW GOOD 365 DAYS OF THANKSLIVING — DAY 2 So, if you haven’t read last night’s blog, start there, then come back; (and please do); because by the time you’re done reading this, your saliva glands are gonna have ya drooling. As you know, I’d made some shredded beef yesterday from a couple beef soup bones. In all truthfulness, I’d taken out two packages of beef, thinking both were soup bones (because I hadn’t read both the labels properly)

My grandma B, God rest her soul, she was something special. (Aren’t all grandmas though?) Grandma Claire was a grandma’s grandma, the old-fashioned kind of grandma that made everything in the kitchen from scratch. No box recipes, no store-bought mixes, everything was 100% from scratch.

Today I was privileged to officiate the baptism of a two-month-old boy. What joy! I’m always delighted to watch how God works in the lives of my congregation, especially in the young. But what I’m truly thankful for is seeing another young family choose to consecrate their child unto the Lord.

January 10, 2026 Jason Bonnicksen MY BIG BOOKIE BOY 365 DAYS OF THANKSLIVING — DAY 41 Saturdays are meant for sleeping, even if just a little bit. Today was no exception— of course that’s just my opinion. That said, my boxer bunch boys don’t share my opinion, especially our oldest, Arlo. Arlo is my boy. He was the first puppy we ever adopted from practically the day he was born. No kidding, we adopted Arlo when he was just three days old. We saw his little picture, and our gi

Did you know that one of the most requested items by the homeless, of all things, is socks? Yup, it’s true. We recently did a sock drive at our church. I don’t know how many we collected, but it was a lot. I’m sure they’re being put to good use....

I’d just turned on my PC at the office and set my phone down when the KakaoTalk app on my phone chirped. Ahh, it’s Emmie, I thought. I didn’t hesitate; I opened the app to see what all the hubbub was about.

January 7, 2026 Jason Bonnicksen PRAYING IN THE GRAY 365 DAYS OF THANKSLIVING — DAY 38 Do any of you old-timers remember the “acme” style grocery stores made famous in the 70’s & 80’s, like where every product in the store was generic? The labels and packaging were all black and white, or yellow (I think). Perhaps I might be wrong, but I think Cub Foods started out this way. (And maybe, there was a food store called “Apple Foods” as well. I could be wrong). Anyway… In the wak

Today, I thought it important to give a shoutout to my friend, but more importantly to thank our Lord and Savior for giving us friends who care enough to care. I hope and pray you all have at least one friend like that.

January 5, 2026 Jason Bonnicksen RESET 365 DAYS OF THANKSLIVING — DAY 36 I couldn’t tie my shoelaces. I wasn’t able to clip my toenails. Worse yet, climbing a flight of stairs caused me to lose my breath. My body hurt; my joints ached; and my quality of sleep suffered. That was me one year ago today; and, because of all these problems, I needed a reset of mind and body. I chose to no longer be complacent; and I elected to no longer be content in my unhealthiness. And while I’

January 4, 2026 Jason Bonnicksen UNPLUGGING & RECHARGING 365 DAYS OF THANKSLIVING — DAY 35 As you can see from the title, that’s kind of what I’ve been doing all day after church. In fact for a lot of my day, I had my phone turned off and recharging. And I didn’t get to this until… Well now. But since it’s so late, I think I’m just gonna put my phone down and unplug my brain and recharge my body until tomorrow morning. I thank God for the opportunity to just be able to do not

Over and again, I thank the Lord for bringing us here to this tiny town. I think he knew way back when that big city living was wearing us down. For those who like urban living, kudos to you; but if you only knew the joys that the peaceful streets of rural living brings.

From time to time, a bit of fun and games are needed to entertain us all. This afternoon was one of those times. Afterall, Navy was playing Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl. While my wife and I are almost always united, like 99.99999% of the time, during the 3½ hours of this game, our house was divided. (Don’t worry, it was just fun & games, and all.)