
The Northern Light Spring 2026
Read the latest Minnesota news!

Cleansing the CatMany years ago a misunderstanding killed our much-loved cat. It started because the cat had fleas. Knowing how much cats hate water, no one in our family wanted to bathe her in flea medicine. My teenage overconfidence prevailed,…

Learning from Thistles When my boys were young, gardening was prime teaching time. After all, Jesus Himself used nature illustrations. So I intentionally planned lessons to draw out during our work. Some great lessons, however, I missed at first. Like…

The Formula for Clarity One day 25 years ago while serving in Russia, I drove my old car to visit some churches several hours away from our office in Moscow. Two local coworkers joined me for the trip. The afternoon…

Things I’m Thankful For in 2025I’m incredibly grateful for your many, many prayers while I was having treatments at Mayo. I treasured every note of encouragement and the unexpected care package items. And you can be sure I’m praying for…

You’ve Been Drafted Sitting in my pickup, I was waiting at an intersection for a red light to turn green when a police cruiser pulled up behind me and turned on his lights. The stoplight turned green, but I sat…

An Unpleasant Camping TripKirk was a boy who lived across the street from my family when I was about 12. We rode bikes together, climbed trees, played games, and ate milk and cookies his mom served us on their back…

Return of the Butterfly When our boys were young, my wife once bought a monarch butterfly caterpillar in a small cage. It was eating its favorite food, milkweed. The boys carried their new treasure home to observe the transformation from…

Five Dollars Warms a Blizzard Several years ago I was trying to get home from California to Maryland in the aftermath of a blizzard. After three days of canceled flights into Baltimore, I finally managed to fly from Los Angeles…