Category: Inspirational

Are you ready for some Fall FUN with your family?

Today on The Morning Thing, we shared 20 different ways to spend some quality time together as a family. This list of great ideas comes from Crosswalk.com

Click HERE to see the full list.

Here are some of our favorites:

* Host a Family Movie Night

Everybody loves family movie night. Typically, there is a theme like all the movies in a series or even a certain genre. 

* Cook Together

Cook a cozy, comforting meal together. We all know that family dinner time is important, so make it more special by preparing a meal together. Think meatloaf and mashed potatoes, cozy casseroles, and comforting soups. You could even try a recipe or two that you’ve never made before to shake things up. It can be as extravagant or as simple as you wish. 

* Make a Thankful Wall

Get a whiteboard or bulletin board and hang it where everyone in the family can see it. Buy either dry-erase markers or post-it notes and push pins. Each week, have everyone write what they are thankful for so everyone can see it. Then on Friday nights at dinner, talk about your week and the things you are grateful for. 

* Go Out for Breakfast

Breakfast is not only the most important meal of the day, it’s also cheaper than going out to lunch or dinner. Get up early on a Saturday morning and head to your favorite breakfast joint. Don’t forget to keep an eye out online, in your email, and also your snail mail for coupons. You can also go directly to the website and see if there are any specials going on as well. Enjoy the restaurant’s fall specials, like pumpkin pancakes or pumpkin spice coffee.

* Attend a Fall Festival 

Do some research and see if there are any fall festivals in your town or neighboring towns. If so, spend the day together as a family. There will be lots of things to see and do, and it will do you good to be out in the crisp, fall air.

* Make S’mores

S’mores are a staple in the fall, so fire up the bonfire or fire pit and gather ‘round. However, you don’t always have to make the traditional graham cracker, marshmallow, and Hershey bar kind. There are tons of variations online. 

I have seen s’mores made with horizontal slices of granny smith apples with caramel melted in the middle. Chocolate chip cookies with marshmallows and a chocolate bar melted in the middle. And s’mores made with chocolate graham crackers, peppermint patties, and marshmallows in the middle. There are lots of delicious variations, so have fun. You could even make several kinds and have friends over to enjoy after family dinner. 

* Sleep Under the Stars

Pitch a tent or two and sleep under the stars one night as a family. Sit around the fire pit and talk, admire the moon and the stars, and thank God for his creation. Slow down and enjoy the surrounding nature.

Thanks to the author for these great ideas!
Carrie Lowrance is a freelance writer and author. She has had her work featured on Crosswalk, iBelieve, Huffington Post, and the Penny Hoarder. She is also the author of three children’s books, three clean romance books, one romance novella, three books of poetry, and one non-fiction book. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and baking, reading, and hanging out with her husband, and sweet cat, Cupcake. You can find out more about Carrie and her writing at www.carrielowrance.com.

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Best strategies for conflict resolution!

Today we celebrated Conflict Resolution Day by talking about the 5 C’s of conflict resolution, and we also shared the best strategies for most common situations.

Here are the 5 C’s of Conflict Resolution:

  1. Calmness
  2. Clear Communication
  3. Clarification
  4. Collaboration
  5. Compromise

Here are some of the best strategies in common situations:

1. Workplace Conflict

  • Address issues early before they escalate.
  • Stay professional and focus on behavior, not personality.
  • Use “I” statements (“I felt…”) rather than accusatory language.
  • Listen actively and clarify misunderstandings.
  • Involve HR or a mediator if needed.
  • Aim for collaborative solutions (win-win).

2. Romantic Relationships

  • Stay calm; don’t try to resolve things in the heat of anger.
  • Express feelings honestly without blame.
  • Listen with empathy and validate their perspective.
  • Focus on solving the issue, not “winning” the argument.
  • Set boundaries and revisit them if needed.
  • Consider couples counseling if conflicts are recurring or intense.

3. Family Disputes

  • Be respectful and patient, especially with older or younger family members.
  • Avoid bringing up old grievances unless necessary to resolve the current issue.
  • Establish clear communication rules (e.g., no yelling, interrupting).
  • Take breaks if emotions get too high.
  • Sometimes, agreeing to disagree is the most peaceful resolution.
  • For serious issues, involve a family therapist or neutral third party.

 4. Friend Conflicts

  • Talk in person or over a call, not text.
  • Be honest but kind—assume positive intent.
  • Let your friend share their side without interruption.
  • Apologize sincerely if you were in the wrong.
  • Don’t let pride get in the way of mending the friendship.

5. Online or Social Media Conflicts

  • Don’t engage when emotions are high—pause before replying.
  • Move the conversation offline if it’s meaningful.
  • Use empathy and facts, not sarcasm or insults.
  • Know when to disengage—not every comment needs a response.
  • Set boundaries or block/report if harassed.
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The Gospel Music Association announces their 2025 Dove Award Winners

The 56th Annual GMA Dove Awards Broadcast was shared by Trinity Broadcast Network on Friday, 10/10/25. The night was full of exciting performances including a few surprise guests.
Brandon Lake took home 5 awards including Song of the Year with “Hard Fought Hallelujah”.

Click HERE to read the Dove Awards Press Release from the Gospel Music Association.

To see the full list of winners, click HERE.

The Dove Awards broadcast will re-air Friday, October 17th, 2025, At 7:30pm and 10:00pm ET on TBN, the TBN+ app, and TBN YouTube.

Here is a highlight of the 2025 Winners. Congratulations to all nominees!

SONG OF THE YEAR –
Hard Fought Hallelujah by Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll     
Writers: Brandon Lake, Jelly Roll, Steven Furtick, Chris Brown and Benjamin William Hastings

ARTIST OF THE YEAR – Forrest Frank

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR – Leanna Crawford

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR (ARTIST) – Brandon Lake

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR (NON-ARTIST) – Mitch Wong

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR – Jeff Pardo

POP/CONTEMPORARY SONG OF THE YEAR –
Your Way’s Better by Forrest Frank
Writers: Forrest Frank and Pera

GOSPEL WORSHIP RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR –
Come Jesus Come by CeCe Winans and Shirley Caesar    
Writers: Hank Bentley, Bryan Fowler, Stephen McWhirter and Tara McWhirter

WORSHIP RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR –
I Know A Name by Elevation Worship, Chris Brown and Brandon Lake
Writers: Brandon Lake, Steven Furtick, Jacob Sooter and Hank Bentley

INSPIRATIONAL RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR –
The Jesus Way by Phil Wickham     
Writers: Phil Wickham and Jonathan Smith

BLUEGRASS/COUNTRY/ROOTS SONG OF THE YEAR –
Hard Fought Hallelujah by Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll     
Writers: Brandon Lake, Jelly Roll, Steven Furtick, Chris Brown and Benjamin William Hastings

CHRISTMAS RECORDED SONG OF THE YEAR –
Joy To The World by CeCe Winans
Writers: Traditional

POP/CONTEMPORARY ALBUM OF THE YEAR –
CHILD OF GOD by Forrest Frank     
Producers: Forrest Frank, Pera, Noah Conrad, JVKE, Jackson Foote, Johnny Simpson, Zac Lawson and Splash Of Soda

WORSHIP ALBUM OF THE YEAR –
When Wind Meets Fire by Elevation Worship  
Producers: Steven Furtick, Chris Brown, Josh Holiday and Chandler Moore

ROCK/CONTEMPORARY ALBUM OF THE YEAR –
Trustfall by Stephen Stanley
Producers: Stephen Stanley, Tedd T. and Jake Halm

CHRISTMAS/SPECIAL EVENT ALBUM OF THE YEAR –
Hallelujah! It’s Christmas! By Phil Wickham   
Producers: Jonathan Smith, Josh Auer, Jerad Atherton, Tyler Halford, Ben Lounsbury and Aaron Robertson

RECORDED MUSIC PACKAGING OF THE YEAR –
Heaven On My Mind by TobyMac    
Art Directors: Nathan Blaine, Aaron Stearns and Trent Nicholson
Graphic Artists: Nathan Blaine and Aaron Stearns
Photographer – Robby Klein

SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR (CONCEPT) –
Can’t Stop Me by TobyMac    
Director: Eric Welch
Producer: Scott McDaniel

SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR (PERFORMANCE) –
Hard Fought Hallelujah by Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll     
Directors: Brandon Lake and Jacob Boyles
Producers: Jacob Boyles, Rachel Mulcahy, Sadie Schwanberg and Caleb Cook

LONG FORM MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR –
A Drummer Boy Christmas (LIVE) by for KING & COUNTRY          
Directors: Joel Smallbone and Kadin Tooley
Producers: Joshua Walsh, Stephen Preston and Luke Smallbone

FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR –
The King of Kings
Director: Jang Seong-ho
Producers: Jang Seong-ho and Kim Woo-hyung

TELEVISION SERIES OF THE YEAR –
The Chosen          
Director: Dallas Jenkins
Producers: Dallas Jenkins, Chad Gundersen and Chris Juen

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Kno Ho Co Ashland Community Action Commission hosts a Breast Cancer Awareness Month Event

DeeDee Berger, Assistant Administrator with Kno Ho Co Ashland Community Action Commission came to WNZR to talk about a special event planned for this week. They are hosting a Breast Cancer Awareness Event at the Ramser Center located at 700 Perimeter Drive on the Knox County Fairgrounds.
This Thursday 10/16/25, from 6pm – 9pm, they will provide valuable information to women, host a professional panel to answer questions, have free giveaways and a silent auction. You are invited!

Click HERE to hear our conversation with DeeDee Berger.

Click HERE to find out more about Kno Ho Co Ashland.

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It’s starting to feel like Fall!

Today, on The Morning Thing, we shared some amazing fall activity ideas for families!

It is finally starting to feel like Fall here in Mount Vernon and we think that is reason to celebrate! These are ways you can take advantage of the Fall weather before it turns to winter. They may be for kids but the whole family can find stuff in this list for the whole family!

Some of our favorites:

  • Hayride
  • S’mores
  • Baking Pumpkin Seeds
  • Donuts and Cider

To view the full list click HERE!

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Steele Takes Stage in Importance of Being Earnest

WNZR’s Eric Brown spoke to Abby Steele plays Cecily Cardew in the Importance of Being Earnest, she talks about how she got into theatre and a bit about the character she’ll be playing.

Click HERE to hear the Full Conversation!

Click HERE to learn more about Orange Barrel Productions!

(Pic courtesy of OBP)

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One of WNZR’s Founding Fathers Helps Celebrate 39th Anniversary!

One of WNZR’s Founding Fathers, Bill Bridges who was a part of the original Mount Vernon Nazarene College Staff in 1968, stopped by to celebrate the 39th anniversary of WNZR!

Click HERE to hear the entire conversation with Bill and Station Manager, Marcy Rinehart!

Bill helped found the Speech and Communications Department. Bill says that Founders Hall wasn’t ready, so they met in October in various places throughout Mount Vernon.

Bill said that the dream of having a radio station started around 1978. He said that they interviewed Dr. Henry Smith (who was one of Marcy’s professors) and he joined the staff.

Bill said he taught a radio class before they even had a radio station. He says WMVO in Mount Vernon gave them an old sound board, so they were able to have radio classes. They would broadcast to those in the breezeway between Founders and Faculty Halls.

Bill says that he and Dr. Smith started researching what it would take to start a “real” radio station. Bill stayed until 1980 and passed the department to Dr. Smith while he returned to the ministry.

Bill says the staff at WNZR is living out his dream. He talks about what he thinks that God has done to make his dream come true. He says the current ministry of WNZR is more than just a radio station. It is a Lifeline. WNZR does more than just play good Christian music and read the news, but what kind of impact it has on the community.

Bill gives some wisdom to WNZR staff members, “Don’t be afraid to experiment. Don’t be afraid to try. Don’t be afraid of failing. You never truly succeed unless you really try and take chances. He says trust God and trust your fellow workers.”

Click HERE to check out WNZR’s awesome website and learn more about our ministry!

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United Way of Knox County Starts New Campaign!

WNZR’s Marcy Rinehart recently spoke with Katie Ellis, the Executive Director for United Way of Knox County.

Click HERE to hear the full conversation!

Katie is excited to kick off their 2025 Campaign and she shares some exciting details about the goal. Katie shares the mission of the United Way of Knox County and what the United Way means to her.

Katie shares some of their major partners for the 2025 campaign and the power of those partnerships. She likes how agencies can come together for a goal instead of feeling like they’re competing. Their goal for 2025 is $1.11 million to help cover all their internal programs and over 50% of the money will be redistributed to other agencies.

She talks about how they decided on their $1.11 million goal; they looked at the scope of how much they could get and how much they needed to distribute to agencies before deciding their goal. She hopes they can hit the $650,000 from the community goal by the end of the year. Their major contributors are you, the community, and local businesses who will match their employee giving. Their fundraising year doesn’t end until March 2026.

Katie breaks down the three pillars of a community: education, healthy living and financial stability; she talks a bit about those and what they are doing to help achieve that. 

She talks about the agencies and programs the campaign will help support. The campaign goes to support internal agencies and programs they host, and she highlights some of the agency’s part of the united way. The grant application period to become an agency or program of the united way opens Wednesday October 1st and is open until the 31st, interviews happen in November, and she talks a bit how you can do that. The process is largely for vetting agencies and ensuring agencies are meeting community needs and she talks a bit more about that.

Click HERE to find out more about the United Way of Knox County!

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Do you want to simplify your life? Check out this blog!

Today, The Morning Thing shared some small ways to make life simpler. These tips are from The Positivity Blog. They remind us that life does NOT have to be so hard.

See the full list of 23 small ways to make life simpler HERE.

Here are some of our favorites:

1. Breathe.

When stressed, lost in a problem (or a mistake) or the past or future in your mind breathe with your belly for two minutes and just focus on the air going in and out.

These deep breaths will calm your body down and bring your mind back into the present moment again.

2. Do one thing at a time.

You’ll get better results and feel better and less stressed while doing those things.

3. Write it all down.

Use your mind for better things than remembering what to do. And the mind is often like a leaky bucket.

So write down all your great ideas, insights and thoughts before they go missing somewhere and add what you need to do to a to-do list.

4. Stop trying to do things perfectly. 

It will only get you stuck and drain your self-esteem.

Go for good enough instead and when you are there you are done. Get things all the way to done this way and then move on to the next thing.

5. Pack your bag before you go to bed.

Then you don’t have to get stressed out by that in morning and you are less likely to forget something.

6. Ask yourself simplifying questions every day.

Questions like:

  • What is the most important thing I can do right now?
  • What is one small step I can take to simplify this situation?

7. Keep everything in its place.

If everything has its own place then it is whole lot easier to keep your home reasonably ordered and decluttered from day to day.

This also helps you with your inner stillness as the outer environment affects how you feel on the inside.

8. Write shorter emails.

I tend to write emails containing only a few sentences, usually between one and five. If you focus on keeping it short and focused then you’ll probably discover that this is a good solution in most cases.

9. Ask instead of guessing.

Reading minds is hard. So, instead ask questions and communicate.

This will help you to minimize unnecessary conflicts, misunderstandings, negativity and waste of time and energy.

10. Check everything just once a day.

I check my email inboxes, blog statistics, my online earnings, Twitter and Facebook just once a day.

I combine all that checking into one small daily ritual at the end of my workday so I don’t slip and go checking it more during the day and waste my energy and attention.

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Exciting news about a local ministry – TouchPointe Community Resources

The Morning Thing shared some exciting news about one of our local ministries. Jessica Reynolds joined us to share the new name and mission for TouchPointe Community Resources. Jessica serves as the Executive Director. She shared stories of how God is moving through their ministry, along with information on programs that they offer and goals for the rest of 2025.

Click HERE to hear the full conversation.

TouchPointe provides Christ-centered mentoring and practical assistance that equips neighbors to heal relationships, create thriving families, and develop employment readiness.

To find out more, go to their website – https://touchpointe.org/

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