Rev. Ethan Brown, Pastor and Minister of Care & Discipleship

Riley is a 13-year-old girl heading into High School. She loves hockey, her parents, and her best friends Bree and Grace. She is beginning to form her sense of self and is really in touch with her emotions, Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust. Then puberty hits. Like a truck. As it did for most of us. The raging hormones install a major upgrade to her brain and suddenly Riley has to deal with a suite of new emotions, including Anxiety, Embarrassment, Jealousy, Ennui, and fleeting moments...

We were told there were bears in Black Mountain. The signs were everywhere: "Caution, Bear Territory;" or "Nature Area—Bear Habitat;" or my favorite: "Bears live here. Use Common Sense." We were even shown a video of a bear at night wandering through the area in which we would be staying. There is a difference, however, in knowing that bears live in an area and personally encountering a bear. Our first encounter with a black bear occurred as we were winding our way down from Mount Mitchell on...