David Roten

David Roten is a retired FedEx driver who has lived in the Newton/Morgan/Walton county area for the past 11 years. A devoted husband, father and grandfather, he now shares a small farm near Social Circle with his wife, two dogs, five cats and three horses–as well as the occasional, transient armadillo. He finds inspiration, both to write and to live, in Jesus and in the extraordinary stories of "ordinary" people. He loves music and the outdoors and Georgia Bulldog football.

A Treasure Hidden In a Field

Easter eggs will once again wobble and spin their way through a myriad of celebrations around the world this Easter season. Games, competitions and festivities are as varied as the

Life’s Simple Pleasures

Somewhere along the line, pleasure got a bad rap. Actually, there is no mystery about when the confusion started. It began when Adam and Eve decided they would rather be

An Enduring Fireside Chat

Compared to where we’ve just come from, the road ahead looks a little bleak. We just burned through three major holidays in less than five weeks. The shopping-eating-meeting-greeting frenzy is

Slow Down, Take the Scenic Route

Life goes by so fast, except for the young. During those innocent years, we could not wait until we were old enough to go to school, old enough to date,

Model Citizens

Almarie and Francois van Staden left their native South Africa in 2000 to pursue a better life for their two children. More than two decades later, they consider themselves Americans

Running the Race with Endurance

Record-setting Peachtree Academy runner Ben Clements suffered three spontaneous pneumothoraxes in less than six months. While it put his athletic career on hold, the ordeal only strengthened his faith as

Call of the Wild

Linda Scovanner always enjoyed breaking down cultural norms and stereotypes, so it was only natural that she would find a way to do so—and show others how to do the

From Hoops to Hooves

Erin Flynn Mobley once roamed the courts and filled the box scores as a basketball star at Newton High School, but once she completed a successful collegiate career on the

The Debt of Gratitude

We are not the same. Like snowflakes, no two of us are alike, yet we touch and are touched by thousands of others on life’s journey. In spite of our