MORGAN TOWNSHIP – Two popular local Christian media personalities spoke on the topic of persevering through adversity with God’s help during the 36th annual Ashtabula County Concerts of Prayer breakfast held Friday morning, May 8, at Eagleville Bible Church in Morgan Township.
Janie Gildersleeve, president of the Ashtabula County Concerts of Prayer Association, opened the meeting with Lamentations 3:22-23: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
The breakfast meeting has been held every year since 1991, the Friday after the National Day of Prayer, which fell on Thursday, May 7, this year.
Eight local people offered prayers for different sectors of society: churches, the economy and business, education and youth, families and community, first responders and law enforcement, government and the military, medical facilities and healthcare and addiction and unhoused people.
Len Howser and Sara Carnes, the keynote speakers, hosted a Christian morning show for over a decade at 95.5 The FISH. When the station was sold in early 2025, they launched a podcast, called “Start Your Day Positive.”
Howser introduced the theme for the talk, “You do your best and let God do the rest,” with a historical anecdote from the First Continental Congress, held in the autumn of 1774 at Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia.
A disagreement on whether, or even how, to pray with delegates from so many different traditions of faith was overcome by an influential, largely improvised ecumenical prayer led by the Rev. Jacob Duché.
“It all started with people who believed this simple idea: commit it to God, use the gifts and talents he gave you, work hard, stay courageous, trust Him and trust Him with what you cannot control,” Howser said.
Carnes talked about growing up in Orwell, attending Grand Valley High School and her career in radio, which ended with a phone call on Dec. 31, 2024, when she learned WKLV-FM had been sold and her job and Howser’s had been eliminated.
“We had to figure it out,” she said.
After praying, she said she and Howser got to work setting up the podcast.
“This is it,” she said. “This is God working.”
“We hustled like I have never hustled before,” she continued.
Carnes and Howser got to work setting up an LLC and launched “Start Your Day Positive.”
“We just put that faith in God,” she said.
Howser gave another anecdote on keeping perspective under pressure, this one from Numbers 14:6-10.
After the Exodus and 40 years of wandering the wilderness at Sinai, Moses sent a dozen spies into Cannan.
Ten of them reported that the land is populated by Anakim, descendants of semi-divine warriors called the Nephilim and that victory over these giants is impossible.
“Before the battle had even started, they had defeated themselves,” Howser said.
Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, took the view that God would lead Israel to victory.
“Same facts, same giants, came challenges, but two completely different perspectives under pressure,” Howser said. “One group spoke fear, the other spoke faith.”
Carnes related a story of her time working for the Cleveland Browns when she was asked to sing the National Anthem before a game – a task that grew more daunting as the day of the game approached.
“Bravery does always look brave in the moment – it usually just feels uncomfortable,” she said. “At the end of the day, the message I want to leave everyone is you are brave. In those everyday moments, too, whatever it is – you have God with you.”
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