I was driving down the highway the other day when I saw a billboard that practically stopped me in my tracks. “Children are like mirrors,” it said. “They reflect the image of their parents.” That billboard got me thinking. I know a mom who loves to shop for salvaged dinnerware at Salvation Army stores. [...]
Read more →You could tell that they were sisters. The hairdos gave it away almost immediately. When Gertie and Madge walked around their small Southern town, an immobile helmet of hair topped off every outfit. Both women styled and sprayed their locks to impressive fullness and height—they teased, they cemented, and they colored away the grays. [...]
Read more →Shh… there it is again— leaves crackling, twigs snapping, and the sound of footsteps. As your eyes frantically scan the opening in the brush for movement, you can physically feel each beat of your heart thumping in your chest. It’s him. The big one you’ve only caught glimpses of and heard others talk about. [...]
Read more →You would think that after 25 + 20+ 18 + 15 years of parenting combined, my wife and I would have a pretty good idea of what makes our children tick, what they need, and what we should do to be perfect parents. There are many of you parents that could add up far more [...]
Read more →If I told you I recently gave a speech and did not know one single person in the audience, that probably wouldn’t surprise you. If I said that the speech was not in our neck of the woods, that probably wouldn’t surprise you either. If I said that the people there gave me a [...]
Read more →It happens in a flash, usually while you’re not looking. One day you have a newborn, and you’re up to your elbows with blankets and bottles and diapers, then you look away for a second and suddenly life is filled with training wheels and lunch boxes and ABC’s. Then you turn your head a [...]
Read more →I have always tried to stress to parents the need to be more aware of what is going on in their child’s world—who are their friends, how are they spending their time, how do they communicate with other kids. I’m now urging you to become more involved because of a story I recently heard on [...]
Read more →People often think that forgiveness is about letting another person off the hook. This type of belief leads to a hesitancy in wanting to forgive because there is a feeling that the person who did the hurting needs to suffer for their deed. Therefore, people carry unforgiveness in their heart like a weapon of revenge, [...]
Read more →I’m convinced Bill’s* main delight in life was exasperating the staff at his retirement home. Out of sheer stubbornness, he rejected nearly everything that they said would be beneficial to him. He refused to wear his hearing aid, choosing instead to let his voice boom throughout the building all day—sometimes he talked so loudly that [...]
Read more →My stock fell hard the other day. I watched it happen. I thought that I had made some good choices in regard to my investments. But my stock fell and it fell hard. Oh, I’m not talking about money. Did you think I meant the Dow Jones? No way! I’m talking about me. I [...]
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