The following story is told from the Draw a Bird Day Website "In 1943, Dorie Cooper was a 7-year-old living in England. Her mother took her to a hospital to ...

My dad was Mr. Ewing, the art teacher. He would visit all the schools in the district, bringing fun projects to our classes for once-a-week art sessions. We ...

“Without courage, we cannot tell our stories.”[1] It was hard not to notice the lack of noise as I sat in the exam room before the doctor came in. My childre...

Me to my child: “I love you.” Child: smile Me: “Do you know why I love you?” Child: “Why?” Me: “Because you are you.” This was a common conversation with all...

Who cares about the toothpaste tube or the toilet seat? The biggest disagreements in my marriage have been over things that actually matter like grammar, pun...

An excerpt from One Mom to Another: Be Kind to Yourself, Embrace the Good, Find Joy in the Everyday. A few years ago, my daughter Stephanie and her children ...

Rich and I plant zucchini every year. It's the one crop we always know will produce. Every year, regardless of where we live, the type of soil, or what kind ...

Rich loves corny jokes. For example, when we are driving anywhere with our children and pass by a cemetery: “That’s a really nice cemetery; people are just d...

I committed this poem to memory when I was going through a particularly hard time in life and it has stayed with me for almost 30 years. It has been a source...

Luke and Nora, two of my grandchildren, came over and helped me bake some cookies for Peanut Butter Cookie Day (June 12th). The recipe I used is a simple, ea...

It’s here: the end of the school year! The last month of the school year is not unlike the last month of pregnancy. Women are tired, worn out and don’t care ...

(excerpt from "One Mom to Another"- A Mighty Work.) I once gave a talk in a women’s conference with the theme, “With Joy Wend Your Way.” The phrase comes fro...

When I was in the sixth grade, I fell in love. The problem was, the boy I loved was not similarly smitten with me! No matter what I did, he remained only “a ...

We were driving from Ohio to Indiana in a blinding rainstorm. Rich had a new job and I was driving the children to meet him and look for houses. From the bac...

“I’M BEAUTIFUL INSIDE!” I turned my head sharply and read these words boldly printed on top of a For Sale sign in front of a house. I thought to myself, “I g...

Dayne taught me we are all the same. As a young man, Blake completed two years of missionary service for our church in South Africa. It was early in his miss...

Let’s talk about how important it is that we lift one another. Now, you’re all probably thinking I mean lifting one another figuratively, or spiritually. But...

One night, when I couldn’t think of anything to make and didn’t have the energy to make it anyway, I came up with the idea to have our first ever “make-it-yo...

I have always enjoyed superheroes. I mean, they are “super” and they are “heroes.” When I was in the fifth grade, my friends, Mickey, Kevin, Bill and I would...

(Excerpt from the chapter "That Time I Shut the Day Down") Most years, Rich takes our children, William, Eric, Daniel, Caroline and Michael, some grandchildr...