A few things have converged in my son Jack’s life over the past couple months. Back in the spring, he and I began reading Take Your Best Shot by then-nine-year-old author Austin Gutwein.  It is the story of a boy who decided he didn’t want to wait until he was all grown up to do something big for God. Jack decided he wanted to attend a Christian...

The playoffs of any sport can inspire kids to set new goals and aspirations for their future as an athlete. NCAA March Madness is no different. As the tournament progresses, the tales of hard work, underdog achievement and ultimate glory unfold and inspire boys and girls everywhere to pick up a ball. Many Christian parents find themselves now...

My cell phone rang on Monday morning while I was working at a client’s office. “Lori, can you meet me at home? I’ve just been let go from my job.” I packed up and got in the car and started to drive, my heart pounding, my mind racing…then the tears started, and I began to pray. Just the previous Sunday afternoon, Del and I had been talking...

My house has been foreclosed! After years of negotiating and trying to keep up with our repayment plan, we have lost the house we fought so hard to keep.  Our mortgage payment continued to escalate along with other bills throughout the last few years.  My husband of 10 years and I have two precious daughters ages 3 and 5.  It seems like we could...

This is Part 2 of a 2 part series - Getting Old How do we face the twilight years of life? With feelings of dread…or of hope? The French-born film and vaudeville actor Maurice Chevalier (1888-1972) remarked glibly, "Growing old is inevitable for all of us. The clever thing is to accept it and always plan your next move well in advance." His...

This is Part 1 of a 2 part series - Getting Old I am 68 years of age and retired, so I suppose I am considered old. In our politically correct times, I am called either a "senior citizen" or "chronologically gifted." What is aging? How do we react to it? These questions are no longer academic for me. When I was in my teens, I thought that...

For some, estate planning is limited to scrambling to update Wills just before a vacation. Even most professionally developed estate plans begin and end with numbers. While numbers are important, by themselves they do not tell the complete story. That is why it is necessary for a fundamental change in how we think about and do estate planning:...