Messages in bottles have been the stuff of folklore for centuries. Dying, desperate sailors have hurled them. Curious children have launched them. Nicholas Sparks wrote a novel based on them, but don’t read it—or watch the movie—unless you already have a prescription for antidepressants. The story I find most interesting about such bottles,...

There was a video on CNN yesterday that stopped me in my tracks. It wasn’t footage from Thailand, or election coverage.  It is a video of a little 5 year old girl  sitting in front of an image of 5 cartoon children. The children are all wearing the same dress and the same expression, only the color of their skin is different.  An interviewer...

Growing up my Dad always made a point of telling us that none of us are adopted. When it comes to me and my Mom, he really could have saved his breath.  I look just like her.  We are very similar in other ways too. I know that I get my love of words and my passion for word-play from my Mom.  We like books and crossword puzzles and silly poems...

Have you ever sat in a group of people and listened to someone describe a family member whose own agenda takes over from the rest of the family?  We have family members like that.  One family member has driven past our home numerous times a year and stopped in only once in eight years.  (We live five minutes from the freeway.)   We drive 3 ½...

My daughter cut herself for the first time when she was 12 years old. Today, 11 years later, she is still struggling to overcome this problem. At the time I knew absolutely nothing about "self-harm" and it scared me to death. I was shocked and bewildered that she would do such a thing. It’s important to understand cutting - what it is, who does...

There is often truth to some to the things we joke about.  I have heard lots of jokes about in-laws and how awful they can be, but I never thought I would be the one to experience anything like that! When I first got married I didn’t know much about my husband’s family. I knew a little, but my concern was my husband so I didn’t bother...

Not sure why you are going through this personal tragedy? Searching for why God is doing this? Take our Life Lesson called "Built By Brokenness" and find some answers that you have been searching for. After losing our twins girls at 20 weeks gestation, my world completely fell apart. As I gingerly attempted to reintegrate my new, raw reality...