With my part-time teaching job, Christmas break should have been the perfect time for me to set some goals for 2019. That didn’t happen. I’ve done this goal-setting thing for the last several years—taking a look at various categories (physical, spiritual, financial and so on)—and forecasting what I’d like to achieve or improve in different areas. Goal-setting is not a bad thing. It can help with focus and intentionality. That said, life has a way of turning our best-laid plans upside-down, sometimes in subtle but powerful ways. So this New Year, I’m in that foggy, food-hangover, Continue Reading

It occupied her thoughts from morning until night. She wanted it so bad she could taste it. She wanted financial independence. This young mother of small children began working hard at building a business.  She juggled the demands of family life. She sacrificed sleep. She spent every spare moment on her dream. Two years later, it became a reality. Her business was not only up and running –it was wildly successful. This woman had followed the advice of a well-known entrepreneurial blogger. Regarding her success, he remarked, “I love that kind of hustle.” That kind of story Continue Reading

Fidgeting with her hair, the nervous teen told me her parents would “kill her” if they found out she was pregnant. Her boyfriend didn’t want a baby. They’d broken up the night before. I expressed sympathy. The girl burst into tears. Then she said what most people say when they cry in front of others. “I’m sorry!” We’re not very good at grief and sorrow in our culture. We’re embarrassed at our tears. We apologize for allowing our feelings to show. Somehow, we’ve adopted a strange paradigm: it’s not okay to hurt --it’s only okay to be okay. So we hide our feelings and except Continue Reading

Maybe you're a lot like me. You consider yourself pro-life, but many good causes compete for your attention, and you only have so much time, energy, and money to give. Still, you know that preborn children are precious to the heart of God. What if I told you there's an effective, do-able way that you can help? For this week's post, please click over to pregnancyhelpnews.com, the newsletter for Heartbeat International. I've got a story for you, and some encouraging thoughts. Thanks for stopping in, and see you at pregnancyhelpnews.com!   Continue Reading