“Don’t give up hope!”   “Keep hoping!”  “ Hope will get you through!” What does that even mean? When we tell someone to keep up the hope, do we just mean for them to keep up a positive attitude? Are we telling them to stay optimistic, to wish for and expect...

Six years ago I sat at our Thanksgiving table surrounded by family and laughter, while inside my heart felt as heavy as a bowling ball and I was on the verge of bursting into tears. Everything was perfect - delicious food, beautiful decorations, my favorite people....

The Halloween costumes have barely been put away and here comes Christmas! The lights and the trees and the music are already everywhere! But what if the sights and sounds of the holiday don’t bring feelings of joy and excitement? What if the thought of Thanksgiving...

What would you say is the most important thing in your life? What do you value more than anything else? When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment in all the law, his answer was this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your...

“Choose Joy!” We see the slogan everywhere - t-shirts, posters, even in songs. But I am going out on a limb to propose something here. Choosing joy is impossible. It can’t be done. Joy is defined as the emotion of great pleasure or a feeling of extreme delight.  It...

Shortly after Lexi passed away, a friend called to comfort me. She is one of the most caring and kind people I know. But her words stung my heart. “You know, God didn’t want this to happen. It was not his will for her to die. It’s just because of the state of our...

I have always loved books. Ever since I learned to read, I have been easily captivated by a good story. There’s just nothing like finding a book that you can’t put down, and that feeling of sadness when you finish, like having to tell a good friend goodbye. I have...

There aren’t many foods that we don’t add salt to. Salt goes in all the savory meals from steak to spaghetti. It goes in sweet foods like cakes and cookies. It’s in breads and pastries. Without this grainy white substance, what we eat tastes like cardboard - bland and...

January 4, 2018, the day my 21-year-old daughter Lexi passed away, my life changed forever. The knowledge that I would never see her big, brown eyes again on this earth, never laugh with her again, never look at her latest sketch or listen to a new song together…my...