By Ricinda Perry When that unexpected compliment comes along, it can change your whole day. That is what happened to me a couple of times this week. At a random moment when I was focused on a number of other things, including a personal rock concert starring my three year old daughter in the middle
By Ashley McIlwain We are all motivated to do things for various reasons. Money, success, fitness, status, stuff, popularity. Whatever the motivation, we all find some purpose to fuel our day-to-day behaviors and choices. What about in your relationship or marriage? What fuels your actions there? Your spouse asks you to take out the trash
By Coleen York I don’t know what it is about the mind of a woman, but it seems like we struggle with worry way more than our male counterparts. Our female psyche is able to simultaneously think of 75 different outcomes for every decision and situation. Usually 90% of them are ways things could go
By Ashley McIlwain One of the greatest parts of Christmas is the generosity that seems to so prevalently accompany it. People are more aware of the needs of others, and they are more willing and receptive to meeting those needs. It’s a wonderful part of this time of year, which got me to thinking a
By Ashley McIlwain Foreword: A Letter to Newlyweds was inspired by my sister’s recent marriage. As I began thinking about the things I wanted to say to her and her husband about marriage, I found myself frantically writing. Nowadays marriage seems to be entered into lightly, ignorantly, and with little preparation, and as a result,
Last week I celebrated my birthday. As I mentioned in A Celebration of Life, birthdays are kind of a big deal in my family. That’s because they aren’t just some annual ritual that happens to include cake and presents. No, birthdays are an opportunity to count your blessings, which is exactly what I did this
In his book, Building Faith at Home, Mark Holmen shares a touching story about his nightly prayer of blessing over his daughter. After years of sending her off to sleep with a special prayer of blessing, his daughter woke up one morning at 4 a.m. and prayed that exact blessing over him before he went
I can’t put my finger on why it is exactly, but my husband always lifts my spirit and makes my day. Literally, I could be having the worst day in the history of worst days, and all I need is a little dose of the hubs. On the happiest, brightest of days, he still manages
