Category: Be Kind

I love the way people look at me when I mention all the blessings that we experienced during my bout with breast cancer this past summer. The love I felt from friends, strangers and even my own family far surpassed any act of kindness I had ever previously experienced.

I know this is a bold statement — and my husband may ... Read More

There are certain things that will never be on my bucket list.

Skydiving. Every person I’ve ever known who has done it loves it. I’m not buying.

Alligator wrestling. I’ve never met anyone who has done this, and there is probably a reason.

Finishing (or starting) an Ironman race. That’s where you swim a lot, bike a lot and then run a full ... Read More

A friend gave me a beautiful bracelet engraved with an interesting phrase. It says, “Be a silver lining.” Not “Be the silver lining,” but “Be a silver lining.” I love that. It takes the pressure off when you realize you don’t have to be all things to all people, but rather just do what you can do when you can ... Read More

https://youtu.be/d6Sa_fQAiOA

A man knocked on my door during the last snowstorm. It was 8 o’clock at night and I was home alone with the kids. We were all snuggled on the couch in our jammies waiting for bedtime when I heard the dog begin to bark ferociously, followed by the sound of knocking.

Moments of crisis require a decision: Will we hold our tongue and act with grace toward those around us, or will we allow our angst to overtake our mouth and spew out the fear that certainly feels like a natural reaction in times of trouble?

If you were in the emergency room with your child, would you be the one filled ... Read More

I have a problem with other people’s successes. There, I said it. It’s out in the light. Take it away, God. Rip this pride and jealousy and ego and selfishness out of my life from the roots. It has no room to coexist with kindness.

I got a fun letter over the Christmas break from a college student who was perhaps misidentified.

Jared Nash is from Galchutt, N.D., a little community near Wahpeton, where I imagine everybody knows your name. He had an interesting encounter that got me thinking about how and why we treat people the way we do.

“I was on my way ... Read More

I wish I could bring you into my son’s kindergarten classroom. It’s a happy, colorful place where little people are learning big things, like how to read and count to 100, and lead with kindness.

They are learning those things thanks to two special adults who have more patience in a pinky than I have coursing through my entire body. One ... Read More

One of the best things about having three kids in elementary school is that I get to spend a lot of time as a fly on the wall. Some people call it “volunteering,” but I call it “pretending to work while I’m secretly spying on my children.”

I got to be part of a very special event at the school recently. ... Read More

Jeremiah Solhjem has had a big life of building tall towers and defeating shifty robbers thanks to his vivid imagination and the 9-year-old’s love of Legos. I’m sure he’s playing right now as I write this, but we can no longer see him.