For everything there is a season.
I’m saying goodbye to my dear friend, Tom, today. Tom was 86 and had cancer and a whole host of other health problems, yet I was shocked to learn he was gone.
He lived a good, full life and I know what he is seeing now is too magnificent for words. If he used ... Read More
I often forget what a tough spot my kids are in each day. I send them off to school and ask them to be kind, but sometimes that gets confusing.
When the teacher is talking but a friend is trying to get your attention, what is the kind solution? When you’re trying to do your work but a classmate has a ... Read More
You know how teachers have favorite grade levels?
The ones who teach middle school will tell you they love helping kids work through the uncertainty and challenges that come with being a new teen. The ones in high school enjoy developing the gifts of young people finding their way in the world.
And the teachers who shepherd elementary students? I think they ... Read More
Would you rather have 100 casual acquaintances or one special friend?
It’s a no-brainer, right? We all long to have someone special in our lives. But that can be tricky when the world only sees your disabilities.
Ciera Ball is mostly nonverbal, was diagnosed with autism and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). That can be a tough combination when forming attachments ... Read More
Surgery update for anyone who cares followed by an important reminder for YOU.
I’m snuggled up in my home office with my dog and my computer. The boys are in the next room playing video games. I should cut off their screen time, but they’re in a continual state of giggles, so I think I’ll just let it be. Besides, that ... Read More
I don’t like stressy things which is why it’s God’s hysterical joke that I am a Division I basketball coach’s wife.
Saul and I knew each other as kids and we reconnected as young adults. As I sat across from him in that Italian restaurant on our first real date, he told me he was never going to get married because ... Read More
They say there are ties that bind, things that happen in our lives that leave us forever connected and intertwined with others.
But what happens when decades begin to deteriorate our communication with those people?
As Caryl Kiser from southeastern Ohio shares, those ties not only continue to hold, they grow stronger with each knot of kindness.
“Five years ago, after moving back ... Read More
I was standing in the shower sobbing. With the fan on and the water running, it was the only place in the house I could hide until my torrent of pain had been released.
Never before had I needed to expel so many emotional toxins from my system. And never have I needed to again. But back in May of 2015, ... Read More
When I think about the very first acts of kindness I can recall, I think about my mom. I remember her teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in our small town. How scary it must have been for her students to move to a new country and not know how to communicate. My mom felt their apprehension and gave ... Read More
Walt Disney once said, “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”
That works well for amusement parks, but it also works well in the realm of kindness.
Alicia Stewart is a mom who feels frustrated with the way girls sometimes treat each other. When she saw it happening in her daughter’s second-grade classroom, she decided to put ... Read More
