Tag: gratitude

I love sharing stories of people going out of their way to help others. Or the ones where a person was having a bad day and kindness showed up just when they needed it.

There is so much goodness happening in the world; people reaching out through the anger and fear to remind others they are not alone.

But there is one ... Read More


Sometimes it feels like we’re on the same team and sometimes it feels like we’re not even playing the same sport. Have you ever felt that way with people? I know I have.

Whether it’s a playful difference of opinion or a deeply rooted divergence in values, I hope at the end of the day, we can say we loved people ... Read More


Normal routines seem so far gone (at least for me, a parent of three), that I have almost forgotten what a regular Monday to Friday schedule looks like.

This letter from a woman in Wisconsin quickly reminded me that some days were better than others — and that kindness always smooths out the rough spots.

“I remember this pre-COVID-19 day way too ... Read More


Does social isolation ever make you feel lonely? Me too.

We hear “we’re all in this together,” but when we’re walking out the day to day, it can feel like we are in this on our own.

I have been delighted by the stories I’ve gotten recently reminding me that people really are looking out for each other and that small acts ... Read More


I’ve been spending lots of time in the corn field lately.

Aberdeen is a unique community in the way town and country sort of blend into one. I live in a mature neighborhood next to a major cross street, yet two blocks away I have my corn field.

Well, it’s not MY cornfield. I’ve just sort of claimed it. It’s been ... Read More


We have a big calendar on the wall of our kitchen. On a normal April, it is filled. Every single day has something written on it. Baseball games, track practices, Mom’s speaking events, Dad’s recruiting trips — every day is spoken for.

When school was cancelled in March, my youngest son, Ben, took a marker and crossed everything out and wrote ... Read More


Have you ever gone viral?

Me neither — unless you count winning a car on “The Price is Right,” but that’s not really fame as much as it is a quick brush with fortune (until we had to pay taxes on the car I won).

My friend Don Carter has gone viral. Back in 2017, he met a woman working at a ... Read More


“There is a miracle on the other side of this mountain.”

I was doing a video chat with a friend and her words awoke the hope inside me. She said it’s her daily mantra. It’s the place she parks her brain when her brain wants to idle in the land of what-ifs.

She heard those words from another friend who saw ... Read More


Sometimes, people don’t realize how big of an impact they’re making. They do something because “it’s the right thing to do” or they brush off their kind act because it seems too simple to even count as kindness.

Perhaps they believe they aren’t making a difference in the long run, but Amanda Klyn, from Corson, S.D., would beg to differ. Here’s ... Read More


I always love it when I write something and someone comes back and says, “That message has been repeating itself in my life lately.”

I think it’s fun and amazing and proof that God cares so deeply about the intimate details of our lives.

I love it — except when it happens to me.

When it happens to me, it often ... Read More