Relationships

Once upon a time, a lady met this fellow. She had three kids (two girls and a boy). He had three kids (two boys and a girl). She was divorced; he was widowed. Her kids were all younger than his. The woman and man married and bought a house with five bedrooms and a large yard. Life was never going to be the same for this bunch—a blended family who had all experienced a lot of life already, but were about to begin a new adventure with many twists and turns and ups and downs. The woman is my stepmom, and the man was my father. Over the years, people who knew our story often referred to us as the “Brady Bunch” because

Stop, look, and listen to the people around you. Do you really know the story behind the sad faces or even the mad faces of… The homeless person on the street? The lady in the checkout line counting her change to pay for groceries? The person at the gas station with a bank card that’s declined? The mom with the child crying uncontrollably, the teen arguing, the toddler melting down? The person yelling at you with obscene gestures because you didn’t move fast enough? The mom who has reached her limit as she screams for her kids to shut up? The parent running late to pick the kids up because the boss’s demands came first? Stop. Look. Listen. That blank look on someone’s

Sometimes you can be the best darn mom and things still go awry. That happened to a friend of mine with her oldest son, who has chosen to live his adult life in an extremely dysfunctional way. Sadly, the woman he fathered a child with has made similar choices for her own life. And thus my friend, after multiple attempts to help her son, finds herself raising her granddaughter full time. It’s not easy. She thoroughly loves this sweet little girl, and she certainly doesn’t resent packing lunches and being back in the school pick-up line or helping with homework after many years of those tasks being behind her. Her struggle is that her son is still in their lives (as is

Successfully raising our own children often leads to the joy of being a part of our grandchildren’s lives. While my children were growing up (whether we were living in Tennessee or Florida), it was very important for our family to be near the grandparents. We wanted our children to grow up around them and to enjoy making memories with them. Now our grandsons live about four miles from our house, and my husband and I get to spend a lot of time with them. We don’t take that for granted! What does a fun day with the grandchildren look like? Should we really spoil them rotten? Let them eat whatever they want and have a negotiable bedtime? Yes, and no. Here are some

As the issue becomes more prevalent in our culture, there seems to be an increase of knowledge around the topic of self-harm. This is great, but there is always room to grow and learn. One of the most common questions about self-harm is probably: why? A handful of people (oftentimes teenagers) may engage in self-harm for attention. The majority, however, do it because they have so much pain inside that they don’t know how to deal with. Inflicting physical pain seems like the only solution. It provides relief … at least temporarily … and so people become trapped in the cycle. It’s vicious. Regardless of the reason, however, it must be taken seriously. I have been on both sides of this heart-wrenching struggle. As a 17-year-old, I was

I consider myself a rather ambitious person. One who loves feeling efficient and admits an obsession for maximizing the hours of my day to accomplish the most humanly possible. Though I may revel in my to-do list, accomplishments, and victories in getting things done at the end of the day, too often I have found myself unable to recall any authentic interactions had with other individuals. This gradual realization has caused me to see that there is so much more to life than the achievement of my daily tasks, and provoked my asking where and how people fit in. After what seemed like years on a hamster wheel, my husband and I recognized that we didn’t have many deep friendships, even though