Soft, adorable bundles of joy. Who doesn’t love sweet little babies? Vulnerable, helpless, and defenseless. They bring out the best in us, don’t they? Our instinct is to cuddle and protect them. To keep them safe and give them everything they need to stay healthy and...
Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year. Since most of my friends know this, they either feed my passion or tease me about it. Either way, I relish the four weeks of Advent as a time of joyful expectation as I count down the days until we celebrate the Savior’s...
Someone once said that the worst moment for an atheist is when he is really thankful and has no one to thank. I don’t know if that’s true, since I’m not an atheist, but... I do know that I do have Someone to thank. Someone who is the source of every blessing,...
There’s something heart-warming about giving or receiving a Thank You. When someone tells us thank you, we feel acknowledged, affirmed, and appreciated. We’re encouraged to go the extra mile, to keep on truckin’, and to persevere through inconveniences. When we tell...
It’s only November 2nd, but I’ve been playing Christmas carols for a few weeks. And I’m looking forward to the start of the Hallmark channel Christmas movie weekend marathon that will begin this Friday. Yup, I’m one of those people. 😳 Hi, my name is Ava and I’m a...
We can all breathe a sigh of relief. Another prediction for the end of the world has passed, unfulfilled. For some, it wasn't even a question. For others, it just proved that the real end will come in 2012. The end of the world seems to be an increasingly popular...
This past summer, I wrote a blog post about Convictions, Preferences, and Disagreements. I mentioned my concern that regardless of the topic, the art of civil disagreement in our culture has been replaced with uncontrolled vitriol. This week, Jim Daly, President of...
A television station is running a marathon of episodes from a 1960s television program called “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” The airings are in honor of the 50th anniversary of the series. It’s fun to watch old programs that chronicled a simpler time, when valuing faith...
Are people with religious convictions the only ones who live by faith? Some say that’s a no-brainer. The answer is yes, and by the way, anyone with religious faith has no brains. That’s one answer. But the fact remains that every single person on the face of the earth...
Cleaned out my bookshelves the other day (to make room for more books!) and came across a little paperback that’s been around for twenty-five years: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things, by Robert Fulghum. Here are a...
Just Do It Thirty-four years ago, Nike launched a new advertising campaign. Adding to their already iconic...
Spiritual Junk Food Not sure why, but I’ve been bingeing on junk food for the past several weeks. Which is a...
Bluegrass and Jesus I attended my first bluegrass concert last week . . . and it was not what I expected. The...