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A parenting prayer at the beginning of another school year

In the perfect world, or place, or dimension, we are going to pray always (or popularly said, 24/7) in adoration of God who created and loves us forever. Beyond that I can say nothing about Heaven because it is way beyond me, and indeed unimaginable. Here on earth, we imperfectly stumble and stammer in our visiting with our Father. Following the guidance of Jesus and ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, we give much to adoration and thanksgiving to the Father, a lot to His mercy and forgiveness, a small bit to my ‘daily bread’ (He knows our needs and cares for us before we ask), and ...

A labor of love

What do you do when you have skeins of unused yarn? What do you do when your friends give you their yarn they no longer want? Or what if you just want to do something nice for others? Let me tell you about Donna Lawson, Liz and Dyana Guznan. I got a phone call from a gentleman living in ...

When history walks through the door

I used to like my job. Now I love it. When I first became a collections manager five years ago, I was fresh out of college with a bachelor’s degree in history and eager for any opportunity to work in a museum. Despite having zero museum experience and only a vague idea of what the job ...

Creating a sense of belonging in children

When I was the executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Alpena back in the ’90s, I became the surrogate mother to five resident comet goldfish in an 80-gallon aquarium placed just outside my office. One afternoon, there was a huge uproar. I heard the children shouting. I noticed ...

A society of strangers

"True is it that we have seen better days." -- William Shakespeare Pearl Harbor brought out the best in the American people. We responded by pulling together for a major mobilization when an act of war landed on our soil in 1941. That December day, which Franklin Roosevelt eloquently ...

Never forget 9/11

I was sitting in my home office not far from the Pentagon when it happened. The TV behind me had the sound lowered but I suddenly became aware of a major development. I reached for the remote and cranked up the audio. A plane had struck one of the twin towers in New York. TV anchors initially ...