It all started at a simple coffee meeting with a friend. We entered the cafe, greeted by the clinking of the doorbell and a barista with an expression shadowed by both his visor and his evident boredom. However, as we approached the counter, he took a closer look at my friend. Recognition flickered across his […]

The evidence is in your spirit. In your brain. In your very DNA. Gratitude will change your life. And what better time to talk about it than this festive month? Thanksgiving is a holiday, yes – one of warmth and family and the best of food (pumpkin pie, anyone?!). But it is also an adjective. […]

As integral as cinnamon, cider & spice are to fall, there’s another ingredient that you must add to your diet this autumn… Self-love. That’s right, time to feed the soul. Your diet is not just what you eat. It’s what you watch, what you listen to, what you read, what you think, and who you […]

“There is realistic hope for everyone living with pain that things will change, that life can get bigger and better. There is a way forward for each of us to meaningful living and purposeful lives.” The women who lead with these words are Jo Belton and Beth Requist. Starting as co-chronic pain survivors, these women […]

My accident tore into my life like some merciless thief. He started with my body, trying to break me and take my leg. But more than that, he was there to rob me of my hope, to pulverize my very purpose. The thief tried to destroy everything I had built, to take everything from me. […]

She’d always been a mama’s girl, and now you could see she was afraid to climb in my bed with me.  I thought she was going to cry, and my first instinct was to try and distract her, the way you do with kids when they fall and bleed a little.  So, I immediately looked […]

I sat in the cold, dim room in my hospital bed looking down at the leg that the doctors had just told me they were going to have to amputate.  My spirit was nearly broken and I could actually feel myself spiraling down into a dark hole so fast, as if I had no other […]

If you haven’t been to Texas, I suggest a visit so you can understand exactly why most Texans take such pride in their state AND why you may feel like you are in a “whole other country”. We just visited my relatives in a small town outside of Paris (far from France) called Roxton, population […]

A Sunday well spent brings a week of content (and motivation). 1.) Decide what is important. Decide what is important and make sure you are at the top of the list. If it is more rest and recovery you need, it’s okay to skip a party. If you are feeling exhausted, try a nice leisurely […]

After the ten-hour surgery Dr. Wiss performed to take out the broken pieces of titanium and replace them with the rod, I, of course, called the pathology department to ask if I could have all that metal. After all, according to what was billed to our insurance company, it was approximately $62,000 worth of titanium, […]