Precious few of us will ever receive an invitation to travel for free to the Holy Land or to tour with a group of high-level Christian influencers to witness first-hand the stories behind the headlines in places like Rwanda, Guatemala, or Haiti. But the experience of those who are invited on all-expenses-paid educational junkets sponsored…

This Tuesday evening at sundown, the Jewish community will commemorate Jerusalem Day – the 50th anniversary of the day the vastly-outnumbered Israeli army reclaimed and reunified the Old City of Jerusalem during the Six Day War. My husband and I experienced the depth of the connection the Jewish people have with this place during our…

My husband Bill didn’t need to set his alarm for work this morning. He was laid off yesterday. It is the first time he’s been unemployed since the early 1980’s. It’s not entirely unexpected. Things at work have been very, very difficult for months, and several of his colleagues have left the company – either…

For some, a marker they’ve reached adulthood can come in the form of signing a lease, buying a household appliance, or sitting on hold with the insurance company after filing a claim. One defining moment for me came when I was a young mom caring for my infant daughter and I became very ill. I…

It’s still Christmas. Yes, I know. The sparkly decor that looked so welcome in early December looks tired and dreary now that the holiday festivities are done. The gingerbread cookies have been eaten, the wrong-sized gifts have been exchanged. It’s hard to think “Christmas” once we replace last year’s wall calendar with a new model.…

For the first 56 years of my life, I welcomed each new year with a blank calendar and an abundance of fresh hope. The heroic words of architect Daniel Burnham emboldened my Type A penchant for scripting my life: “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will…