I grew up with an alcoholic father and a mother who suffered from mental illness. My older sister, Linda, was the only family member I could rely on. I looked up...

“One kilometer to go,” shouted the timekeeper as I crossed the mark in a 5-kilometer run. I was tiring, but I kept my eyes on the finish line and my mind...

I gazed up at the man in the ice cream van as he handed me the cone. It was huge, heaped with several scoops of ice cream. It had a chocolate...

An MRI revealed that the excruciating pain in my shoulder was due to a problem with some vertebrae in my spine. I elected to have surgery, but when I came out...

Last summer, my car broke down on a remote road during a long-distance move. With no cell service and the nearest town miles away, I felt my anxiety rising. In that...

Several years ago, I noticed an older man who sat shivering in a parking lot near my office. When I asked if he was okay, he said he had left home...

One cool morning I decided to have some hot tea. I love the aroma of spiced tea as much as I enjoy savoring the taste of it. Wanting to hurry the...

God knows that there are days when we feel like giving up on prayer. Maybe we think there are bigger problems in the world, or we feel that God isn’t interested....

Just after my first year of high school, I desperately needed a change. I had been going to a private school my entire life and living in the bubble that comes...

It’s winter time in Australia. In our garden, the jonquils are having their best winter ever, with lots of yellow and creamy, white flowers. There has been enough sunshine to keep...