Some time ago I heard a story of a well-respected economist who gave a speech to a group of business people. Her topic was, “How to keep your business profitable during a recession”. At the beginning of her presentation she showed a large poster with a small black spot on it. She asked a…

  Recently I found a scrap of paper on which I had written, “It’s always darkest just before they turn on the lights.” I don’t know where it came from but I thought it might have a deep philosophical meaning to share with parents. As I considered its message many memories were awakened involving several…

  I have known several parents who made excuses for their children, mistakenly thinking they were helping them. Several years ago a principal at a local junior high told me about a boy in his school who was struggling with self-esteem issues, but really wanted to be the student who made the morning announcements over the PA system. After…

  I met Andy when I moved to a new town for my first job after graduate school.  He struggled with many challenges. He had difficulty learning to speak, delays in his physical development and other learning problems. Doctors and other health professionals expected that Andy would likely do poorly in school and be limited…

  Today I was in church and sitting in the pew in front of me was a young couple with four children, three girls and one boy. The youngest was a little girl whom I judged to be about 10 months old. This little girl was wearing a bright red dress, a headband with silver…