Monday, May 16, 2016

NO Excuse For Bullying - EVER!

Monica Perrett
Monica Perrett lives in Australia and is the mother of six children.  She is currently writing a book on changing the law giving more rights for parents of teenage runaways.  

Monica won the Mother of the Year award.  While she was out of town, receiving the award, her three-month-old son died.  

Because Monica's foster son died at home, she was stripped of her rights as a parent and not allowed to attend his funeral.  

With anger and determination, she single-handedly was able to get that LAW CHANGED.



Thursday, May 12, 2016

The Will to Live - A Daughter's Story

Author Darcy Leech was born to Jo Lyn Bartz, who genetically carried myotonic muscular dystrophy. Darcy's brother, Dustin, was born with the same disease. He had a high enough frequency of protein repeat mutations that of his thirteen years of life, every day defied prior medical knowledge! 
He lived far beyond what anyone expected.  Darcy shares how inner strength, a strong love of family and God sustained him.

Darcy's mother lived ten years after Dustin passed and Jo Lyn was the strongest woman Darcy ever will meet. The life lessons she taught Darcy will be passed on to future generations.  This story will touch your soul.



Her memoir, From My Mother, is a moving narration of loss and the deep resilience of the human spirit as the body weakens.

Monday, May 9, 2016

If You Are Not Stretching and Growing, You Are Not Really Living




Jon Stolpe is an author and active blogger. Jon Stolpe's Stretched is focused on "stretching" and challenging others to get out of their comfort zones. 







He has a passion for family, leadership development, missions, and personal growth.

Jon's organization, H.O.P.E. Helping Other People Everywhere, is doing just that.  In his interview he shared how we can all pay it forward.  As a construction engineer, Jon has helped build homes in Guatemala for those widows with children who were homeless.  On his blog he gives each of us the opportunity to be involved with this mission.

During the interview, Jon shared the results of a survey Dr. Anthony Campolo, speaker, author, sociologist took of people who were over the age of 95.  He asked them if they could live their lives over...."What would you do differently?"

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

When Aging Parents Die, Sibling Rivalry Lives

 


Deborah Carroll, a former educator and educational publisher has written a book on a subject that is not easy for families to discuss.  The subject is the death of aging parents.  Her book, Tales from the Family Crypt:  When Aging Parents Die, Sibling Rivalry Lives is a must read!

There is nothing that can tear families apart faster or uglier than estate issues.


 

In many families, there are difficult, dysfunctional and even despicable siblings who want to grab money and power at a time when they should be communicating and pulling together as a unit. 

Monday, May 2, 2016

H.O.P.E. Here's One Possible Expectation


Warren Rodwell


Warren Rodwell: former soldier, university teacher, hostage survivor, speaker, and songwriter, is the longest held Australian captive outside war. For more than fifteen (15) months, Warren was hidden and starved in island mangrove jungles with the constant threat of beheading if the terrorists’ original ransom demand for $US2 million was not paid.





472 days in captivity




When asked how he ever survived he responded with "resilience, adaptability, versatility, pragmatism, perseverance, and a dry sense of humor"
broken finger


From Wikipedia:

Friday, April 29, 2016

Overcoming Fear on the Road to Stardom



Nancie Schipper is a 15-year-old singer and songwriter.  She started playing music at six years old, performing at the age of nine and was playing pubs at 13 years old.

She writes songs from her personal experiences and what she observes is happening in the world at large -- from a teenager's perspective.

As a shy person, she shares how she overcame the fear of performing in front of large groups of people and that when we face our fears, we can do whatever we want to accomplish!









You can purchase her songs on iTunes here

Saturday, April 23, 2016

It's NOT Failure -- It's A Lesson

Glenda Thomas
Glenda Thomas is a relationship and marriage coach who had brain aneurysm surgery May 2015.  In her memoir, The Next Chapter: Glenda's Brain Aneurysm Journey, she shares that journey.

This is a subject that most of us know little about but we need to be made aware.  Here are some facts:

It is estimated that six million people in the USA have an unruptured brain aneurysm - that's one in 50 people.  

The annual rate of rupture is approximately 8 - 10 per 100,000 - that is one every 18 minutes.  They are fatal in about 40% of cases.

Of those who survive, about 66% suffer permanent neurological deficit.  Approximately 15% of patients die before reaching the hospital.  

Glenda shares the importance of keeping your blood pressure DOWN and taking some precautions.


Glenda's Motto:
Do Something You've Never Done Before

In Glenda's book, The Change:  Insights into Self-Empowerment,  she is one of several 

Monday, April 18, 2016

I Deserved the Abuse.....And Other Lies


human trafficking, Roxanne Fawley
Roxanne Fawley went from longing for death to loving life, from debilitating depression to being extremely happy.  

In Roxanne's memoir But I Like It...And Other Lies, she shares her experience as a victim of physical, mental, and sexual abuse.  She wrote the book because she knows she is not the only one who believed the insidious lie that a woman likes or wants or even caused her own sexual abuse.

She shows us how she has been completely restored to health and freedom that comes from knowing the truth and rejecting all the lies that may hold us captive and hopeless because of abuse.