The " Giving Thanks Challenge " was hosted by South Breeze Farm in Iowa. This is the second year it's been done and the idea was to encourage the attitude of thankfulness. If you turn on the TV or read the newspaper today, there's plenty of bad news and reasons to become anxious. That's the reality of our world today. But we can make the choice to take time to focus on what's good and the things for which we are thankful. I've enjoyed writing blog posts on Thankful Thursdays and I know for a fact, that it's helped me with…

Patsy Clairmont is a petite woman but ... she packs a lot of dynamo into that small body of hers. She can bring joy and laughter to almost any situation. As a speaker for the Women of Faith conferences, she shares stories that truly touch the heart. I was thrilled to have had the opportunity to hear her this past weekend. Patsy spoke about her friend of 50 years named Carol who was diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately, the cancer has spread to other organs of her body. She has undergone chemotherapy and become quite weak and depressed. Patsy wanted to b…

Let's keep weight loss in perspective. Yes, we all know how hard it can be to lose weight but there are plenty of things in life that are worse. That was Luci Swindoll's perspective when she spoke at the Women of Faith Conference this past weekend in Glendale, Arizona. Luci shared a story of how she made an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to see if surgery might be indicated for her painful knee. The surgeon told her that before he would operate she needed to lose 80 pounds! And her response? I CAN DO THAT! (I like that attitude.) Luci con…