Gratitude

 By Megan (Steps for Brady)

When I was little my mom forced me to write thank you cards to anyone who gave me a gift. I remember struggling to stretch my thoughts beyond a basic “thank you for the new sweater, I like it a lot.” Now that I’m an adult, I’m truly thankful for my mother’s lessons in gratitude. I know that I always feel good when I receive a heartfelt thank you, or a kindly written note in the mail.  And I try whole-heartedly to send a note of gratitude to anyone who acts kindly upon our family.

In recent months our family has had to swallow our pride and raise our hands to accept hundreds of gifts from our family and friends. Now that the dust has settled after my son’s illness, we were at a loss for how to properly thank all of those who cared enough to reach out of us in our time of crisis. The idea for a BIG party was something that came to us in the midst of our son’s battle with cancer. I recall myself saying to my husband during several long days at the hospital, “When Brady beats this, we are going to have the BIGGEST party ever!” The idea of this grand celebration gave us the “something to look forward to” that we were both in desperate need of.

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Dogs and Cats, Living Together…Mass Hysteria

By Alan

God tells us that “kind follows kind,” Genesis 1:25 and science has reinforced that with DNA. We can see the micro-machines that let the DNA from mother and father combine to give us offspring that should resemble a combination of the pair.

So, it becomes puzzling when you get children that look like you and your wife, look like your respective grandparents, and yet, you are convinced that the DNA must have come from the household pets.

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What Does Your Family Do For Fun?

By Kevin (Shooting the Breeze)

I believe that it is very important for families to have fun together. As the old adage goes “A family that plays together stays together” (that is an old adage, right?) This is so true. Having fun together helps build a healthy family. Having fun together helps develop a healthy family image – a family that the kids and parents are excited to be a part of. Here are some of the things that we do for fun as a family:

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Giving Out TMI

By MAD21

I stumbled across a great article on the website BeingGirl written by Anastasia Goodstein, called "Identity Theft: Another Reason You Shouldn't Share TMI Online." For those reading this, TMI is TOO MUCH INFORMATION. But then, if you didn't know that, maybe you shouldn't be reading this because you don't text, Facebook, MySpace, etc. anyway  :o)

I know, I know. You've heard it all before. You hear it from your parents, your friend's parents, your teachers, and probably every other adult in your life."Don't give out too much information about yourself in the digital world, be it texting, or any of the social online networks..." But you know? You really need to listen. Because I don't think most of you do.

There are tons of people and places telling you all kinds of information about why you should not post too much information about you or your friends. Everyone is telling all the reasons not to share, even if you think only your friends are seeing it (and putting all your settings to 'private' doesn't always work). But having many teens in our family, I can say with certainty, I still don't think most of you are listening. Just go to YouTube. Go and see how many videos of teens dancing around and talking you can find in five minutes. It would shock you. If you were a predator, how long would it take you to find out enough information about one of them to figure out how to find them in person.

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A Few Things I Have Learned About My Heavenly Father From Being A Dad

By Kevin (Shooting the Breeze)

I love being a dad. I have three wonderful daughters. Each day is so exciting watching them grow, mature and learn. Since becoming a dad almost 11 years ago I have learned so much about God. Since becoming a dad my understanding of God has grown immensely. Here are a few things I have learned about my heavenly Father from being a dad:

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