How To Start A Habit Of Mornings With God

by Pamela Palmer    Yesterday I presented seven reasons why you should spend early-morning time with God. Today, eight tips for how to get started: 1. Pray about It    Any new practice takes time and is more likely to take root in your life if you don’t overwhelm yourself. So pray about it and …

Pleasures And Benefits Of Soaking In The Rain

by Ally Hirschlag BBC    It was the sixth straight day of the heat index topping 100F (38C) in New Milford, Connecticut, when the sky turned a sickening shade of puce.    I was leading an outdoor theatre workshop, and noticed campers gawking at an ominous, miles-long shelf cloud advancing overhead. Then a thunderclap shook …

Wife Rescues Husband Buried In Avalanche

by Andy Corbley Good News Network    A wife used her “Find My iPhone” feature to guide search and rescue to the location of her husband who had been buried in an avalanche.    Michael Harris was skiing the Big Chief Bowl at Stevens Pass Ski Resort in Washington in late February when the snowpack …

Laundry Built On A Bus Helps Homeless

by Kevin Burton    Today’s glad tidings from the Good News Network, I kid you not, involve going to a laundromat.    Or should I say a laundromat going to you.    My wife and I just had a major repair done to our washer. We had a little wait for a repair person to …

Rebuilding My Personal Wall And Temple

by Kevin Burton    Contemporaries Ezra and Nehemiah were key figures in rebuilding the nation of Israel after Babylonian exile. I hope to hang out a bit with those boys this year.    The Old Testament book of Ezra describes the rebuilding of the temple and Nehemiah the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem. The …

Push Past Failure, Try, Try Again In 2026

by Dictionary Scoop    Truman Capote once said, “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” In the same vein, Benjamin Franklin claimed: “He that can have patience can have what he will.”     Patience and perseverance are fundamental when it comes to conquering the anguish of things not going as planned. Numerous scientists, inventors, …

Is Small Talk A Big Help In Making Friends?

by Kevin Burton    Are we going today from sublime to ridiculous?  Or is that just my bias?    Yesterday we ran part of a Los Angeles Times story about making friends in our adult years. We finish that story, by reporter Seraphina Seow today.    Psychologists interviewed by The Times, offered five suggestions for …

Rediscovering The Lost Art Of Making Friends

by Seraphina Seow Los Angeles Times    A friend of mine has been hoping to make new friends as a 26-year-old. She’s made every effort to put herself out there: joined clubs, volunteered, initiated catch-ups.    But every time she establishes a new connection, it wanes after a few weeks. She suspects that it may be …

Things Get Better With Age, If You Let Them

By Hannah Singleton National Geographic      While aging is often portrayed as a slow decline, scientists say that view overlooks the bigger picture.    “Everyone talks about aging as this decline,” said Michelle Feng, chief clinical officer at Executive Mental Health and a licensed psychologist who specializes in geriatric psychology and medicine. “But aging …

Lean, Pray, Trust, Love, Just A Little Bit More

by Kevin Burton    I needed this today and I thought some of you might need it too.    This message is written on a 4-by-7 sheet of paper, not attached to anything else. I have it because I have helped my mother move three times in the last seven or eight years. Mom downsized …