Article and Photograph by Make The Days Count Contributor Ann Wilkinson

We often joke that our kids are born to us without an instruction manual.  Although we have nine months before they are born to be alternatively elated and terrified, we usually know when they are born that we will love them forever and no matter what the future brings.

When your child does something that doesn’t meet your expectations, do you dwell on it for a long time?  Do you constantly go over and over this piece of bad behavior?  Most of us may be disappointed for a brief period, but as time goes on, we naturally start to forget their transgression (sometimes only to be surprised once more when it’s repeated).  But we love our children unconditionally, and we never lose sight of that with them.  We see them on their journey towards adulthood, and we are their guardian for that time, never letting site of that goal and loving them no matter what. Read More »

Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Judy Mosley

When my husband and I decided to have children in 2004, I had believed we were well prepared.  We were healing as couple.  He had been a youth minister prior to our marriage and I had worked at a children’s home when he’d met me.  We loved children and had assumed that would carry us as we had our own.

It was quite a shock really to discover how unprepared we were. Not necessarily financially or physically, but mentally and emotionally.  Many people told us that we would enjoy being parents.  What they didn’t tell us is that, sometimes, you will be at an absolute loss as to know what to do next.  They didn’t let us know that our children would be our mirrors as to how we live and would challenge everything that we believed.  No one said that your heart had to be open, available, and ready at any given moment to give that child exactly what they needed. Read More »

Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Chris Bennett

Somewhere between Indianapolis and St. Louis on a chilly autumn day a few years back, I received a gift for my family that would unknowingly change all of our lives for the better.  This gift came in the form of a little fur ball that could barely see past the top of the grass.  She was shivering so bad she could barely bark.  It was more like chirp, almost like a chipmunk.  Her eyes made it clear though, she wanted to live.  Who was I to say no? Read More »

Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Marie Monroe

Effective communication helps listeners feel comfortable, on equal footing, and willing to continue listening and talking.  A presentation that holds its audience’s attention throughout is a successful one.  Yet a fluent discussion is one in which opportunities have opened and relationships are cultivated.

Many things are possible when communication flows well: learning, teaching, understanding, resolution, persuasion, collaboration, negotiation and intimacy, just to name a few.  This is the stuff of which good relationships are made – business and personal. Read More »

Article and Photograph by Make The Days Count Contributor Ann Wilkinson

What do you conjure up in your mind when you think of the word “creativity”?  Do you think of an artist wielding a paintbrush or a charcoal pencil?  Do you think of an actor on stage interpreting her lines?  Do you think of a master musician creating a complex piece of music?  Do you ever picture yourself in any of these scenes of creativity? 

You are a creative person by nature.  We all are.  Perhaps you have let this aspect of yourself go with your busy day-to-day life of work, bills, commuting, children and their priorities.  But have you considered that you can continue to explore your creative side, even in the midst of the day-to-day?  And, if you can add little bits of creativity to your daily routine, you may find that you become increasingly creative and gradually more satisfied with your life. Read More »