By Barb Bergman

At the end of 2017, my husband and I had just become empty nesters after spending nearly a decade in Kennewick, Washington. Scott was offered a new position at a rural hospital in Ida...

By Barb Bergman

It was the last week of September, and our family had been planning for over a month—a four-day work trip to my in-laws’ cabin in Star Valley, Wyoming, nestled near the mountains outs...

By Andrea Mabey

There’s real power in optimism. I feel it every time I hear hope in a song—it energizes my whole heart. And I feel the opposite when I hear lyrics soaked in despair—my heart sinks. I ...

By Andrea Mabey

Have you ever imagined a hot, gooey cinnamon roll—just dripping with icing—and suddenly realized you needed one? My son John says that imagining delicious food is 85% of cooking. And ...

By Andrea Mabey

Dr. Gawande’s boundless energy powered his busy urology practice, his Rotary Club service, and his thrice-weekly tennis games. He also poured his heart into a rural college in India, ...

By Andrea Mabey

Healthy thin people and I have a lot in common.
I used to be one.

Then stress and age happened, and somewhere along the line, a silent little flag went up:
“Welcome to Overweight-lan...

By Barb Bergman

My daughter Erica graduated from BYU in 2023 and landed a job at a charter school in her field of Communication Disorders. As a speech pathologist, she worked one-on-one with young ki...

By Andrea Mabey

Joseph, age 17, was visibly upset. He saw his little sister eating cold cereal on a Saturday night and immediately felt threatened. In our home, cold cereal is usually reserved for Su...

By Barb Bergman

In 2008, our family made a big move—from Memphis, Tennessee to Hermiston, Oregon. It was early July, and my husband, Scott (a CRNA—nurse anesthetist), had just accepted a job at a sma...

By Amanda Permann

I’ve always considered myself a fairly clean person, but over time, life happens. My bedroom often becomes the landing zone for things I plan to deal with “later.” As a result, the ...

By Amanda Permann

In my Guided Mindset Mastery course, we were invited to experiment with the Law of Perpetual Transmutation by setting small, low-stakes goals. As Leslie Householder explains, this l...

By Amanda Permann

A while back, our GMC Suburban started acting up. We knew something was off but hadn’t gotten it checked yet. One day, my daughter forgot her backpack at home, so I had to make a qu...

By Amanda Permann

I have a daughter with Down Syndrome who is an absolute joy. Like anyone else, she has her own unique gifts, talents, strengths, and desires. She embraces life fully. She is happy. ...

By Amanda Permann

This spring, my daughter got engaged—which meant I had the incredible opportunity to help plan her wedding. It was my first time planning a wedding for one of my daughters, and even...