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If you turn on the television today, you’ll probably come across an insurance commercial featuring a coach who tries to stop young adults from turning into their parents. The ads are designed to be funny, but if you look beneath the humor, the underlying messages (to me) are troubling: Don’t make eye contact. Don’t strike up a conversation with strangers. Mind your own business. Look at your…

Have you ever felt guilty about something that happened a long time ago—something that, when you think back, you so wish you had done differently? I have times when heavy thoughts creep into my mind—and I start thinking about things in the past I wish I could change. If I let myself, I can easily struggle with worry and guilt… and that’s so pointless. Keeping those regrets alive serves no…

This morning I am sitting on the front porch of a historic home in Plains, Georgia known as Mother Allie’s House . Rain is falling softly and the birds are singing. Everything is peaceful and beautiful – and I am grateful for the opportunity to be here. This is the home where former First Lady of the United States, Rosalynn Carter, was raised along with her three siblings. Today, it is a…

Happy Thursday, friends! Let’s all be kind to each other today…. because you know what? We all carry silent, invisible weights. Even though our days are full of blessings – we also all have pains. Sometimes, a person will drop what they are doing and just freeze, stopped dead in their tracks by a sudden wave of emotion, and the people standing right next to them won’t have a single clue why. I…

Have you ever had those moments where you realize the world is so much smaller, and that we are all so much more beautifully interconnected than we realize? For as long as I can remember, I have been a collector of hidden connections… not things you can hold in your hand, but all the little moments, the little pieces of treasure that life routinely drops in our path. I think it stems from how I…

Memories Served Fresh at Table One I had supper at Cracker Barrel in Branson last night. I have loved Cracker Barrel in general for a long time—but this particular old store is the most special of all to me… because I worked there as a hostess when it first opened back in 1993. I’ve spent a lot of time in that building – and as I walked into the restaurant last night, I was remembering. It was…

A high school classmate of mine, also named Lisa, shared a message recently… and I have been thinking about it ever since. “If each one of us around the world was given the opportunity to write down our problems and put them in a hat to draw out, would you risk grabbing someone else’s, or would you just keep your own instead?” It humbled me—and it reminded me even more to remember to be…

In the South, we don’t just “prepare” a meal; we “fix” it. While some might find our word choices or pronunciations a bit informal, I see our language as an art form. There is a time for the proper precision of a doctoral dissertation, and there is also a time for the beauty of a culture to shine through its own unique vocabulary. Take, for example, the word “mess.” To some, it sounds like a…

This past Sunday, I made the familiar drive home to Conway County, and I am so very glad I did…. The first Sunday in May is always Decoration Day at Old Hickory Cemetery. For me, it’s more than just a cemetery – It is a landscape of my history as well as many blessed memories. When I was a little girl, graves were built up for Decoration Days. Daddy would haul in dirt to put on top of his…

The Rhythm of Joy “Break bread with neighbors.” That is the tagline at Neighbor’s Mill Bakery & Cafe in Harrison, Arkansas, and this morning, I saw them live up to it (as they always do). As I stood in line to place my breakfast order, I watched the gentleman at the counter take his time—true, unhurried time—visiting amicably with an out-of-town couple. When he told them, “Thanks for coming…