Charisma Magazine

I had the good fortune of being raised by not just one excellent mother but also an entire community of them. And I’d have to say I’m the better for it.

I remember when Hillary Clinton's book It Takes a Village came out several years back, the accompanying uproar from conservatives was deafening. Many people saw it as a communal manifesto for socialism—where society takes over raising our children and we give up our parental power.

I have to confess that I've never read her book. I might have been too busy raising my kids to read about all the people it takes to raise kids.

Beth Moore and Betty Robison discuss how important communication is in a marriage. Watch as they take a page from the book Living in Love, and explain how stopping, repeating and clarifying can help you and your husband communicate well.

I knew my mother was in heaven. Although I missed her terribly, what I missed most were her prayers.

For several weeks I'd felt mounting tension and nervousness in my stomach as Mother's Day, the day I dreaded, approached. Most Sundays, I travel to churches to sing and minister, but I had asked my husband to try and avoid booking this day because I didn't want to be in front of a congregation on the first Mother's Day without Mom.

Of the 12 children my mother had, I was the baby. She was 45 years old when I was born, and we were close up until the time she died.

Don't lose hope if your son or daughter has special needs. God has a great plan for both of you.

When a child is diagnosed with special needs, it can be an overwhelming, even devastating event in a parent's life. My husband, Jack, and I know because our son Nicholas was diagnosed with autism in January 2001.

If you are the parent of a special-needs child, you've experienced the agonizing pain, shock and even hopelessness that can grip your soul with such a diagnosis. In the midst of what seems to be a "dark night," one question may be burning in your spirit: Where is God?

Many people admit that it is a sacred duty and a blessed privilege to abide in Christ but shrink back continually before the question: Is a life of unbroken fellowship with the Savior truly possible?

Eminent Christians, to whom special opportunities of cultivating this grace have been granted, may attain to it; but for the large majority of disciples, whose lives, by divine appointment, are so fully occupied with the affairs of this life, it can scarce be expected.

After Mother went home to be with the Lord, the family held an estate sale of her possessions that had been sitting in boxes for years.

As I rummaged through the boxes of elegant china, laces and linens, one box in particular caught my eye. This one smelled musty, and a piece of straw was poking through the top. I pried it open with scissors and began to sneeze.