Saving Our Youth from the Harms of THC
By Laura Stack
Continuing our series on Johnny’s most important values, he listed his fourth value as Enthusiasm. It probably won’t surprise you to learn it’s one of my personal values as well. I make much of my living as a professional speaker on the topics of productivity and time management, and without enthusiasm, I couldn’t do my job well.… Read the rest
By Laura Stack
When Johnny was assigned a presentation on his five most important values in one of his college classes three months before he died, “Conviction” was 3rd on his list (following Altruism and Patience). I’ll write about his 4th and 5th values in the next two blog posts.… Read the rest
By Laura Stack
Last week, I introduced a series of articles based on the five guiding values by which my son Johnny endeavored to live his life. I started off with altruism, as expressed in the ways we help other people with no expectation of reward.… Read the rest
By Laura Stack
There’s a wise old saying that goes, “Into every life, a little rain must fall.” Since the beginning of this year, America has experienced a figurative typhoon. History will remember 2020 as an annus horribilis during which the COVID-19 pandemic killed hundreds of thousands worldwide and sickened millions, damaging our economy in the process.… Read the rest
By Laura Stack
If there is ever a time when parents struggle with their children, it is during their teenage years. Not all teens rebel, but many have their share of clashes. After all, they know just enough about life not to know what they don’t know.… Read the rest
By Laura Stack
Back when I was a kid, nobody had ever heard of the term “tween.” Basically, you were a baby, a toddler, a preteen, or an adolescent. Oh, a few people had used similar terms as early as the 1920s, and Tolkien applied it to hobbits in 1954.… Read the rest
By Laura Stack
Like so many important topics, it’s hard to pinpoint the perfect time to have “The Drug Talk” with your kids. You don’t need to worry about the tiny tots, since they’re rarely out of an adult’s supervision. But many experts suggest you do begin talking to your kids about drugs when they are fairly young.… Read the rest
Today was our first day back to church, Praise God! Cornerstone Church was open since it’s inside our county lines, so we went there. It was heaven on earth to be able to worship in person! The pastor, Dr. Anthony Pranno, preached on 1 Samuel 17:45 with David’s challenge to Goliath in the name of the Lord to give us encouragement for the “giants” we face in our lives!… Read the rest
By Laura Stack
Continuing our Mental Health Month theme, I’m introducing a four-part series (this is part 1) on how to talk to your kids about drugs and why drugs are so bad for them from a mental health perspective.
You’ve probably seen this topic addressed before—maybe even a lot.… Read the rest
TRIGGER WARNING: Suicide method mentioned
I woke with a start. It was 1:03 AM on Thursday, November 20, 2019. I reached over to pick up the phone, fully expecting to see Johnny’s name on the screen again, and instead, it said Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.… Read the rest