We were called, male and female, to do great works with separate approaches and separate assignments.

We learn much of parenting from our own parents. My love for my father deepened profoundly when he was kind, patient, and understanding.

Others can challenge and motivate us, but we must reach down deep into our souls and call forth our God-given intelligence and capabilities. We cannot do this when we depend on the efforts of someone else.

Discipleship does not come from positions of prominence, wealth, or advanced learning. The disciples of Jesus came from all walks of life.

Northern Sweden holds a special kind of magic. It's cold, lonely, and the people are tough and silent, or so the stereotype says. This is Asa Larsson's home turf and I find as much joy in reading her closely observed descriptions of the environment, as in following her intriguing plots.

People have to work to maintain happiness. It's easy to be miserable. It's easy to stay miserable. It's easy to live in a place where nothing's working and not being able to work your way out of it. It's much harder to choose happiness, to choose laughter, to choose a positive.

I'd like to see marriage count again among African-Americans and not just in the society in general.

I focused on where she was from of course, her voice and her history, her relationship with God - her religion. This was probably the strongest relationship she has had, really. She never seemed to maintain close relationships with husbands.