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Officials in one state in India recently noticed a big difference in the ration of boys to girls, and decided it was time to take action to change prevalent thinking that considers baby girls as unwanted or undesirable. The central district officially held a renaming ceremony giving 285 girls with names…

Liz Murray’s drug-addicted parents raised her and her sister in poverty in New York—really raised isn’t the right word, they had to care for themselves. Her father was an intelligent man, quite gifted, but lived a diminished life because of the drugs. Her mother suffered from mental illness along with…

Liz Murray’s drug-addicted parents raised her and her sister in poverty in New York—really raised isn’t the right word, they had to care for themselves. Her father was an intelligent man, quite gifted, but lived a diminished life because of the drugs. Her mother suffered from mental illness along with…

In 1971 the Macon, Illinois High School Ironmen, a small town baseball team had a remarkable run in the state baseball tournament. In those days there was only one state tournament--schools of every size played each other. In the semifinal game the Ironmen beat the favorites, Lane Tech, a Chicago area…

In his book, Leadership and Conflict, Speed Leas writes, “As contradictory as it sounds at first, the weaker the people perceive themselves to be, the more likely they will fight dirty or use violence. When one believes he or she is powerless against odds that are too much, he or she is likely to believe…

Many athletes show gratitude to God when they do something good, hit a home run, score a touchdown, or win a race. Indianapolis Colts kicker Matt Stover has learned to give God the glory even in defeat. During the first quarter of Super Bowl XLIV Stover made a 38-yard field goal and promptly pointed…

You have heard of butting your head against a block wall. In November, authorities in Viroqua, Wisconsin found a seven-point buck that apparently lost a head-butting contest with a rival buck. The winning deer was made of concrete. It was a statue. --The Salt Lake Tribune, February 6, 2010 Illustration…

The attempts to climb Mount Everest were all failures until Sir Edmund Hillary finally climbed to the top in 1953. Between 1920 and 1952, seven major expeditions had failed to reach the summit. In 1924, the famous mountaineer George Leigh-Mallory had perished in the attempt. In 1952, a team of Swiss…

COURAGE In his book, A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity, Bill O'Reilly writes, “True courage is not about being fearless; it’s about overcoming fear, going ahead with something worthwhile even though you’re terrified.” --A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity, Kindle- Highlight Loc. 625, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson…

LEADERSHIP In Managing Change to Reduce Resistance, Lila Booth, writes, “A change process must be participatory in order to succeed. People need a chance to express their assessment of the current situation, their hopes and anxieties about the process, their recommendations about how to proceed.” --…

It is easy to become discouraged. Sometimes all of us feel we are all alone, no one to stand by us; no one to help us out. Bonnie Richardson of Rochelle, Texas must have felt like that many times. Coming from a town of only 162 people, in a high school of 58 students, with only two other girls to join…

SECURITY In the aftermath of the attacks that toppled the World Trade Center, an Israeli company is offering high-rise workers a new security option. APCO Aviation is now marketing a parachute for those fear terrorist attacks on skyscrapers. The Executive chute was designed, tested and marketed in three…

SUCCESS Bob Dole lost the 1996 presidential race, but many believe he came out a winner in 2000. Dole’s quick wit has made him an instant success as a commentator on Comedy Central’s “Indecision 2000.” “After his loss, Dole could have emerged as an elder statesman or an embittered old man.” According…

DETERMINATION A black and white photograph taken in 1936 later titled, “Migrant Mother,” became the defining icon for a generation but not for the family it depicted. The picture shows a migrant farm worker with her children burying their faces in her shoulder. Though her face was not seen in the picture,…

VICTORY In his book, Every Second Counts, Lance Armstrong writes about the ways he’s found that he can and cannot help other cancer patients. He writes, “I couldn’t help them with the primary problem of surviving, and I couldn’t change the basic biology of cancer. I couldn’t help anybody. In the end,…

It is so easy to become a victim of our circumstances, and develop a victim mentality. Forgotten promises, lies, and schemes do their best to convince us that life is not filled with happy endings. When he was young, Skeeter Bronson found that hard to accept. His father, who owned a Southern California…

IMPOSSIBLE Overwhelming seems too weak a word for the odds the Red Sox faced. For one, the Boston Red Sox were playing against the 26-time World Champion New York Yankees. That in itself is daunting, but the odds of coming back in a best of seven series after losing the first three games were insurmountable.…

“Overcoming the Circumstances of Life” “We talk about ‘circumstances over which we have no control.’ None of us have control over our circumstances, but we are responsible for the way we pilot ourselves in the midst of things as they are. Two boats can sail in opposite directions in the same wind, according…

Trials “Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" Job 2:10 NLT I used to think that life alternated between good and bad times—seasons of adversity and prosperity, and I suppose you could make a strong case that I was right. But lately I’ve started to think that…

HARDSHIP/PERSEVERANCE I don't think it was the worst thing that could happen at a concert, but it wasn't good. On November 18, 1995, a string on Itzhak Perlman's violin snapped as he played at Avery Fisher Hall, at the Lincoln Center in New York. Really, the word snapped doesn't convey what happened…

Make it Happen "Above anything else, I hate to lose." (Jackie Robinson) On April 15, 1947, Robinson made it to the "show." He became the first black man to wear a Major League uniform, destroying the color barrier in professional sports. In his first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he hit .297, sent…