By Joy Miyake My son just turned five. Every time my husband and I look at him, we muse to ourselves, “When did this happen?” We know that the journey of parenthood has only begun, but these beginning milestones still manage to be tear-jerkers. Just the other day, my...
Tips & inspiration
BY FAMILIES, FOR FAMILIESLearning to Take the Harder Path
By Keoni Takarada This inspirational story comes from a 12-year-old boy who had a memorable experience after going camping for the first time. I tended to give up easily when confronted with challenges. But it was my experience camping in the great outdoors where I...
Epiphany Gained from My Dad’s Sharing
By S.Y. The following story is about a 20-year-old's experience in the Montana mountains, and her first time camping with her family. Our family rarely had any kind of sharing at home, but one night while camping outdoors, we had our sharing time and it became one of...
Life Lesson from a 9-Month-Old
The following story is a reflection from a mother of a 9-month-old. Watching her son grow, she has realized that she grows because of how he lives – always pushing his limits, always learning, not afraid of challenges and pain, and never giving up. “While we try to...
800 Yards in a Cedar Swamp
Recently I was trying to explore a piece of land and reached out to my son for his help. The goal was to reach the Northeast corner of the property, which holds about 300 large trees. This corner pitches up and away from a Beaver Pond and contains potential camping...
Life Lessons from Our Dad
by Dewey, Kenn and Michael Mowris It’s Father’s Day and it's time to be grateful for the father figures we look up to in our lives. As his 3 sons, we love our father a lot. He is a kind, wise, and supportive person. We continue to learn from him and wish to...
The Power of Verbally Expressing Gratitude
One morning, as I was moving clean plates and utensils back to their respective places in the cabinet, I found myself saying, “Thank you!” to each item. This made me think, “Oh, if I am showing my gratitude to them, then I should really take care of them!” I then...
A Mother Is God’s Gift
by Naomi MacMurdie “A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” —Tenneva Jordan This Mother’s Day is the first time I get to celebrate as a mother myself with my own mom. I’m...
Melting Grudges
By John Mowris During World War II, my father was a Sergeant in the Marine Corps and my mother was in the Navy. My mother worked in the Washington D.C. office decoding Japanese messages. My father saw very brutal action in the Pacific during the fighting. He never...