Articles

1. A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Lyle Young grew up attending Canada's largest Protestant denomination, the United Church of Canada.

"IS THIS THE BUS to Whitman Junior High?" I frantically asked, as I stood on the curb in my green miniskirt. The school bus driver shook his head—like every other driver I'd asked before.

AS A TEEN, I questioned why so many people saw social drinking as a normal and healthy part of life, while my parents, and Christian Scientists like us, didn't drink alcohol at all. I could clearly see the problem with heavy drinking or alcoholism, but I just couldn't see the problem with drinking moderately.

I had never heard of Qatar, a place I now consider home, until three years ago when my dad got a job working for a company there. My mum, dad, and younger sister, Abigail, and I moved to Doha, the capital city of Qatar, from Dubai.

I was able to overcome to some degree the daily worry about my son. WHEN I WAS 19 YEARS OLD I HAD A CHILD.

EMPHATIC! "The time for thinkers has come. " DEMANDING! "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

I WAS SO GREEN, SO OBVIOUSLY THE NEWCOMER. He had a wealth of experience.

ON A RECENT FLIGHT, a young baby effortlessly made me and everyone within earshot laugh by chortling with such spontaneity, abandon, and sheer irrepressible joy that no one could resist joining him in his innocent laughter. And just when it seemed he had at last stopped chuckling and crowing, he would burst out laughing once more and set us all off again! It was as if the baby had been asked to find a benign way to relax and unite the passengers within a half-hour of takeoff—and he pulled it off with huge success.

WHEN SOMEONE GAINS even a glimmer of hope, it's cause for rejoicing, because even that glimmer indicates the passage from a darkened, hopeless state of thought to a more positive and healthy condition. Without hope, it's difficult for anyone to progress in any area of life.

THE FIRST THING THAT COMES TO MIND when I think of humility is that it takes a whole lot of it to realize you're the child of God. What do we have to give up to have this humility? Honey, we have to give it all up! Some years ago I woke up one morning totally unrecognizable to myself.