Articles

MISS EBERT WAS WHAT SOME MIGHT HAVE CALLED an "old-maid school teacher. " She probably would have taken the moniker as a compliment, saying it was true because she had gray hair and had never married, but knowing all the while that such a title was conferred with respect on that special kind of teacher who had raised more children than any mother.

JESSICA IS THE NICEST person ever. She and I have been friends for four years.

I GUESS YOU COULD SAY the job started out being about me. I was a counselor-in-training at a summer camp for Christian Scientists—really psyched to be there.

MY HUSBAND, RYAN, AND I had always thought we might have a family some day, but I just didn't see how a child would fit into our lives. We'd been married for ten years and both of us had busy, productive careers.

MY FIRST THOUGHT upon waking that morning was: "It's almost Christmas!" But it wasn't a thought that made me happy. Instead, I felt overwhelmed by all the holiday preparations I still needed to finish before my grandsons arrived.

I THOUGHT IT WOULD JUST BE an ordinary ride home. But when my friend, who had kindly offered me a lift, asked me if I wouldn't mind stopping off for a meeting on the way, I agreed.

AT THE AGE OF 14, I fell in love with the Bible. So much so that I even carried a small pocket version around with me every day.

WHEN I FIRST MET DAN (not his real name), he was serving his sixth year of a life sentence in a maximum-security prison in Australia. He was what you'd call a really bad egg.

I WAS SUFFERING from a kidney ailment that I'd had for over ten years and the pain often awakened me in the middle of the night. It was during one of these nights that I switched on my shortwave radio and came across a program on Christian Science.

WHEN I TAUGHT our young son to ride a bicycle without training wheels, I put him on the seat and told him to grip the handle bars and start pedaling. Determined to succeed, he glared ahead, stiffened his pose, and started the wheels in motion.