Front Porch Thoughts

It’s a fact that the month January invites us to make resolutions. But keeping them can be a whole different story. Studies have shown well-intentioned commitments start to unravel by the second Friday of January.  Uh oh… As family members...

An ongoing family addiction crisis can feel like you are constantly living on high alert in an emergency zone. Alarm bells are sounding all around you because substance use disorder is a disease that impacts an entire family system. ...

Chapter 23: THE PRODIGAL SON’S MOM AND DAD Excerpted from Unchained: Our Family’s Addiction Mess Is Our Message NANCY On New Year’s Day I ran into Evelyn, my first newspaper editor, at an event. She was bureau chief in an...

Throughout these last few weeks I’ve heard it said that it might be good, if we could just reschedule the holidays for some time around May 1st.   An interesting idea. I guess we’d have to bring in a snowmaking...

This season of Peace on Earth can feel like one big, fat contradiction.  A Joy to the World outlook doesn’t easily flow when we   are all rowing fast and furiously to stay afloat in the rough waters of some very real challenges. And for...

This is the start of the season of Advent in many faith traditions.  It is a time of intentional waiting. The practice of lighting four candles placed in an evergreen wreath against the backdrop of a dark winter night underscores...

You hear a lot about gratitude at this time of year. Sometimes gratitude is as easy to access as turning on a faucet of running water. Milestones, celebrations and achievements all make for grateful hearts.  The fact is sometimes...

The holidays are coming up as fast as a V8 sports car speeding on a super-highway. Vrrooooom! And for families living in the midst of the challenges of the family systems illness of substance use disorder, this time of year makes...