The Price of Motherhood and Christmas

The popular Christmas song by Boney M rings in my head: “Mary’s boy child Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day….Hark the Herald angels sing”

It sounds like it was a glorious birth experience, doesn’t it? Yet Mary had just traveled a couple  days on the back of a donkey, at full term! Now that couldn’t have been fun or very comfortable, although maybe it did help to get labor started if there was any doubt that her son Jesus would arrive late to his divinely scheduled birthday. Hopefully Joseph and Mary had been to some kind of birthing prep class because I don’t see mention of any doula or midwife present at this birth…

Motherhood is truly wonderful for the most part, but it does have its challenges, which for some moms, perhaps like Mary, begin before baby is even born. As the baby grows, mom can develop back pain, pubic symphysis pain, which makes even getting in...

A week ago the sports world was rocked by news of the sudden death of the sports legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter in a helicopter crash.

He was 41 years old. I am not a big follower of sports myself, but was familiar with his name, so he must have been somebody big. As reports started rolling in, I learned more about this long time Lakers player and started hearing the same type of things over and over again....

Kobe was known for his relentless commitment to excellence in his craft, he was the epitome of a sports legend, always pushing himself to be better, his "Mamba Mantality" of never being satisfied with where he was, always striving for more. Fox News described him as having a zest for live, a "drive that was infectious". He inspired others to chase their own vision as he chased his.

Some, if not many, would probably say that Kobe lived life to the full. Even after retiring from basketball, it is said that he threw himself into being a great dad to his four daughters. My...