As a young man just out of medical school, my father abandoned the possibility of a lucrative practice in the U.S. and took off for Paraguay, South America. He was on a mission to provide medical services for people living in that remote and…
As I mentioned in the last blog, my husband and I are writing a book about the life and works of an extraordinary, complicated and devout man, my father. His name was Dr. John R. Schmidt, and he’s known in medical and missionary circles…
My husband and I are currently writing a book about the life and work of an extraordinary and complicated man. His name was Dr. John R. Schmidt, and he’s mostly known in medical circles around the world as the physician who changed how leprosy is…
You’d think, since my family lived in Paraguay, South America, that our Christmas traditions would be Hispanic, including pan dulce (a vanilla bread sort of resembling fruit cake), Papá Noel and cotton on our Christmas tree to simulate snow during the hot summer month of December. Not so. My…
I admit it. I love to volunteer at Thanksgiving and Christmas, doing whatever — cooking, serving meals, cleaning up. Although Ed and I give money to charities year-round, it’s mostly during the holidays when I feel called to show up in person to help. And that’s exactly…
If you Google “Holiday” and “Depression,” you’d think the vast majority of us fall into a deep funk during this time of merry celebration: Holiday Anxiety and Depression: Click for Survival Tips Holiday Depression: How to Beat the Holiday Blues this Christmas 11 Tips for Avoiding Holiday Depression Triggers It…