@carol_mcclain Recently I moved from northern New York, from a rural community closer to Montreal than any US city. Tennessee offered a vastly different world, and more than the differences I found here, I was a newcomer. Friend groups had been established, and being an introvert, working my way into them proved difficult. I was a …[ read more ]

By Carol McClain @carol_mcclain   Gratitude improves physical health. Grateful people experience fewer aches and pains and report feeling healthier than other people, according to a 2012 study published in  Personality and Individual Differences. Not surprisingly, grateful people are also more likely to take care of their health. They exercise more often and are more likely to attend regular check-ups, which …[ read more ]

By Carol McClain @carol_mcclain According to Psychology Today, (http://bit.ly/2sRBIR0), gratitude improves relationships. Can you imagine why? While sitting in the teacher’s room, a colleague and I had an agreeable conversation between grading papers. In came “Bud.” He never had a positive thing to say. “Bellyache, bellyache…” My friend had the good fortune to need hearing aids. …[ read more ]

By Carol McClain @carol_mcclain You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Ps. 23:5 We live our lives denying the fact they will end. Or else, we expect, as Christians, that our lives will be pain-free if we have the right combination …[ read more ]