By Debra Torres
I woke up at 5a.m. that morning and started thinking of all things I had on my plate that day.

Why not get up now? I thought, and my mind raced to cover all the things I could accomplish with the extra hours. I had gone to bed at midnight the night before, but so what if I was running on adrenaline 

– it would be a productive day regardless of how little sleep I got, right?

It was long past lunch on another busy day -- and I was still working. My body was screaming for food –oh, I heard it loud and clear. But if I could just get one more thing done, it would set me that much ahead. Trying to ignore my stomach and wade through the increasing fuzziness in my brain, I lumbered on – sure I was making the right choice by pushing myself.

I thought I had it rough until I ...

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By Debra Torres
The mouse that frequented the counter space behind my toaster must have enjoyed the buffet of forgotten breadcrumbs we provided it – because it kept coming back.

And, judging from the “presents” it left for us, I knew it was telling me that it was enjoying its stay.

But I wasn’t.

Each time I saw evidence of that mouse, I’d remove everything from the counter and clean it with a good antibacterial spray. I knew from the get go that mouse needed to leave.

So, I asked my husband to do the deed, and he worked as humanely as possible placing a bit of peanut butter in a trap that would capture the mouse but not kill it.

He placed the trap back where the toaster had been, and we hoped for the best.

But the trap that had caught many a mouse already for us was no match for this toaster mouse.    

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By Debra Torres
I woke up early and started my usual stretching routine that morning -- twisting and turning a bit so I’d be limber for the day. 

During one of my stretches, I hit the floor and read from my little daily prayer calendar.

In it, there was a powerful message about maintaining good family relationships and a scripture reference to the phrase: “Repairer of the Breach” stuck with me throughout the week.

My calendar, “The Power of a Praying Parent,” based on the book by Stormie Omartian, said this: “God tells of all the wonderful things that will happen when we fast and pray. He says, ‘You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach’ (Isaiah 58:12). 

"God wants us to restore unity, to maintain the family bonds in the Lord, and to leave a spiritual inheritance of solidarity that can last for generations.”

Looking up the word “breach,” on Dictionary.com, I found it to mean: “an infraction or violation, as of a law, trust, faith, or promise and a severance of friendly relations.”

If you’ve lived a few years relating to others on this planet, I’m guessing you know, just like me, exactly what a breach is.

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God loves your family even more than you do. And it makes Him happy when we "dwell together in unity" (Psalm 133:1b).

By Debra Torres
The parental advisory sticker on the CD Arlene wanted to buy threw her off a bit. 

She loved the artist’s music, particularly one of his songs, and was finally going to own his CD for herself.

But why the sticker?

It warned that there was profane language or sexual references in the CD’s lyrics. Odd, thought Arlene, the song she was after was anything but inappropriate.

So she went ahead and bought the CD and even the songbook to boot.

But when Arlene got home and listened to the entire CD – she totally understood the reason for the sticker. ...

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