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Our Father Is Still In Control

Wow, parents…we have made it to August!!! For that we should be high fiving and patting ourselves on the back. Next up… the fall! The beginning of school year, or not, or yes, or we don’t know yet. While things may still be seemingly out of our control, we first need to remember they are not out of our Father’s control. We can be still in that. And regardless of what your family decides to do, or the district decides, one thing we can control is what and how we communicate things to our kiddos. What are they seeing in […]

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Ginger Martin and American National Bank Strengthen Community During Pandemic

South Florida’s community banker, Ginger Martin, president of American National Bank (ANB), championed the cause of South Florida churches, nonprofits and small businesses during the mad dash to secure funding through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) beginning in April. When COVID hit and the world was shutting down, there was a lot of fear. The CARES Act originally left it unclear who qualified and how it would work. With businesses closed, church giving on the decline and nonprofits forced to cancel fundraisers, quick approval of the PPP was a lifeline for many. “Ginger and Amy Mahaney, her chief loan officer, […]

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The Tale of Two Families

I was recently blessed to share the mission and history of Live the Life South Florida with a group of people outside of Florida. A wise man approached me afterward and said, “Good job, but remember, you tell them, and then you tell them again.” I laughed and thought, how very true. Studies suggest that repeated statements are perceived as more truthful than statements made less frequently. In simple terms: Frequency breeds familiarity, and familiarity breeds trust. Not only do consumers remember an account that gets repeated, but they are also more likely to believe it, and think it is […]

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Refocus Your Family

Usually when we think of July, we think of celebrations, cook outs, fireworks, beach days, maybe even family vacations…but this year is different. These times for our country are so tumultuous, so uncertain. We can’t however, continue living in a state of survival mode in our homes. We are going on month five of living in what seems moment to moment, and February’s normalcy seems like a life time ago. So what can we do? We can try as a family to shift our focus.    Faith The first thing we can focus on as a family is our Faith.  […]

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CBMC Fosters Authentic Relationships in the Marketplace

Men are challenged in the marketplace and often struggle to find community. The Christian Business Men’s Connection (CBMC) provides that community to help men grow professionally, spiritually and personally, explained Steve Solomon, area director of South Florida CBMC. Founded in Chicago in 1930 just two years into the Great Depression, CBMC expanded to Fort Lauderdale in the 1950’s to present the Gospel and develop Christian business and professional men to carry out the Great Commission. In recent months, South Florida CBMC has expanded to include groups in 22 cities reaching from Fort Pierce to South Miami. Perhaps their most well-known […]

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Life’s Ledgers: What’s your Balance?

Our core expectations for close relationships are affected by all of our previous close relationships, whether with parents, siblings, former spouses, lovers or friends. At certain periods in our life significant people, or even life itself through specific events that affected us, ran up a series of debits or credits in terms of what you needed. Time passes, we walk through life’s revolving door, marry and hand our bill balance over to our spouse. Our spouse gets a credit or a debit for what others did or did not do. If my account has many positive experiences from the past […]

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Can There Be A Good Fight?

Can there by a good fight? Good Fight, Bad Fight, Dirty Fight: Dirty fighting is whenever you use EITHER active; HEAVY HANDED control tactics or PASSIVE- AGGRESSIVE tactics to resolve an issue. It’s a form of manipulation.

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We Need You Dads

Dads have a lot on their plate right now. So many have had their work disrupted by COVID. Many have been trying to juggle working from home and helping with homeschool. Some have even been furloughed or let go.  One thing we all hope that you realize through this season, and every season, is how much we need you. There are so many things that dads do that have such a big impact on their children. Their leadership and love of their family is so important through this unsettled time. They can be the strength that brings security to their […]

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When Good Leaders Lose Their Way

With a Ph. D. in Nutritional Biochemistry from Cornell University in hand, Mark Whitacre worked for Fortune 500 companies Ralston Purina and Degussa (Evonik) before he was hired at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) at age 32 as president of the BioProducts Division. He was the youngest Divisional President in the history of the company, and in just six years their fermentation complex became one of the largest in the world. He became a Corporate Vice President of ADM and was the leading candidate to become the next company president until poor judgment and high-level corruption brought his world crashing down. […]

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15 Local Foster Youth Shattering National Graduation Statistics

Filling out applications to pursue her extravagant dreams, unwanted memories flooded Beatrice’s thoughts from her past. Beatrice, a foster youth at Place of Hope who is graduating from Palm Beach Gardens High Shool, explained how filling out FAFSA and scholarship applications, although exciting, is also a heart wrenching process for her and all of the other foster youth who desire to attend college. As the students do not have an array of information on their immediate family, they are unable to answer a vast amount of questions on these applications. Given the troubling situation foster youth face at this exciting […]

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