Here we go again. Pandering to the .3 percent of the American population that consider themselves transgender. Now I get to explain this to my 8-year-old, if I just wanted to watch a nice family show with some nice music.

The challenging part of parenting is to stick to your ideals and not give in.

To me, faith is being thankful when things in life are going well and also being thankful when they are not. Its often through our most difficult times when faith lifts us up and gives us the courage and the strength to work even harder to accomplish a new goal or do something we never thought we could.

I learned that I had to work triply hard every time I started a new job in a newsroom to prove my value and worth.

I grew up a fat kid in a small town in Minnesota who was a tomboy and happened to play a mean violin. My goal was to be a famous concert artist some day.

Through the many struggles in my life, my faith is sometimes the only thing I have to hold onto. God was my only friend.

There are no guarantees in life, but I believe faith provides all of us with a foundation to live the best lives possible - knowing that there is a higher being who loves us and will never leave us.