Game Plan for Life: Joe Gibbs’ Playbook for Success

"What better Christmas gift to give to a rabid football fan than a book by Coach Joe Gibbs? Especially since the gift Gibbs writes about is an eternal one.

There aren’t many American men do not know the name Joe Gibbs. He’s a member of the NFL Hall of Fame, and former head coach of the Washington Redskins who led the team to three Super Bowl championships. He’s also a three-time NASCAR champion."

Click here for more on Coach Gibbs and his 'Game Plan for Life.'

Interfaith Youth Core founder will be 1st Muslim to deliver keynote address at Greater Chicago Leadership Breakfast

"Eboo Patel's earliest opportunity to find common ground with people of other faiths involved hot dogs.

Embarrassed at age 6 that he had to haul halal hot dogs to a friend's party, he sneaked into the kitchen to hand his kosher franks to the hostess. There, he discovered the Jewish kids doing the same."

Click here to read more of this story.

Participate in a Miracle: Prisoners’ Children Need You Now

"'I want to tell you about a Christmas miracle. And how you can be part of one through Angel Tree.'

The speaker is Mark Earley, president and CEO of Prison Fellowship. This organization ministers to the families of prisoners, in the name of Jesus.

Read about the Christmas miracle he references and how Prison Fellowship is working to make a difference in the lives of the unmentioned victims of crime, the families of the perpetrators."

To learn more about this ministry, click here.

BookTrends: Advent Conspiracy: Can Christmas Still Change the World?

"Rick McKinley, Chris Seay, and Greg Holder have written a book looking at the meaning of Christ's coming to that manger in Bethlehem and the world in general. Take a look at an excerpt from this powerful book."

Click here to learn more.

Achievement program looks to keep kids from getting lost in middle school

"At first the idea of regularly staying after school until 8 in the evening seemed 'cool' to 11-year-old Kaelah Williams, but then the reality sank in that she would have to give up her afternoons to read and do math problems for hours longer than her friends.

But the thin, spirited girl signed up for Higher Achievement anyway and in just two months she has made an exciting discovery while taking part in the after-school program at Collington Square Elementary/Middle School."

Click here for more on how students are discovering that learning can be fun and rewarding.

Dogged by boredom: What is it that makes a person interesting?

"We had just explored the Olympic Sculpture Park at the edge of Puget Sound, with works by Alexander Calder, Claes Oldenburg, Richard Serra, and Louise Nevelson, including an amazing giant cedar log inside a climate-controlled greenhouse, covered with plants and mosses to reproduce the process of forest decay, in which the viewers are said to be part of the art. Freight trains rumble through and under the site, while across the sound to the west, the Olympic Mountains create a monumental counterpoint."

To find out how one man looks at this thorny question, click here.

Back to Reality: Watching Others' Lives, and Watching Our Own

"What’s on TV tonight? Other people’s private lives, often in excruciating, appalling, and grubby detail.

On The Learning Channel, you can watch total strangers try on their wedding gowns while the salon staff makes catty comments about the bride and her family behind their backs. Or watch the Duggars raising their 'Eighteen Kids and Counting,' Jon and Kate and their brood of eight, or the 10 offspring in 'Table for Twelve.'”

Click here for more from Anne Morse.