News & Current Events

Did you imagine that your life would go exactly the way it has? {pauses and takes a deep breath} Me neither. Life is a series of events that leads us down a sometimes unforeseeable path, but can bring us right to where we were always meant to be. Someone whom I love and trust introduced me to Brene Brown about four years ago. “Who is this Brene Brown?"...I heard you just mumble. If you don’t already know, she is a qualitative “researcher+storyteller” and a professor at the University of Houston studying vulnerability, shame and courage. She has several New York Times best selling books, travels the country helping folks from CEOs to the CIA, has been featured on TEDtalks and Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday series....

Sharing Is NOT Caring :: The Exploitation of Children on Facebook It was an ordinary day. I was casually checking my Facebook messages when I was stopped in my tracks. The message read: "I just wanted to let you know that someone is using your son's image to gain likes on Facebook." Included with the message was a link to that certain someone. Holding my breath, I clicked the link and there was my sweet boy, Connor. The photo was from 2011 during one of his routine EEGs that he received yearly to monitor his seizure activity. Along with his photo was a caption that read, "Nobody care to pray for Farnando - Can he even get your 1 Like, Amen, and Share." This someone...

  Out with the old; in with the new! A new year brings with it new opportunities, outlooks and goals. Many have been quick to toss 2016 by the wayside, which I totally understand. Despite all the negativity though, looking back I've realized it's been a pretty good year for my family and we have a lot for which to be thankful. I've written before about our constant focus on social media. The ever-present pressure to compete, collide or pose for the perfect selfie is a part of our everyday lives. While I hate the devastation, hatred and turmoil I've seen on social media in 2016, this year inside my little bubble life has been pretty darn pleasant and has given...

While 2016 wasn't without some challenges, we are looking forward to a bright future in 2017 with Red Stick Moms Blog! We truly appreciate each and every one of you and the community we’ve built together. Over the course of 2016, in addition to launching our community neighborhood groups, Red Stick Moms Blog had over 760,000 page views, reached 470,000+ unique readers and hosted six successful events. To cap off 2016, we wanted to share our 10 most popular blog posts from the past year. They are stories of faith, humor, loss, marriage, motherhood and so much more. We hope you enjoy re-visiting them as much as we did.  Top 10 Blog Posts on Red Stick Moms Blog in 2016 1. 10 Things NOT to Say to...

Editor's note: this post was a collaboration between two of our contributors, Sarah Joy Hays and Kodi Wilson.  Our South Louisiana communities saw the worst natural disaster in 100 years, the Great Flood of 2016. Five months later, the current status is a sobering one. As you decorate your homes with trees, ornaments and lights, and dive head first into Christmas lists, please take a moment to think of these families and consider their needs this time of year. Many families are finding out they will still be in temporary housing until the spring, while others are finding out they won't even get a FEMA trailer until the first of the year so they can keep rebuilding. Yet others are finding...