(Click here to listen to a podcast of this column.)

The other evening, I taught a lesson to my son, Craig, and Andrew, my grandson. They were staying with me while all the young women in the family had gone to a girls’ camp. I asked the boys to imagine an old-fashioned wagon wheel, with a central hub and spokes going out to the rim of the metal around the outside of the wheel.

I told them to imagine that each spoke represented a part of a balanced life. One spoke stood for our spiritual life, one stood for our education, one for our social life, one for our work and one for our physical body. There could be other spokes, but these are the most important.

ACTRESS: Hi, I am Sally Put Off A Lot. I have a confession to make. The church preparedness committee asked me six months ago to have a skit for the activity tomorrow, and I said I would, but these last three weeks have been so hectic. I mean with the wind and everything, and the shopping, and summer break, and my schedule being disrupted at every turn.

Every single one of my 250 friends contacted me 45 times on Facebook and I had to send them all a gift. You know how that is, and the wind ... wasn’t that just terrible. I thought the whole town was going to blow away, then I had to sweep dust a foot deep out of my basement!