Celeste Edmunds childhood was an ongoing cycle of police calls, fighting, and physical, sexual, and mental abuse. At age 7, she was taken by the state and placed into a child welfare system, where moving every few months to a new environment became normal. So did living out of a garbage bag. By age sixteen, Celeste had lived in more than 30 cities.

Her childhood was a difficult and often unbearable experience where evil manipulation almost broke her spirit. But there were also caring people along the way who stepped in to do what they could to protect and nurture her, and as an adult, Celeste looks back at those moments and realizes that they saved her life. Celeste's goal is to help as many children in the child welfare system have the opportunities for success that I was not provided.

In this Episode Celeste discusses her book, Garbage Bag Girl as well as her work as Executive Director of Christmas Box International.

For More information on Celeste and to order the book go to www.celesteedmunds.com

Richard Paul Evans is the #1 bestselling author of The Christmas Box. He has since written 41 consecutive New York Times bestsellers and is one of the few authors in history to have hit both the fiction and non-fiction bestseller lists.

Richard joins the podcast to discuss his memoir, Sharing Too Much.

For more on Richard go to www.richardpaulevans.com

Diane Dreher, PhD, is the author of five nonfiction books including the best-selling Tao of Inner Peace. She is an award-winning university professor and positive psychology researcher whose work on hope has been recognized internationally. Her books, workshops, and webinars blend the wisdom of the past with powerful strategies from contemporary psychology and neuroscience to help us meet the challenges of our time with greater courage, creativity, and hope.

In this episode Diane discusses practical and scientifically based steps to find hope in challenging situation

For more information on Diane go to www.dianedreher.com