I slide into the booth at Kneaders opposite Salena, excited to chat with this woman I recently met but feel like I’ve known for years. Over her fruit tart and my breakfast croissant, she and I meander down a long road of conversation, lingering here and there at points of interest. She is a former Army wife and I am a former Air Force wife. As ...
Running a half-marathon and childbirth have one glaring similarity: you need time to erase the pain before you decide to subject yourself to it all over again. When I crossed the finish line of my first race everybody said, "Now you’re ready for a full marathon!" I said, "One and done. I’m ready for a full plate of food!" I had just run ...
“Should I be honest?” I wondered. “What if I start crying? What if she doesn’t really have time to listen? What if she is just asking to be nice? I could keep it simple and tell her I’m fine.” There I was, standing in the lobby at church waiting for my husband, when an old friend walked up and asked how I was doing. Our then three-year-old ...
As we get older, we get comfortable in our lives. Sometimes, we get a little too comfortable. I've seen this often play out in friendships. We get caught up in the busyness of our lives. We become intimidated to connect with new people. We easily let fear or disillusionment about community take over. Honestly, I tend to be someone who likes to ...
"He has told you what is good and what it is the LORD requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8 Our Walking Companion My family farms. With that comes miles and miles of old dirt roads. That means lots of country walks. And I love it. Sometimes a nice quiet walk by myself, with my ...
I sipped my coffee, tiredly waiting for the caffeine to hit my system, and watched while my daughter scurried around the kitchen, retrieving her items from every counter to fill her backpack. My teenagers know mom’s not a morning person and can luckily fend for themselves for breakfast while I attempt consciousness. Although my eyes were barely ...
I want to start off by saying He was always there. It was me that was lost, confused, searching. He stood steady waiting for me to find my way, waiting for me to put the world’s expectations aside and find my own way. The way He had created for me, the way that was uniquely mine. He was waiting for me to find my way back to Him, and this is the ...
It's January: everything around me reminds me it's time to ring in 2017 with new beginnings, goals, dreams and a renewed vigor to all things. Brand new journals glisten with fresh pages eager to be conquered and the artistry and craftsmanship of the bullet journal allows creatives the organizational prowess that makes the rest of us yearn to ...
It happens on the second Friday night of every month. Dinner with three girlfriends. One of us is single, two of us are married with teenage children, and one of us is married with grown children. We all love Jesus and seek to live for Him. And we have called each other friend for decades. On a recent Friday night, I came with a heavy heart. ...
It's been a week since the first (in)courage book - Craving Connection - became available, and we have had SUCH a fun time celebrating with you! You are gifting this book to your friends, your women's ministries, your sisters and mothers and neighbors. You are reading the words, allowing your heart to be open and impacted by the stories inside the ...
