As the sun slides behind the front range mountains of our Colorado town, my family of five slides into our seats for a late dinner at home. Over tasty Change Your Life Chicken, Ethan asks me to retell a story from his when-he-was-little years. I set my fork down, run my paper napkin across my mouth before placing it next to my dinner ...
After moving to the sparsely landscaped Albuquerque, New Mexico, I discovered the most vibrant group of friends within a local church’s Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) group. When the day dawned on our second year in that arid desert town, I eagerly anticipated joining MOPS once again and connecting with those same awash-with-life mamas. The ...
I’m tap tap tapping on my keyboard inside the Starbucks at Target when a dad carrying two infant carriers, one in each hand like barbells, comes in to sit at the table next to me. The carriers are draped with matching sky-blue blankets, and I smile knowing it’s likely twin boys snugged under them. Since I’m also the mama of twin boys, I’m ...
Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to God! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his— his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. For the Lord is good, and his ...
My voice rings throughout the house: Faith! Cora! I hear nothing in return from my daughter and her friend. I walk out the front door calling their names again, then I immediately hear laughter from the scarlet maple near the porch. I see Faith right away, but Cora takes a bit of searching. She hides in plain sight among the branches. Every so ...
In 7th grade, I rode the school bus with this older, towheaded kid who liked to give everyone -- myself included -- a hard time. I got on the bus before him each morning, so I could usually count on him throwing a remark or two my way as he passed my seat to find his own at the tail end of the bus. His favorite thing to comment on to me? The ...
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are ...
A short while ago, I met the Most Perky Panera Employee ever. Her name tag read Anna, and she sported a cute pixie cut that made her Panera apron look like something from a Paris runway. As she took my order, her words bounced throughout the store like a pep squad leader’s, cheerful and bright. Given the late evening time, I wondered if she’d ...
Around this time of year, the intricately designed columbine flowers in my Colorado town push through the stubborn, still-hard earth while weathering snowstorms, hailstorms, and wildly fluctuating temperatures. And around this time of year, my thoughts turn to those youngest members of our military families. They push through hard times and ...
I woke up to my phone’s alarm, the screen radiating a too-early time. I ambled downstairs and flipped on our gas stove before walking into the kitchen and pulling my chai latte fixings from the fridge. It wasn’t till I dropped two pieces of bread in the toaster that I noticed the entire room blazed coral pink. Grabbing my phone, I slipped open ...
