Summer is in full swing, and I'm stuck finding the balance of being a fun, spontaneous, and carefree mom and struggling with the daily challenge to purposefully engage our children's hearts and minds amidst their expectation of total relaxation and lots of screen time. Yes, our kids have more free time on their hands, and I have lots of work ...
Last fall, I started a youth group at our little country church. I was excited and planned a bunch of fun and meaningful activities for the kids. That first night, I stood under the white steeple, waiting and praying for the kids to show up. Only seven teens came; two of them were my own. I was a little deflated. I questioned my abilities to ...
My in-laws bought a beautiful SUV with pristine paint and not a dent in sight. They came to visit us for the weekend, and my mother-in-law needed to run an errand. She offered to let me drive. I promptly backed the aforementioned SUV directly into a trailer parked behind it. I cried. My mother-in-law might have too. In the moment after the ...
“It’s here!” I exclaimed to myself in the parking lot of the post office. My wedding cake topper was finally here! Planning a wedding has a lot of joyous moments – finding the dress, picking your bridesmaids and the venue, planning your future with your fiancé. And while all that was special for me, finding the perfect cake topper was an extra ...
I am afraid of the ocean. I’m afraid of its unpredictability, the way the waves never come in the same way, the way it changes so quickly with the tide and the wind. I’m afraid of its depth and its expanse, the way I can’t see down to its floor or see its end beyond the horizon. The ocean has moods that change with its color, and out of fear, I ...
The conditions may not have been ideal for a race. Gray, overcast skies. Muddy, slippery trail. Of course, the elements rarely deter trail runners. They show up rain or shine for the pure adventure of the race. My friend Heather and I donned running parkas and set out at the sound of the starting whistle. We were filled with gleeful ...
When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus. “Friends,” Jesus called to them, “you don’t have any fish, do you?” “No,” they answered. “Cast the net on the right side of the boat,” he told them, “and you’ll find some.” So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish. ...
The older my kids get — my youngest turns fourteen this month — the more I try to imagine what our empty nest years will look like. Because we spread the births of our eight children over nineteen years, we will have lived with children at home for at least thirty-seven years when that time comes. Our family has lived loud and large for a long ...
Sometimes the world can make you feel small. It can be a crowded place with so many voices. Loud. Insistent that you have to show something for who you are and what you have to offer. What you hold in your heart — faith, hope, and love — can feel inadequate. As you see what others are offering, you may be tempted to put your hopes and ...
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 1 John 3:16 (NIV) I haven’t watched a full broadcast of the ten o'clock evening news in years. I realized the news was giving me nightmares. It seemed that each night, the news became darker, more ...
