On the way home from preschool, my middle daughter usually keeps up a steady stream of inane chatter. She talks about the art projects she did that morning and conversations we had yesterday. I give myself permission to listen with only one ear, rotating through several noncommittal exclamations. “Really? Hm. That sounds interesting.” But this […]
I had to slam my freezer shut and lean on it hard to keep it closed. I couldn’t stop looking up listicles about vegetables with long shelf lives. But I didn’t want anyone else to know I had turned into a closet doomsday prepper, so I cautiously kept sending my son to school. He started […]
The first time I walked into a MOPS group, I was eight months pregnant with my first child. As an icebreaker, we drew a handful of m&ms and then shared information about ourselves based on the colors in our pile. If you drew a yellow m&m, you said where you grew up. A green m&m […]
I get up and pad softly across the room to pour myself a mug of coffee, pulling the pot out from the machine while it is still running and leaning over the steaming mug to catch a little extra warmth. Maybe I should risk going upstairs and waking the kids so I can grab a […]
This year, one of my major happiness goals is to make a big deal out of celebrating Easter. I got to thinking after a talk at my moms group last year: why is Christmas such a huge deal, but Easter is a second-rate holiday? I don’t know about you, but at least at our house, […]
New year, new beginning. I am a person who gets completely inspired by planning ahead, but I tend to get overwhelmed by the reality of actually executing all my goals. I make resolutions and break them. I agree to things I regret when the time comes to follow through. Sometimes I give myself a goal […]
She’s here, she’s here, she’s here! Introducing my lovely little daughter, Violet. She started out a tiny little squirt, despite arriving nearly two weeks late! You will have to pardon my delay in posting (she is nearly 3 weeks old now!), but life with three kiddos has been beautifully exhausting. I am still right in […]
Hello, friends. It sure has been a while since I’ve written here, but I hope you’ll extend some grace to me! I found out on New Year’s Day that I am expecting a new little one, and wow has she been requiring all of my energy! (And so have my other two tots. All the […]
“The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that [you] might have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 Sometimes, a thief comes to steal my joy. But he does it reeeeal sneaky-like. It sounds a little bit like this: “You’re on vacation! Live your life on vacation ‘to […]
My mom had so many pearls of wisdom for me when I was a kid. Most of the time, I probably rolled my eyes at her when she would repeat one of her classic phrases, but as an adult, some things resonate more clearly. Like this: Garbage in, garbage out. Luke even affirms this for […]