My preschooler and I awake to a soft pitter-patter. We watch as God wrings cotton ball clouds over thirsty garden bed. Droplets trickle down pane and...
I didn’t have high expectations when my daughter was born. Really, I didn’t. I wanted her to be herself, to get to know her, to learn...
Most days, I believe my seventeen-month-old is doing just fine. He seems to be on track developmentally. He’s discovering the freedom of walking, giggling at his...
My heart was heavy with such a big change on the horizon. Jackie, our Senior Publisher who I worked closely with, had just peeped into my...
When we decided to come back home, I fearfully whispered to my husband, “Aren’t we giving them the exact same?” The Exact Same was what we...
Quickly leaving the Wal-Mart parking lot in my oh-so-ugly peeling-paint light-blue Dodge Caravan, I had the birthday party supplies and seven-year-old in tow. Another eighth birthday-party...
During the year in which my husband CJ and I tried unsuccessfully to conceive a child, I thought often about the word “barren.” According to Webster’s...
I am so tired of it. So tired of cleaning up throw up. So tired of changing another blasted diaper. So tired of trying to discipline...
It all started when both my sister-in-law and my husband’s grandmother got themselves hospitalized for serious illnesses in the same week. Just when they both were...
Talitha. The word is Aramaic for “little girl,” and it is the middle name my husband and I chose for our daughter. The word comes from...
At 38 weeks and 6 days I felt anxious to see my baby. Although most women don’t feel overdue until after their 40th week, this was...
If ever there was an inconvenient pregnancy, it was Mary of Nazareth’s. Her pregnancy was miraculous, but it also put her in a tenuous situation. As...
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines nurture as “training, upbringing.” When I step back and look at the way I was nurtured as a child and young adult, I...
Growing up, I wanted to live a radical life for God. I imagined myself a modern Amy Carmichael living in a foreign country, writing books, and...
A blacksmith stands near the fire, a metal rod in his burly hands. The metal’s tip hovers over the flame and transforms into an orange glow....
“Boys, watch out for your brother, alright?” “Stay away from the edge of the deck. And especially don’t hang over the side.” “I don’t think you’re...
"Loving Our Kids on Purpose" encouraged me to keep the door to relationship open with my children.
The door opens. I hear the creeping patter of little feet. Hushed whispers—and then it comes—like little cubs playfully attacking their mother, I’m sprung on by...