Well, this is the Christmas of tragic discovery . . . Lela caught me moving the elf on the shelf! It was high drama, lots of tears, lots of questions. Even as she and Luke admitted they were skeptical (“I saw the elves for sale in the store, so I was suspicious”), they still want […]
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share via emailMean Christians, Flawed Church, and Why I’m All-In
“Christian” – a word that should evoke a positive response . . . images of people who desire to be like Jesus, loving and giving and serving. But the word “Christian” comes with a lot of baggage and, to many, it carries a negative connotation. Often the images associated are those of mean-spirited, judgmental people […]
Retriever Revelations
This is our Golden Retriever, Bailie. She actually teaches me a lot. When it comes to “spiritual growth,” I’d rather read a book or attend a conference (you know, conventional/predictable learning), but God prefers to teach me through the dog, the kids, and in the everyday grind of life. (As you might sense here, we […]
Contagious Kindness
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” (Winston Churchill) Over the weekend, I kept seeing an unread message in Facebook messenger, but I didn’t recognize the name, so I let it sit there for a couple of days. Finally, curiosity got the best of me, […]
Defiant Love
We often think of Christians as a bunch of rule followers, people with a long list of “do’s” and “don’ts,” keeping score (ahem, maybe a wee bit judgmental?). But (in my opinion) Christians are supposed to be countercultural rebels, defiant in love. Jesus gave us a living example of God’s love, and it’s reckless and defiant. […]
The Beautiful Oops (a dead battery, a walk in the woods, a divorce, and how a simple board book connects them all)
Lela is my little writer. She is constantly coming to us with a new “book.” She recently finished a book called “The Beautiful Oops” and I was so captivated by the idea, I asked her where she came up with it, and she said it was her version of a real book they read in […]
God’s Sneaky Mirror
I feel certain I’m not alone in this, but I really don’t like the way I’ve been affected by the political environment this year (and I promise, this is NOT a political post!). Because of social media, I think it’s harder to get emotional distance from it. I used to brace myself for the daily […]
Talk Prison: A Dream Gone Wrong
It’s hard to be married to a talker. I wouldn’t really know, because I AM the talker, but my kids talk nonstop, and have enlightened me on how draining it is to have so much “noise.” All. The. Time. Honestly, I find myself tiring sometimes. I’ve been trying to learn how to meditate, but my […]
Crazy Little Joy-Spreader (that I call, Mama)
This time last year, my Mom was visiting us in Massachusetts and she ended up in the hospital with a heart condition (atrial fibrillation). Thankfully, everything turned out all right, but it was a little scary. Ironically, it is not the fear that stayed with me from that experience – it was the joy that […]
The Beauty in the Blah, Blah, Blah
Maybe I’m revealing a parenting flaw here, but occasionally, the kids bring me a book, and it is a big wordy book that I have neither the time nor energy to read. So I’ll “skip” a little, and leave out a few details, to move things along. The kids can read well enough that I […]
