It was Boxing Day when my husband spied the wishbone on the windowsill and called our two youngest children into the kitchen. “Wrap your pinky finger around it like this,” he demonstrated. “Now, each of you, make a wish and pull.” Our fourteen-year-old daughter knew exactly what she wanted. If … [Read more...] about The Gift That’s Perfect (Whether Life Is or Not)
Family
Seeing a Homemade Christmas With New Eyes
It’s my husband’s birthday today, and I have a little secret to share with you — the house is already decorated for Christmas! You see, there’s kind of an unwritten rule around here that holiday decor shouldn’t come out until after John’s birthday. But this year he happens to be deployed on a … [Read more...] about Seeing a Homemade Christmas With New Eyes
Keep Singing
We stood in Walmart’s school supply aisle today, checking things off my daughter’s shopping list for her first year of university. As she and I debated the merits of loose leaf in a binder with divider tabs versus single subject notebooks, I suddenly recognized a familiar tune playing on the … [Read more...] about Keep Singing
Make Your To-Do List Matter
One look at my current to-do list would tell you a tale of changing seasons in my family’s life. And it’s not just the mile-long section of tasks to complete before my husband’s six month deployment. It’s the note to remind my oldest daughter to get that scholarship application in before the … [Read more...] about Make Your To-Do List Matter
Hope for the Humble (when you need to change but don’t know how to)
Have you ever been told that “things need to change” or “you need to change,” but you have no idea what that really means? You know you need to be less like this and more like that, but you don’t know how to get to this or that. You can’t seem to break your ultimate goal into action steps, so it all … [Read more...] about Hope for the Humble (when you need to change but don’t know how to)
Nothing but Loved When You Feel Anything but Beautiful
Last night after discussing serious subjects at the supper table — our nightly Bible reading, inflation, property tax hikes, tidbits from yesterday’s chemistry lesson about ionic and covalent bonding — I ran upstairs to get ready for my weekly date night with my husband. The woman who greeted me in … [Read more...] about Nothing but Loved When You Feel Anything but Beautiful
