Gaining a heart of wisdom
“Do you always read to your kids like that?” she queried. My friend was referring to my rendition of a Dr. Seuss classic delivered at tongue-twister speed from a rocking chair in the church nursery: “Would you like them in a house?Would you like them with a mouse?Would you eat them in a box?Would you… Continue reading How To Cultivate a Healthy Relationship with Time When You’re Hardwired for Hurry
Along the wooded trail behind my home, a birch tree arches in a graceful curve as it stretches across the pathway. It’s a veteran of a good many northern New England ice storms and knows what it is to bow low under a weight of snow and frozen rain. Even though its tip-top branches have… Continue reading Solid Theology and the Gift of Community: Keys to Resilient Mothering
In this new year, it's time to sing blessing over our loved ones and over the year. It's time to be a blessing and to live blessed by remembering the generosity of a faithful God whose promises are solid and whose power is absolute. The words we say (and even the words we think) are… Continue reading Happy New Year Blessings for You and Your Loved Ones
Advent Series Part Three: Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6) Both my grandsons have been created in the express image of their fathers, which amounts to a temperamental salad bar of sensitivity, willfulness, and a worldview that sees all of life as a multiple-choice quiz--and all the answers are "None of the Above." This shared understanding has… Continue reading The Importance and the Blessing of an Understanding Father
Are you ready? The holiday chain reaction has already begun with Christmas cards and huge inflatable Santas crowding out the pumpkins and the ghoulish costumes long before the back-to-school clearance bins have been packed away. A posture of resistance to the retail rush requires a better strategy, one with "expulsive power" to counteract the pressure… Continue reading The Expulsive Power of a Better Strategy for the Holiday Chain Reaction
By the time I was 21, I had been thoroughly inoculated against any threat of marriage by the wistful comments of my married friends: “Oh, you can do that now, but just wait till you get married and have kids…” They painted an image of a small, constricted world with no scented candles (dangerous open… Continue reading 3 Mothering Insights I Learned on the Job, but Wish I Had Known from the Start
I can still remember where I was sitting on the Sunday morning when I realized that I could do everything I knew to pass the baton of faith to my children, and they might not choose to follow Christ. I could bring them to church, have consistent family devotions, teach them to read their own… Continue reading Family Discipleship: Whose Job Is It and Why Is It Important?
Happy Father's Day! If you have a loving dad in your home, or if you grew up in a home where there was a supportive and involved father, you have so much to celebrate! Children are blessed when their father contributes his unique gifts, perspectives, and personality to the family. One of the best gifts… Continue reading The Best Father’s Day Gift: A Loving Dad
My parents and my husband Calvin's parents met for the first time over a lobster dinner, two nights before our May 12 wedding. That was thirty-two years ago, but I still remember my apprehension. Our two worlds were colliding there at my mother-in-law's sprawling dining room table. If you had asked me then, I'd have… Continue reading One Guiding Question that Will Impact the Story of Your Marriage
Armed with passwords and last year’s tax forms, we gathered at the dining room table with my youngest son and his new wife. They had asked for help in the annual ritual of completing the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which college students must submit in order to qualify for scholarships of… Continue reading Mothering Ourselves Out of a Job: Launching Our Children into Adulthood with Joy
Living Our Days 