The Unexpected Gift of Homemaking and What I Learned from Elisabeth Elliot

"Discipline is not my claim on Christ, but the evidence of His claim on me."

Today I attacked the kind of cleaning chores that I envision other more diligent and domestically devoted women doing all the time, the tidying that requires pulling furniture away from the wall, vacuuming under beds, and applying a ferocious dust cloth to the rungs of chairs and the hidden recesses of bookcases.  Homely household routines… Continue reading The Unexpected Gift of Homemaking and What I Learned from Elisabeth Elliot

Ash Wednesday in the Parenting Pressure Cooker

Ash Wednesday is a day to grow in our understanding of where to take our struggle with sin.

Strict practitioners would not have approved of my methods, but on one long ago mid-winter Wednesday, I smeared ashes on the foreheads of my two preschoolers and myself. An offering of the hardwood that had heated our home the day before, these ashes were not “ceremonially correct” in any way. At the time, I did… Continue reading Ash Wednesday in the Parenting Pressure Cooker

Self-Discipline: A Matter of Grit and Grace

Self-discipline is a matter of grit and grace.

With an empty house, a clean kitchen, laundry on the line (and even a sleeping dog!), it was a perfect afternoon to study or write. Deadlines were looming. However . . . the sun was shining, bath towels flapped and danced on the clothesline outside, and suddenly, while there was plenty that needed doing, the… Continue reading Self-Discipline: A Matter of Grit and Grace

Strength Training for Countercultural Women

People and books reserve the right to surprise us, and it's a real delight when both happen at the same time.  I opened the pages of Barbara Hughes's book expecting the equivalent of a heart-to-heart over a mug of steaming tea, an open Bible and a warm sharing of practices that have held us close to… Continue reading Strength Training for Countercultural Women