Gaining a heart of wisdom
Middles will never be my favorite—not even with a pan of brownies! The middle feels uncertain, and the transition from one shore to another may even become turbulent and dangerous. In our marriages and families, in our careers, and in our ministries, life's shifting seasons can be disorienting. In times of shifting seasons, we're tempted… Continue reading Finding Joy in Seasons of Major Life Adjustment
One spring day, floor plans and scholarship applications littered my dining room table. The talk around dinner was all about the future as one son was building a house and another (the youngest!) was looking forward to graduation. Life as I knew it then was about to undergo a drastic change here on this country… Continue reading Awkward Questions of the Empty Nest and Answers Shaped by Love
My son rolled his eyes in disdain as he vented his outrage. “Doesn’t she know she’s a grown up? There’s nothing cool about an old person trying to act like a kid!” Leave it to youth to give us the straight and unvarnished story. We’ve all witnessed the desperate measures of the middle-aged, stuck in… Continue reading Spiritual Formation at Mid-Life and Beyond
The number of plates on my dining room table had been a constant so dependable that I could set the table on auto-pilot. Often the number would swell to account for guests or shrink when one of us was visiting elsewhere. However, the ebb and flow always had a fixed point of return--until it didn't.… Continue reading How to Thrive After Your Kids Leave Home
The layers of life, in all their overwhelming proportions, call for a large God. The unexpected diagnosis, the many ways in which we disappoint ourselves, and the messiness of the generations all seem to come home to roost during middle age as parents depart this world and adult children come into their own. Margie Nethercott… Continue reading Finding a Network of Life-Giving Friendship
Living Our Days 