Gaining a heart of wisdom
One of the great gifts of living past middle age has been the opportunity for meaningful connections with younger women. Through conversations about faith, parenting, or the challenges of ministry, I hear their hopes for stronger marriages and sympathize with their sleep-deprived discouragement over whatever discipline challenges their kids are dishing out. I’m thankful when… Continue reading How to Put an End to the Mommy Wars
The nursery worker who met us at the door was beaming as she reported her Sunday morning observations. Apparently, our son had lined up all the chairs, assigned seats and roles to each child, and then presided over a “church service” right there in the nursery. “You’ve got a little leader there!” she pronounced. Ever blessed… Continue reading Raising a Leader: 3 Leadership Qualities Your Kids Need
When I have visiting grandchildren on a Sunday morning, sometimes I get to sit with them in the church nursery. It's a break for their mother and a treat for me. On a Sunday morning nursery date with Ruthie, we had a packed house with every rocking chair occupied and mums sitting on the floor… Continue reading Prayers from a Mother’s Heart Because We’re All Mothers Together
Spaghetti sauce bubbles in a pot on the stove, the rich red depths of the kettle wafting fragrance throughout the house. The annual ritual spans three decades: garden-grown tomatoes, hand-picked, and placed into a basket become jars of winter provision. After all, my four sons could eat a lot of pasta! But this pot of… Continue reading How Can Mothers Instill Vibrant Faith in Their Families?
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
“Ouch!” I yelped as a two-year-old elbow made contact with my arthritic hip joint. The volume of my outburst left me feeling a little silly. After all, while unexpected, was the jolt of pain really that intense? Well, actually, it was, but certainly not painful enough to declare my lap off limits to my squirrely,… Continue reading Holding on by Heart: Is Loving Really Worth the Risk?
“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
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
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 