It took me a long time to realize this, but I am worth more than leftovers. I can and should lay down my rights for yours and forgive seventy times seven and give my life for a brother, BUT there’s sacrificial giving and then there’s self-sacrificing living, and there’s a fine line between the two. …
Who I am and why I’m here
I’m a Christian working mom who is married to a pastor who is a former Marine. I am a mother of six and grandmother of one. Once upon a time, my husband and I sold everything we had and served as missionaries overseas. But I’m so much more than that. I am also a woman …
Sometimes I bow my head and whisper your name
You may not know this about me, but sometimes when the world has gone quiet and I’m alone with my thoughts, I bow my head and whisper your name. You may be sick or studying for a test or reeling from a broken heart or picking up the pieces of a shattered dream. You may …
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I was okay . . . until I wasn’t
I thought I had it all under control. One day while we were living in Pennsylvania for part of our missionary training, I took the kids and went to WalMart for a supply run. The lady behind me in the checkout line saw me paying for fabric with my four daughters in tow and sporting …
Someone forgot to tell the flowers
I am working at my computer while my cat chews the cords and my son asks what’s for lunch and my husband walks by and kisses the top of my head. I am well rested because it’s a much shorter distance to my dining room table than my office across the river, and the gym …
this is my time, and these are my people
I wasn't born yesterday. I wasn't around when my ancestors left Ireland, Scotland, and Germany in search of something worth leaving everything. I'm glad I didn't have to pick a side during the Civil War, fighting with friends and family over more than social media. I'm thankful I missed out on those early days before …
Sometimes we get a front row seat
If there is no God, then who just bought my lunch? I had been having a bad week - well, more like a bad month - but all of a sudden, everything changed for the better in ways I never imagined. This doesn’t mean God is real. Nor does it mean things are …
dirty dishes piled high and appointments forgotten
I am sitting in a hospital waiting room, watching the TV monitor update me on the progress of my child. The color of his chart just changed to blue and a new word has appeared below his name. INCISION in Arial font point size 24. Someone is cutting my child. …
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the incredible weightless weight of my child’s child
I won’t be around forever. Someday I will be nothing more than a handful of memories shared on holidays, a dozen stories passed around the dinner table, and a hundred bedside prayers providing protection for years to come. But when I’m gone, there will be people in this world who will remember what my …
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bedbugs don’t make for a very happy birthday, even when they’re only in your imagination
My birthday was on Monday, but instead of waking up to breakfast in bed, I woke up to another day of dealing with bedbugs. I had spent the previous day with box of black garbage bags and a day's wages in quarters, transporting clothes from the bedrooms to the laundromat in an endless procession of …
