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 …
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 …
Survivors of the Healthy Hearts
There are those among us who have seen things – things we wish we had not seen – and we will never be the same. We walk around like everyone else. We go to work, buy our groceries, and wash our cars. But there is a pain that would glare as brightly as a neon …
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 …
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 …
No one wants to see all that, not even the Russians
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but then pictures don't always tell the whole story, which is something I have learned on social media. We say we're keeping it real when we post our “nailed it" photos of the three-tiered cake we tried to bake for Grandma's birthday, or when …
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Any bumbling smudges I could offer
There are no destinations in life, only journeys. I thought I was just getting a small bite of dark chocolate goodness to finish off my brown bag lunch, but it would seem I was in store for a whole lot more. I licked the chocolate off my finger as I read that Dove wrapper and …
If you have ever . . .
If you have ever carried her life within yours and picked out her name and wondered what color of eyes she would have and what kind of a difference she would make in the world, you are a hero. If you have ever watched your waistline expand or developed stretch marks on your hips and …
To my greatest hardest things
I didn’t know about everything that would come with it. I knew about dirty diapers and doctor visits. I had an idea about science fairs and sleepovers. I looked forward to bedtime stories and notes tucked into lunchboxes. But I wasn’t prepared for you. Not really. How can you ever be prepared …
