Category: Faith
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Reflections in Italy
I think it’s easy to go through life making assumptions about people and presuming things have always been the way they seem. We often don’t know everyone’s backstory, especially when we meet them in our later years. We don’t comprehend the amazing ways God has worked in their lives and what would have been, without…
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Your Instrument
We arrived at the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference this past Sunday. Y’all know how much I despise breathtaking views, fresh mountain air, books, and writing. I was obviously “taking one for the team” when I offered to accompany my daughter to this conference. Purely unselfish motives, folks. To help Maddie discover how best to…
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Saying Goodbye to Pop
I wrote this tribute to my dad last June, on Father’s Day. I wanted him to know what he meant to me, to us, before it was too late. My dad thanked me profusely after reading this, for all of the kind words, but didn’t feel he really deserved them all, he said. …
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Why DO I Homeschool?
When I was first introduced to the idea of homeschooling, I truly thought it was the most ridiculous concept in the world. It was so countercultural that I found myself struggling to wrap my head around it. It was laughable, really. Because how could I, a single individual, be an expert in all things and…
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My Dad
You watched countless soccer games. You organized backyard baseball. You attended recitals. You let me pretend to shave with you in the wee hours of morning. You took me ice skating. You let me pick out my favorite ice cream flavor at the Friendly’s take-out window. You took me to father-daughter square dances. You…
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Rising to the Call
People often tell me… You’re an amazing mom. I don’t know how you do it. You must have the patience of a saint. Bless your heart. And if you know anything about that last one (a notoriously southern phrase) it can be interpreted in a myriad of ways. 😉
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Hands and Feet
Have you ever noticed that emotional arousal creates incredibly vivid memories? When your body’s stress hormone is released, memory making is kicked up a serious notch. That’s why when something really amazing, terrifying, or shocking happens, you often remember what you were wearing, where you were standing, the music that was playing, and the smells…
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Do You Know What’s Sexy?
Young ladies, you can chase anything in a pair of snug-fitting blue jeans. You can find a set of diamond-cut, blue-green eyes that pierce right through you. You can seek out a hard body at the gym that ripples with muscle. But let me tell you what’s really sexy.
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How Do You Measure Happiness?
I have been struggling here lately with how I measure happiness. I look around through the eyes of the world and very quickly see everything that’s lacking. I want the spacious, immaculate house with eye-catching colors and designs, gorgeous furniture, built-ins, and perfectly organized closets. I want yummy, healthy meals that effortlessly appear on the…
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Unforgiveness
It was a school day. I was behind. I slept through my morning routine and threw clean clothes onto my unshowered self. I doused my hair with dry shampoo, ran a brush through my flat bed-head, and applied some make-up. This is how you fool the world into thinking you have your act together. You…
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My Oxygen
I set my alarm for 5:15AM. It sounds so early. I allow myself one snooze before I have to get out of bed. Okay, I confess…on really bad mornings, I sneak in two. I pull my hair into a messy ponytail. Grabbing socks and sneakers, I sleepwalk my way downstairs into the kitchen. I boldly grind…
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Let’s Be Quitters, Shall We?
On the first day of our month-long retreat, as we traveled along I-40 West in our white 12-passenger van, I purchased a book. From the moment ‘Kisses from Katie’ first appeared on my iPhone, I felt different. I mean after all, I had just downloaded a book onto my phone, while traveling along an interstate…
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Makinley Hope: God Writes the Story
“I believe that God totally, absolutely, intentionally gives us morethan we can handle. Because this is when we surrender to Himand he takes over, proving Himself by doing the impossible.” -from “Kisses from Katie“ I was maybe 10 weeks pregnant with our sixth child when we packed our bags and locked the doors to…
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Journey into Faith
When I was pregnant with Gabrielle… I never asked for an infant with a brain malformation who would begin seizing at the age of 6 months. I never expressed a desire for a baby who would undergo 5 brain surgeries before the ripe old age of 3 years. I never requested a child with hemiplegia…
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Don’t You Know What Causes That?! (How We Ended Up with 7 Kids)
Almost every time I go out somewhere with my children, I get asked the questions… Are they all yours?! or How many do you have?! or Don’t you know what causes that?! Sometimes people just stare in disbelief… or I see them counting the “stair-steps” as we pass on by. Regardless, we always seem to…
