Common-sense grace for the try-hard girl
I’m hot and tired this August 2007. I chalk it up to the fact that I’m about to host a three-day, off-site orientation for hundreds of incoming freshmen for the university where I work. All I want is a nap, but I power through—there’s work to be done. After it’s done by sheer willpower, I […]
Ummm… Jill. If you really don’t want us to know this stuff, then why are you sharing it on the Internet? This is your choice, sister. Yes, that’s true. But I view you as a friend, and I’d prefer no secrets between us. It’s important to me that you know that you’re not alone and that […]
I load our baby and toddler into the car. Sleep deprivation has sunk into my bones, but we’re headed to Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) anyway with the help of MapQuest because I have no idea where I’m going in this new town. I hope to meet one nice mom, but really, I’ll settle for any […]
Via flannel graph, I was taught in Sunday School to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others,” a passage from Philippians 2:3–4. While my Sunday School teachers were fabulous, my […]
We met at Starbucks like we usually do, and she ordered her bright green tea while I got something with a bit more cream, sugar and caffeine. Then, the craziest thing happened. We both admitted to crying that very morning. I cried because our youngest had a rough start at school the day before. She […]
God is so faithful to meet with this groggy-eyed girl morning after morning. It hasn’t always been smooth and easy, but I’ve recently settled on a quiet time rhythm that refreshes my soul. This post is about my rhythm, how I found it, and the idiot moves I’ve made along the way. My track record […]
Tigger. The Energizer Bunny. Pollyanna. These are the characters people compared me to growing up. I love these adjectives because they’re accurate descriptors of me. I trend toward the happy, energetic, and sunny side of life. And yet… I was lumped in with fictitious creatures. I’m a real girl with real worries and hurts, but […]
It started in January when I read Moses’s words again, “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12) As a wife, mom, and writer, I figured it was important to know what he was talking about—I don’t have life to waste, so I want to know what […]
If we’re having coffee together and you share a struggle or a hurt, here’s my MO: listen, nod my head, and then give you 12 ideas to solve your “problem.” Then I’d text you three different podcast episodes to listen to. We’d finish our lattes, and I’d walk away from our conversation all proud of […]
My stomach hurt every day—it happened like clockwork. Promotion after promotion had landed me a much-coveted job planning events for the Houston Astros, but my body didn’t seem to understand that. I often felt exhausted and fragile… but I didn’t know why. For crying out loud, I was Jill McCormick, didn’t my body know that? […]