Common-sense grace for the try-hard girl
Almost four years ago, I left my role as the children’s pastor at our former church. While I love kids and Jesus and telling kids about Jesus, it was clear it was time for me to walk away from ministry. In January, I started my role as the communications director at our current church. Working […]
While Ryan presented at a conference for work, I explored the Las Vegas Strip. For breakfast, I stopped at the Aria for their all-you-can-eat goodness. At $39, the price was high so I decided to get my money’s worth. Y’all, I sat there for three hours and ate and ate and ate until my stomach […]
I stand in our kitchen and scan the house. Dishes in the sink. A project due for work in two hours. Two girls complaining. Dinner in the oven late. And my text messages are going crazy. I’m behind, disorganized, and overwhelmed. I feel like The Worst mom ever, like I’m failing at doing in the […]
Gene Krantz, flight director for the Apollo 13* mission, tells his team that failure is not an option: they must bring home the three astronauts catapulting through space in a handicapped module. Thank goodness they didn’t fail, and all astronauts came back to earth safely. Although my circumstances aren’t so life-or-death, I’ve adopted Krantz’s motto […]
Never in my life has my weight been a simple series of digits. It’s been about identity and self-worth, a point of pride and deflation. My weight has never been just a number. Friends, something is going on in our hearts when we’ve become this obsessed with losing weight. Why are we obsessed with losing […]
“I felt as if I were walking with destiny and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial… I was sure I should not fail.” – Winston Churchill Sometimes I wonder what God is up to. His timing is never mine. His methods—suffering, waiting, and heartache—are […]
Some days I just mess it all up. I’m offended that my people don’t like the tacos I made Tuesday. I yell at the kids. I serve to curry your favor. I don’t see the blessings of dirty dishes and a floor to mop, I just see more and more that I have to do. […]
In the early 1980s, my in-laws made a decision that would forever impact my life—they enrolled their son in private school a year earlier than his peers. Fast-forward nine years, and freshman Jill Newman sees the cutest freshman boy she’s ever seen. I started dating that cute boy our senior year, and we got married […]
I may be the only mom to say this, but I hate summer. Don’t get me wrong, I like the laziness of it, but overall, it really stresses me out. Two very intense and demanding girls, girls who I love whole-heartedly, are with me all the time. Wanting something. Asking to do something. Needing me. […]
The excitement of my Nana and Granddad visiting from Chicago for Christmas was more than this third-grade girl could take back in 1985. Toward the end of their stay, my Nana made fudge. I couldn’t resist that chocolatey, creamy confection. But the next day, I was sick as a dog. For decades, I equated my […]