A Riding Lesson for Two

When he wasn't griping about how late we were, he was griping about my driving. Stone wrecked the truck his senior year of high school and was dependent on me for rides to school in the mornings. We were often late leaving, and I drove fast to make up for it. Stone got better about…

Why “Try Harder, Do Better” Doesn’t Work

I don’t like to admit it, partly because it feels shameful and partly because I was raised not to notice it, much less confess it. I was taught to do exactly the opposite—to cover up weakness by becoming competent. (And if I couldn’t genuinely excel, I learned to lie about it.) As a mother, I…

No More Mom Guilt

I was swamped and decided to take the month off. While writing for my blogs and an online women's magazine are normal monthly activities, October was just too darn busy. At first, it felt like a relief to take a break, but after a while, it felt like I don't want to write anymore. In…

The Prodigal Mom

This is a story about me and my baby, who’s now 22, and the misery we walked through together to find a love connection. It’s a story of our mutual failure, but it’s a story with a happy ending. I lived the miracle. I watched it change me. And then I watched it change my…

When God Opens My Eyes

I read, “Surely God is my help;the Lord is the one who sustains me.Let evil recoil on those who slander me;in your faithfulness destroy them,” Psalm 54:4-5. Wait.Not that last part, God. Not destroy.Redeem my enemy and me. Swallow our strife. Open blind eyes.Like the centurion, who saw Jesus and believed,while at his post,doing business.…

The Kids Are Grown and (Mostly) Gone, so Who Am I and What Do I Do Now?

Listen to today’s post, read aloud by Eve Our “baby” of five kids is just two short weeks away from being 21. It occurs to me that even though he’s living with us temporarily and working, he’s for all intents and purposes grown, though maybe not entirely gone. It also occurs to me that it’s…

Why Worship Matters

“Think, think, think...” (Pooh says, tapping his forehead.) What’s as good for Bears of No Brain at All as it is for Bears Who Fear Their Brain Is Going--or Gone? Using words, thinking, communicating. It's the last day of June, and I haven't posted anything yet. My goal is to write monthly, but I haven't…

What God Helped Me See

Cries from my children used to wake me in the middle of the night, and after that, my teenagers’ calls saying they’d be late. Now, it’s a call from the bathroom. There are also the unexplained wake-up calls, the ones that tug me out of sound sleep for no reason I know of except to…

How I Learned to Soar

The nest is empty.  Our last fledgling is settled into college dorm life and has already slept through his first test, while his mama-bird, blissfully unaware, awoke to her to-do-or-not-to-do list, none of it involving him. I've been preparing Stone his whole life--and myself all year--for when he would be washing his own socks and…

What I Learned From an Ordinary Bike Ride

I was feeling out of sorts because I hadn't really wanted to come.  I didn't want to go to church last Sunday either, and I didn't.  I've realized over the last few nights that I haven't been listening to what I've read in the Bible. I've read hurriedly, just to get through it.   I’ve…

My Second Chance with Daddy

He had been seeing a little boy’s head floating above the door in the hotel room. And they had flown in an airplane they piloted across the mountain to attend Sadie’s wedding in our backyard. Both of these stories gave us something to chuckle about at the reception. Grammy drives a respectable Buick, and there…