Building Grateful Nests Rooted in Him
First, I need you to know I ate two pieces of cheesecake for dinner last night. And every night this week. May is Celiacs Awareness Month. (Go ahead and add that to your calendar for next year.) (I’ll wait.) So my local ALDI has some special gluten-free treats. Not as many as in years past
Last week, I hugged nine little people for the very last time as they left our bible study class. They arrived in September as tiny, timid two-year-olds and left rather rambunctious, unruly threenagers. After our last quiet time (a time set aside for being still, silent, and prayerful), one sweet soul got up from the floor,
My journey to building a grateful life rooted in Jesus began with a simple question, “Are you grateful now?” I wasn’t. I hadn’t been for years. What I had been was lonely and exhausted and frustrated and driven and passionless and unseen and moments away from drowning. At the time, I claimed Over My Head
This past year, our Bible study group has been working our way through Romans. Honestly, it hasn’t always been fun. Paul can be a lot. He doesn’t try to sugar-coat anything or even ease the reader into a topic. He just flat comes out and says what he needs to say like he has some
A couple of weekends ago, I cleaned out our master bedroom closet. Unceremoniously shoved into a back corner sits my wedding dress. My mom had it professionally preserved while we were on our honeymoon but somewhere around move six, the box broke open so it’s preservation has been compromised. I keep telling myself I’ll pull it
Listen, can I just be honest here? A small, tiny, raw confession? I have no plan for April. Or May. Not a theme, not a schedule, not an idea. No staged photos, no new props. No stories of friends nor bible stories of women I can’t wait to get to heaven to meet. Zero. Nadda.
During the months between our full IVF failure and whatever would be coming next, God performed a miracle in my heart. I had been praying for years for a biological child. One because I wanted to experience pregnancy and two because all the members of my husband’s family look exactly alike. Seriously. You can stand
After our full IVF failed in March of 2009, I really wasn’t sure what to do next. I thought IVF would be it. We’d be pregnant and that would end our waiting. What I got instead were four embabies I fell completely in love with and a grief I never knew was possible. I’m sure
The very first gratitude list I ever made included a Honeycrisp apple, a ginger peach water, and a Beatles song. It was a beautiful sunny day and I had a doctor’s appointment mid-morning to review test results. To say I was anxious about this appointment would be a vast understatement. The knot of uneasiness in
In December 2006, I traveled with Dr to Chicago for his annual gigantic band conference. The plan being while he attended the conference, I could run and rest and maybe shop. That’s not how things went, however. The previous May, during a Mother’s Day Baby Dedication service, my ovaries performed a backflip. Up until that exact