Recently a friend shared about a stressful relationship– someone was texting her repeatedly, and she felt terror that she might misstep and make the relationship worse. My friend isn’t perfect, of course, so she was wanting to be wise and cautious in how she responded. Eventually, she was in tears, asking for input and prayer […]

One of the lures some Christian teachers use– especially women teachers– is the outward appearance of their lives. A generation ago, a baby-holding woman with stair step children beside her– girls in collared dresses and boys in slacks– graced the fronts of homeschooling magazines. Inside were articles about her life-changing daily schedule, plan for chores, […]

In August 2016, we took a 12-day backpacking trip around Mt. Rainier with our 7 children (ages 14 to 1 year old), on the incredible Wonderland Trail. In 12 articles, I’ve shared the good, the bad, & the ugly. You can read our story here. I published journal entries, pictures, & memories from our family […]

Lately, tired, hopeless, Old Testament Naomi has been running around in my brain. For those of you who HAVEN’T had Naomi running around in your brain, here’s a brief run-down: We meet her in the Old Testament book of Ruth. Jewish woman, in the time of the judges (no kings, not much societal order) Because […]

Yesterday, I bought five cabinets that I didn’t exactly “need.” I did that because they were on Facebook Marketplace for a mere $5 each, and I thought they would work in our shed. See, our shed has been, for 7 months, basically a big mess that we all kept trying to organize and reorganize– but […]

Plants make a home more welcoming, don’t you think? Lately, I’ve acquired so many plants that my daughter recently teased, “I think you’re becoming a full-on Plant Lady.“ But, come on! Antique store succulents… hanging pots for crazy cheap… certain plants just need to come cozy up our home, and THAT’S THAT. Today, after Doug […]

WHAT IS CHRISTIAN FASTING? Simply put, fasting is choosing (for a set period of time) not to eat food in order to devote yourself more single-mindedly to the pursuit of God through Scripture and prayer. Christian fasting differs from the ritual/scheduled fasting found in other religions, and is not done in order to earn favor. […]

When our family (with 7 kids ages 14 & under) backpacked the 93-mile Wonderland Trail, one of the biggest considerations we faced was how much, and what, gear to bring. Here’s how we made it work: BACKPACKS Each person carried their own pack: TREKKING POLES Trekking poles make an incredible difference for me, as an adult, for […]

Ever wondered– What does the Bible say about women? I thought it would be helpful for us to see how women are described in the Bible, positively and negatively, as we strive to be godly women. This is a fairly exhaustive study of the word “woman” in the Bible, with all of its uses and descriptions (from […]

“He struck me as a normal person, that was the horrible thing about it. He was cool, objective, matter of fact. ‘This is my war duty. I did my war duty.’ It was like I had to go out and cut down so many trees. So I went out and took my saw and cut […]

Several years ago, I was able to take a basic biblical counseling class, and one of the sessions focused in on the “Anti-Psalm.” This exercise was a challenge for us to better understand what a text is saying by carefully thinking through the exact opposite meaning. It can be very insightful to look at the “opposite” of what we […]

You know what we had this morning? We had the perfect homeschooling day. Well… …perfect *for us.* Probably not anything close to what you’re imagining in your head right now. You DO know that the “perfect homeschool” doesn’t exist, right? But here’s what our perfect homeschooling day looks like: We make forward progress in areas […]