Sometimes we can feel like all we have to pass to our kids is what our parents passed to us. “Mom yelled. So I have a problem with yelling.” “Dad never taught us the Bible, so I don’t have a model for parents doing that.” “My parents never really snuggled or showed affection; it feels […]

Is this you, Mama? Weary? In desperate need of a nap, a soul-warming beverage, and a few hours of silence? I can relate! For over 14 years now, I’ve faced the continual foe of pregnant, nursing, and mothering women: mommy exhaustion. Through 10 pregnancies, 3 miscarriages, 7 postpartum seasons, and moving more than a dozen times, God has taught me much about […]

You may already know what I’m referring to. It’s the job where nearly everyone– celebrities, politicians, nurses, and stay-home-moms– struggles, almost from the first few minutes. In this place, we feel self-doubt we feel pressured to do it all we are ill-equipped in what we do we have no idea how to do it we’re pretty […]

In the comments section of a recent post, titled, “Why Have More Kids?” I received this comment: While I can appreciate your thoughts, my big issue with extra large families, is that ultimately, it is unsustainable. Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone decided to have 6+ children!? We are already outgrowing […]

Q: Is there a point where it gets difficult to care for the children’s emotional and spiritual health and actually KNOW each of them individually? Our second child is just a year old, so some of my question may be due to our recent/ongoing transition between “I can focus on just you” with our first to […]

I’ve had 7 different birth experiences in 7 different places, with 7 different care providers. Yes, you read that right! 5 different hospitals (in VA, TX, Thailand, and Turkey) on 3 continents + 2 home births in different states I’ve never had the same hospital, or the same doctor or midwife, twice. Lord willing, this […]

Here it is– off the cuff and unrehearsed 🙂 — this is the good, the bad, the ugly of what life is like for me as a (home educating) mom of seven boisterous kids. (They’re, currently, 13 & under.) FULL OF NOISE, CONVERSATION, AND LAUGHTER This morning during homeschooling, the 2 year old and the […]

So I’ve been working on recording podcast interviews for my new Podcast–  titled (announcement!) “Mom on Purpose.” Here’s the podcast cover you’ll see on iTunes– eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! I’ll be launching soon. And I actually need your help. Will you join my Mom on Purpose Promo Team ? Once it’s ready for release, I need readers and listeners who are willing to share […]

Q: When I look into the future and imagine our vision for our family, I still feel at peace having as many children as God wills until we prayerfully feel that season of childbearing is over. But in the midst of it, this task seems too hard. I find myself searching for biblical motivations, but […]

DEAR TIRED MAMA: I’m not writing this to shame you, or make you feel guilty about your parenting choices, as if this fact of life makes you a “bad mom.” But I’m a mom of 7 (going on 8) who spends a lot of my life analyzing problems in my own parenting and coming up […]

Q: I am amazed by how I am noticing *already* eye rolling, sighing, attitude in general from my 5 and 3 year olds. We have zero tolerance at our house for disrespectful attitudes, and we also require obedience (“you obey Mommy the first time, with no sass.”). I am starting to notice especially with my […]

Recently a reader wrote in with this question: “How do you get quality time with older children while caring for younger children?” This is something I intentionally think about on a fairly regular basis… how to work in time with them. As a homeschooler, it probably comes easier than it might if we were all running in different […]

One of the things I was at least mildly concerned about at first, in regard to having a big family, was the common observation that in a large family, the younger children often grow up in a quite different way from how the older children were raised. Accusations sometimes go along these lines: You were […]

We learned a lot last summer when we backpacked the 93-mile Wonderland Trail, including: how to cook on a tiny stove (smaller than the size of our hands) with white gas how to make really TASTY one-pot meals, from grocery-store-bought food how to condense food and packages into easily-transportable portions If you’re learning about hiking, or wanting some […]