It’s probably the most common thing I hear in the grocery store: “I couldn’t handle any more children. I haven’t even got patience for these TWO!” The funny thing is that I don’t ask people why they don’t have more children. Especially when I’m going through the checkout line… I can assure you my mind […]

Almost 6 years ago, we decided to stay in America, after (almost) 6 years of living abroad. I flew to Istanbul, Turkey (our former home) to sort, sell, and pack our belongings there. While there, I stayed a week in our friends’ home, observing her normal household routines. Mother of four kids (then, ranging from 8 to 20 […]

I enjoy talking about and reading and learning about sexual intimacy for several reasons: Being naked and not ashamed together is part of what God created and called “good” even before the Fall. It is good, and as a Bible-believing Christian, I want to do my part to encourage other Christian wives to see it rightly, as […]

Ever experienced the outplay of a two-year-old’s punch to the face? As a mom of 7, I’ve experienced some version of it, several times over. One little boy, many moons ago, slapped me in the middle of a Hobby Lobby trip. Several have yelled “no” at me. And this happened almost a year ago: It […]

“She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.”Proverbs 31:20 VERSE 20: “SHE OPENS HER HAND TO THE POOR AND REACHES OUT HER HANDS TO THE NEEDY.” The woman described in Proverbs 31 is a giver. You know the term close-fisted? When it says “she opens her hand,” here […]

Discount grocery stores— this is currently my top budget-slicing method. At Costco, one basket costs us about $300-400. At my discount grocery stores last week, I got 3 basketfuls of groceries for just over $150. It takes creativity, and a little more time (we went to 2 stores, 45 minutes away, rather than just 1 store […]

In this frenzied toy-buying season, let me offer our recommendations for kids up to elementary-ages. We have seven kids, ages thirteen and under, so I’ve got a little more than a decade, and many different personalities’ worth of “experience,” invested in this advice. These are the non-electronic toys kids actually LIKE. (In fact, if you add up my kids’ ages […]

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. […]

Sin outside our home… sin inside our hearts… the stresses and strains of life in a family… (Acts 17:26-27) It has not taken God by surprise, and it is not a travesty or mistake that your child was ordained to be born HERE, in this time and place, with these cultural challenges (as opposed to Christian families […]

Young woman, I am so sorry. The world you are growing up in WILL, if you let it:  strip away your God-given unique beauty (and yes, I am including the freckles, big feet, hook nose, birthmark, broad shoulders, etc… in those words, “unique beauty”). teach you to perpetually alter your posture or camera angle so that anything […]

One of the surprising things, to me, about the Christmas story, is the way Joseph & Mary’s hearts yield themselves to God. Mary submits… despite her age despite her singleness despite the challenges it would mean for her despite the judgment of her community Joseph submits… despite the way things would look despite the “cost” […]

“She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. . . . She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant.” Proverbs 31: 16-18, 24 As we discuss this passage, keep in mind that […]

This is my third article in a series about talking with your kids about sex. Here are the others: The reason this series is “The (On-Going) Talk” is because I believe this is not meant to be a one-and-done topic. One mistake I believe we can make, as parents, is to compartmentalize this issue in a way we […]

Fanny Price is one of my favorite characters in Jane Austen’s literature. She discerns the truth about people, and sees them for what they truly are at their core. Their dressing up, fakery, and flattering does not alter her observations about their character and priorities. This quality makes her a tricky person to have around. In […]