A young friend of mine, going through her first pregnancy, asked on Facebook for ten newborn tips. And since I try to use all my writing from other places, I figured I’d share my advice to her with you. Here are my top 10 newborn tips: Stay in bed for a week. Minimum. (See the comments for […]

I’ve heard it said that artists are inherently egotistical… that at the foundation of all art is the artist’s belief that what he’s putting forward is worth the time and attention of others. But I think it is at least as often the case that the writer/artist/songwriter has to overcome great personal doubt and self-accusation. […]

Pain is common to all of us. But– have you noticed?– our reactions to it can be wildly different. And I’m convinced– it’s all in how you look at it. When our eyes are on our pain & circumstances: We become disconnected from others (even others in the Body of Christ). No one is “qualified” […]

Death and life are in the power of the tongue Proverbs 18:21 You may remember; my husband and I sometimes do marital counseling together. It’s heartbreaking to hear from a husband at his wits end. He comes downcast. Disheartened. He wants to be faithful to her; he wants to please her. He’s not perfect, of course, but he longs for […]

8 kids is a lot. It’s not “19 and counting” or anything, but it’s still a lot. The bigger our family has gotten, the more I’ve had to up my game when it comes to swapping out sizes and finding good organizing solutions for clothes. Here’s what standing in line looks like when I take my youngest […]

On a list of my favorite quotes about homeschooling, one reader took an issue with this: “We cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans.” ~Dr. Voddie Baucham She commented: I do not agree with #11. I homeschool my children, but I was public-schooled. […]

I’m so excited about the Bible study curriculum we’re using this year. Well. OK, in order for it to be true, I have to take out a few words from that first sentence. It should read: I’m so excited about the Bible this year. There, that’s better. Because this year, our “curriculum” is very simple. It’s not really a curriculum […]

Let me start out by saying this: I am pretty sure I have done it all. I’ve slept with a baby on my chest or in the crook of my arm– on the first night, in the hospital, in my bed at home after home births, and (accidentally) in a chair when I was trying to stay […]

This past spring, I knew something had to change. I’m 36 (and– gulp!– I can only say that for another month or so). And I had started noticing my age. It was little things: groaning, with an additional “oof” or “oh!” when I got off the couch hearing clicks in my knees and ankles as […]

Last week, I shared how yelling is connected to my stress level, and many of you identified & shared your own struggles. Today I want to dig deeper. A common theme, for me and from you in the comments, was that we tell ourselves lies about the yelling that we do. We lie to minimize the […]

I was recently at an event where I was, for days, in a stationary vantage point of watching a wide swath of parents interact with their children amidst stressful circumstances. One mother stands out to me. Unfortunately, not for good reasons. She stood by watching as two of her young children destroyed part of the building. She feigned […]

Years ago, Doug & I went through a Grip-Birkman training session— which combines personality & spiritual gifts in order to help teams of Believers work together. One of the verses the trainer focused on has continued to convict and challenge me in the years since: “by the grace given to me I say to everyone among […]

Like many Americans in the 80s and 90s, (maybe like you?) I grew up with one sibling. So I didn’t really know what to expect as a mom of many children (we have 9 now). Some things we can anticipate: (laundry, food, and stacks of clothes bins!), but what I wanted to talk about in […]

Well, I had my baby on the last day of November, so this December has been a very postpartum-y month. As you might expect, that definitely influenced what (and how) I shared. Look below for the posts, and podcasts, from December 2016– POSTS PODCASTS I love these two episodes with Shelley; she shares wonderful practical […]