There have been so many different seasons of my life when I’ve had to *FIGHT* for contentment. 7-months-pregnant in a grimy, coal-heated, 80’s-era-floral-couched, bugged (not the insect kind) apartment in China Months later, when my husband got gravely sick, and we went YEARS with tons of investigation but no medical answers or reasons what had […]

I am just a white mom. This is what goes through my head as I think about the recent race-centered wounds in our country. I am just a white mom. I’m scared to even write about this.  I feel inadequate and not strong enough. What can I do? I don’t have the soul strength to “lift” the…

Moms nowadays are obsessed with their bodies. Modern diet trends are all about the extreme. Extreme butt-tightener. Extreme abs. Extreme consumptions of raw food. Extreme protein quantities. Extreme cutting of carbs. Extreme cutting of sugar. But here’s the thing: Extreme rules lead to extreme breaking of rules. And generally, moderation leads to health. And that’s why I won’t… […]

{This is the 4th article in a series about modesty. We started with what the word/idea of “modesty” even means. Then we talked through 8 questions we should consider to discern our heart. Next we talked about deference as an act of submission to the Brothers and Sisters in our local Body of Christ.}   But… […]

Devices are a sticky subject now. 20 years ago it was TV time. No matter what, though, unless you’re Amish, you have to reckon with it. I’ll share what we do- but would love to hear your thoughts. A Yahoo!Parenting article (which — as a sidenote– I think should be retitled more honestly as Yahoo!UNparenting, […]

Alfinda asks: Hi Jess. Can you also share some wisdom in the area of toys and imagination play for boys, i.e. Is it appropriate to let them play with pretend swords and guns? Sure! Yes, we allow pretend swords and guns. Here are the basic rules in our house (off the top of my head……

So. The first time I went camping, I decided we’d do it with 7 kids in tow. Ages: 13 to 6 months. Yup. To those of you who aren’t campers, that probably sounds CRAY-ZEE. To those of you who are adept at camping, you’re probably all googley-eyed and thrilled at the mere sound of it. It […]

Due to the Josh Duggar sex abuse revelation, there is a lot of talk. Everyone has their opinions, but we don’t know all the facts, and even if we did, there’s nothing we can do at this point to affect real change in THAT situation. So I don’t want to get into an in-depth conversation where we […]

We all hit those moments. You know the ones. The ones where you have NO idea what you’re supposed to do. Here’s a sampling from my own mom experiences: My oldest, at 2 years old, (who I was convinced was practically perfect in every way) reared back and hit me in the face–hard– in the middle of… […]

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… […]

Some time last year, I did a week-long purposeful fast from everything online (except for e-mail), and as I went through the week, I wrote down the things I was noticing. Recently I found that list and thought I’d share it with you. Here’s what I noticed: Almost instantaneously: I’m alone with my thoughts again. I’m able…

Do you remember this rebuke in Hebrews? “Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food.” (Heb 5:12)  Can you imagine hearing this? I’m afraid too many churches… and too many women in our churches… could […]

{NOTE: For those readers who don’t know our family, we’re the Connells. Doug’s my husband and I’m Jess. At the time of this trip, we had 7 kids (Ethan-14, Baxter-12, MeiMei-10, Silas-8, Moses-6, Theo-3.5, Luke-18 months), and I was 6 months pregnant with our 8th child. I’m publishing journal entries, pictures, & memories from our 12-day […]

You know, I had plans for January. I’d pre-written enough blogposts to get me through January (and then some)… and (in my plan) that was going to give me the ability to use all my normal bits-and-pieces of writing time, plus the 10 days off school at the front of January, to write some novellas […]