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… […]

Well, hello there! It’s been a while. Allow me to share some hodge-podgy thoughts I’ve been pondering, as I approach my 40th birthday this month: (1) No matter what choices you make, life contains pain. Fear of pain can not be what rules our decision-making. God doesn’t promise easy roads, comfortable circumstances, good emotions, or […]

In King David’s day, it went like this: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” ~Psalm 20:7 What are our modern American “chariots?” What do we trust in? I have some ideas. Scan them and see if any of them strike a nerve […]

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 […]

Happy New Year! Today, let me share with you some of my favorite easy-peasy meals for the hard days. These are the things I make when I want to pull out the paper plates, or use as few bowls/pots as possible. For days like… today. 🙂 When we’ve been going-going-going and I just want something easy and […]

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. […]

Two springs ago, we were in Georgia on a road trip, and our van needed attention. Doug and Mae went into town with the van, and I spent the day with 7 of our sons on the approach trail to the Appalachian Trail. We had hiked a steep two miles uphill to see Amicalola Falls […]

We all start out with high hopes for our children. But over time, as moms, we get worn down. The years… the fussing… the hormones… the reality of daily life with sinners– it all swirls together and we find ourselves in a mental “place” we could not have foreseen when we stared down at our…

At a counseling conference my husband and I attended in October, one of the trainers made an interesting statement: “If one of my counselees comes in with general depression-like symptoms, one of my first questions is how much sleep they’re getting.” He shared that his personal policy is to tell them to get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep […]

I’ve been a Pastor’s wife for three and a half years. The first two of those years, my husband was an administrative pastor, which was a very different thing from the counseling and discipleship pastoral role he has now. It’s not been very long, really, but it’s been long enough to have learned a few things and made […]

We recently talked about not doing something “just to prove them wrong.” Today I want to talk about the flip side: Don’t embrace a conviction just because others do. Just as the world often goes along with lifestyle decisions because of the people around them, Christians sometimes take on the convictions of others around us without […]

I guess I’m a slow learner. It took me lots of babies and births to finally start figuring it out. Our baby #1 (born in a hospital in Virginia) was in the NICU for a week, I had mastitis for a month, and then we packed up our apartment and moved across the country. WHAAAAT??! After baby #2…

We heard it so much over the last 9 months. “MeiMei needs a sister!” “You poor thing! So many brothers! Do you know what this one is yet?” “Oh goodness, you guys need a little girl this time!” Now I know… having a son would mean we’d have 7 boys, right? I mean, 7. BOYS. […]

Are you spiritually “stuck?” Feeling like you have questions but no answers? Stagnant in life but unsure how to start growing again?  I was 16 years old when it began. I was a coming-out-of-rebellion teen; she was a young mom (in her 20s) with 3 little ones. In free moments of my busy high school life, […]