I’m 44. To some of you, that may sound like a relatively young woman. To others, that may sound old. I’m in a middle place but the grays are here, I’ve had my first hot flash, and sometimes I groan when I have to roll out of bed. I’m not quite ‘old,’ perhaps, but I’m… […]

Lately I’ve wished I knew more information about my ancestors: the real things of life: stories, hardships, challenges, relationships, and lessons learned. For my birthday this year, my mom passed a couple pieces of family jewelry to me. One belonged to my great-grandmother who died when my grandpa was 8 or 10 years old, and […]

“It takes incredible amount of courage and strength to go against the grain of what people want you to be.” ~Janet Mock, trans advocate, in a documentary about Bruce Jenner’s recent ESPN award No it doesn’t. It doesn’t take strength at all to go your own way. That is what comes naturally. This is the human […]

Each month I get a number of e-mails and private comments asking interesting questions that may be applicable to more than just the person asking. My plan is to select a few thought-provoking and practical questions, keep the asker & identifying details anonymous, and share my answers with all of you, at the end of each month. Let’s […]

For many years of my life, I was a slave to potty training with the little kiddy chairs. We’d tote them around the house, dutifully emptying out the little chamber underneath the plastic seat multiple times a day, even for the tiniest drops of pee (for which we’d clapped and cheered, like the good potty-training… […]

I don’t know where to start, because my thoughts are all so fresh on this one, and each one feels so delicate and raw. On Saturday, we were sledding with good friends, and had been for hours, when it all came to a halt. I’m typing this late on Tuesday, our fourth night in the hospital. I’ll start here. […]

Q: How often do you sit with your husband and discuss how you handle disciplining the kids as a team? And what does that look like during the day when he is working and you are home? Are there instances when you bring things up in the evenings for him to work through with your […]

So you’ve decided to homeschool. Or, not allow sleepovers. You don’t watch certain kinds of movies, Or, you don’t own a TV at all. Or maybe, even though they’re Christians, you’re convicted in ways that are obviously different from the convictions they have, or had. You can feel judged. They can feel judged. They can… […]

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 […]

At some point this last year (I didn’t date it when I wrote this down), I took time to try and write down, in precise language, some of the things I believe about myself. Things I didn’t want to admit, but that I could tell were impacting my choices and thinking. Tears streamed as I scribbled […]

Well, so here it is. After Josh Duggar molested a number of girls and got caught a number of times, he went on TV, got himself a wife, and sold purity and courtship and not kissing until marriage. We all watched as his dad gave him a purity talk, which we now know, he did solely for the camera, because he… […]

Yay, it’s August! Nearly time for a new school year to begin!! We’re actually going into our tenth year of homeschooling… which is crazy! In January of 2007, we began curling up together, Ethan and I, with Sonlight books. We discovered the world together through books like Twenty and Ten (WWII– Nazis, rations, resistance), Understood Betsy (farm life, lifelong learning), A Grain of […]

As wives and mothers, our thinking doesn’t only affect us- it directly impacts our husband and any children God gives. What’s happening inside our minds matters a great deal! In 2011, I took my first biblical counseling class, and one session focused on the “Anti-Psalm.” The goal was to better understand what a text is saying by carefully thinking […]

I recently asked over 1,000 women: “What things keep you from getting the soul and body rest you know you need?” Here’s a selection of the answers: Laundry, dirty bottles, teething babies and an injured hubby.  🙂 I constantly put high expectations on myself and convince myself that I can do all things. It’s a battleground… […]