Rising up this morning, I turned to Facebook videos before God’s Word. Mistake. Now the fears swirl: What is America’s fate? Economic decline? ISIS infiltration? Wicked leadership? Secularization and moral debasing beyond what already is the case? Same-sex marriage, LORD? Spitting in the face of the beautiful God-designed picture of marriage of Christ and the Church? […]

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… […]

As women, we are apt to be controllers. We tightly grip the things that matter most to us. We clutch our children, control our husband, treasure our possessions, count calories meticulously… whatever it is that matters to us, we tend to hold it tightly. But… it happened to me again this week: whatever we try to…

Q&A: My 2 practical questions are: I have a 2.5 yr old and 11 mo old twins….all boys….all active. The twins swarm my 2.5 yr old and it makes him angry, so he shoves / etc. We discipline him for this, but I have a hard time blaming his reaction when they are coming at…

For those long-time readers or people who know us in real life, this autobiographical background may be review, but it’ll help explain what follows: 12 years or so ago, for many reasons, we moved abroad. Doug managed a coffee roasting business, and I stayed home with our ever-expanding family. We each learned languages and made local… […]

I hate sin. I mean I really hate it. And I wish I could say I hate it for all the reasons God does, but I don’t. I’m not that holy. I definitely hate that it put Jesus on the cross. Honestly, though? I don’t hate it enough for that reason. Because I still do… […]

It’s a rhythmic truth breathed throughout Scripture: “You return man to dust; …they are like a dream, like grass …in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.” ~Psalm 90:3-6 (author: Moses) “He knows our frame He remembers that we are DUST. As for man, his days are like GRASS; he flourishes […]

So you want to know the truth? Not just the lovely bits, hmmm? Well, I don’t blame you. Here at JessConnell.com, I try to share from both my weaknesses and strengths… however, there’s always that niggling sense that other people are better than us, isn’t there? It shows up often in our online interactions, because these… […]

Q&A: My 2 practical questions are: I have a 2.5 yr old and 11 mo old twins….all boys….all active. The twins swarm my 2.5 yr old and it makes him angry, so he shoves / etc. We discipline him for this, but I have a hard time blaming his reaction when they are coming at…

How can we avoid letting feelings rule our lives? 3 minutes of encouragement on that, after having a feelings-heavy day, yesterday:   https://youtu.be/It4vOJ-t5XA As always, let me know what YOU have to say, in the comments. 🙂 If you’re discontent with life, it’s very very likely that you’ve been living in a mental place of […]

On a recent post, I received this (wonderfully honest) comment: “I must not be working hard enough, but I don’t remember feeling this same kind of exhaustion before kids. Nobody whines at work and quibbles constantly and interrupts my every task with the frequency of little kids. At work I did what I got a…

SKIP STRAIGHT TO THE VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE: https://youtu.be/J4_MT8P1ZJc When we work hard at mothering, we often come face-to-face with ourselves. We see our fears and our desire to control everything. We see our own anger. Our selfishness, anxieties, and our weakness and frailty all come to the forefront. It’s embarrassing, isn’t it? Too often, […]

Did you miss something this month? Catch up and get the encouragement your heart needs. BABY WATCH & MY WRITING/PODCASTING SCHEDULE Baby News: My sweet new son, Fisher, was born at home this morning: In December, look for blogposts once a week– each Monday. And Season 1 of Mom On Purpose podcasts will be released once a week, every Wednesday, through […]

{This is the 4th article in a series about modesty. But this fourth and final part is where I fear this discussion could get tense. Because with modesty (just like the original text goes beyond a mere discussion of heart and attitude to specifics like “gold” and “braids”), it’s not just about the heart. Our […]