Clik here to view.
Perfectly Imperfect
I’ll never forget when my children were born. When the doctor finally let me hold them for the first time, I remember thanking God that they were healthy, and thinking to myself that they were...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I Need a Do-Over: Learning When to Hit Reset
Do you ever want a do-over? I think we’ve all been there. Sometimes I find myself there on a daily basis. Wishing I could rewind time and respond differently, wishing I could slow down and focus on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Two Words to Overcome Desperation with Hope
Just before my first son was born, I remember people telling me how much I would love being a mom, and how I would love my son so much that I would feel like my heart could burst. And you know what,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Celebrate What You Do
My mother was a cheerleader in high school so naturally, I grew up in a household that oozed encouragement. My sister and I played basketball and volleyball in high school and my mom never missed a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
God’s Big Truth about Mom Guilt
As hard as we try to shake them, they haunt us. We can’t seem to let go of those times when we lost our temper with our child, forgot something important or gave in when we should have stood firm. Our...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Silencing the Self-Critic
For the past few weeks we have been living with a very unwelcome guest. He wakes us up at 4am, and spends the rest of the day coming in and out. To make matters worse, I worry constantly about him...
View ArticleClik here to view.
5 Ways to Find JOY in Motherhood
Before I became a mother, I had all these grandiose ideas of what motherhood would be like. I thought it would be all joy and smiles all the time. I thought I would enjoy every moment of it. But then...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Keeping Our Marriage Together Through Years of Infertility
Four years after we decided it was time to start our family, we found ourselves as far away from our goal as we could have imagined. Cheri lay helpless in a hospital bed, suffering from ovarian...
View ArticleClik here to view.
But I’m Not That Mom
But I’m not THAT mom! kept running through my head. I don’t do smocked dresses or big hair bows. I don’t sew. I barely BRUSH MY CHILDREN’S HAIR half the time for glory’s sake. How can I be a “girl...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What No One Told Us About Motherhood
He looked at me from under a windshield wiper of blond hair tossed side to side as he scribbled on squares of copy paper. His gaze met mine when we both realized I was watching him. I smiled at his...
View ArticleClik here to view.
8 Ways to Refocus Your Parenting Lens
Being a mom is a blessing. At the same time it’s hard. Not rocket-science hard, but test-my-patience hard. How can something that looks so simple from the outside arouse the monster in me and crush...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Deal with Meltdowns and Tantrums
She was having a full blown fit pitching, tantrum throwing, melt-down right there on the food court floor {gross} with an audience of about seventy shoppers {of course}. The big explosive screams were...
View ArticleClik here to view.
An Unfinished Family Photo
Peoples’ eyebrows raise when they see our family photo. They often exclaim something like “Holy cow! Are all those yours?” We have a big family. Six kids. There was a time when we had one child in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
3 Simple Ways to Tame a Competitive Mom Nature
I hate to have to admit this but I’m a pretty competitive person. Whether it’s a simple game of Monopoly or the annual Dillard’s sale each January {you know – the one where the whole store is like 75%...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Teaching Your Child to Love Healthy Food
As moms we want our kids to eat healthy. Building a growing body with nutrients from a rainbow of foods goes a long way to assure a healthy future for our children. But it’s not always easy to get...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Avoid Using Fear to Motivate Your Kids
“If you don’t come down from there and put your shoes on right now we will never come to McDonald’s again!” the mother yelled into the yellow tube in the McDonald’s Playland to her 4-year old. As I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When Your Summer Bucket List Changes Lives
Let me start by saying I’m not a bucket list kind of girl. It feels like self-imposed pressure that I don’t want in my summer vibe. I believe in boredom and free play and hours picking at the grass....
View ArticleClik here to view.
The One Who Rescues Us When We’re Sinking
…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How I’m Teaching My Son the Value of a Woman
I looked in the mirror and sighed. Pregnancy had taken a toll on my body. Although I had a healthy son, I also had a bright red scar from my C-section, the skin on my stomach was wrinkly, and my...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Prayer of Surrender for All of Life’s Burdens
And behold a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean.” Matthew 8:2 Twelve months ago my husband and I decided to start trying for baby #3. Our first...
View Article