When I came to be born, my parents placed my cradle atop the ancient wooden table that I might see out the window as they worked. For the first year of my life, that window was like a frame through which I watched the world: two maple saplings on either side of the window swayed …
Marriage is a union between two imperfect people, right? So why am I angered when my husband does something less than perfect? Better yet, why do I too often act like I am perfect? My husband is probably the easiest man on earth to get along with, and a truly incredible partner and father – …
Remember that Sunday School lesson about Joseph and the coat of many colors? How his jealous brothers sold him into slavery? Then after years of being a slave, Joseph was wrongly imprisoned and languished there for years? After Joseph was released from prison, seven years of “severe famine” came upon the land, causing widespread suffering …
In the movie, Home Alone, the short bad guy would mutter “rasa-frasa-rasa-frasa” whenever he was angry or frustrated. Some of my days are so comically awful that all I can do is collapse into my recliner after the kids are in bed and ask no one in particular, “What the rasa-frasa was that all about??” …
The title says it all! No preamble necessary. Because money isn’t everything. A lot of moms have told me they can’t homeschool because they can’t afford to live on one income. For most people that’s not entirely true. It’s a fact that if certain families lived on a single income then they could not afford …
We used to host family Bible study at our home on Thursday evenings. Of about a dozen kids who attended, our son Findlay was by far the loudest and most destructive. One night in particular the babysitter could not control him, so I took him aside and warned that the next time he disobeyed, he’d …
There was that one day when things got so bad that I daydreamed about what it would be like to be single again. Without a husband and toddler, there would be no combat boots carelessly kicked off in the foyer, no dirty laundry dropped by the side of the bed in an ever-growing pile, no …
“There are two ways to be rich. One is by acquiring much. The other is by desiring little.” Please read that again, slowly, and consider which category you fall into. I used to be that girl who tried to acquire much. My husband tells people that there was a time early in our marriage when …
4 Reasons Why Having Less Money Is Better than Having More Money Read More »
“Why you make that face, Mama?” Findlay asked. I blinked back tears and pointed to a word on the page. “Sound out this word.” Findlay wasn’t fooled; he wouldn’t look at the word but instead continued to search my face. The tears refused to be dammed back by clenched eyelids. I ugly cried. Blubbered, I …
Once, my sister asked me to watch her son while she showered. I remember looking at my nephew and thinking, “one of us is going to die in the next 20 minutes.” At the time I had absolutely no idea what to do with a kid. And I had no desire to know. But after …
