For the last several years, a small group of my friends have gathered just after the turn of the New Year for a “Word Party.” Every year the party looks a little different. We let the kids (12 among the 5 of us) run wild in the yard or jump on the trampoline or play sardines in the bedrooms while the mamas gather around the table. My friend Amy is [...] Keep Reading
General
Be You, Less Busy
I like my holiday traditions. I love the after-Thanksgiving decorating, the walk down Christmas Tree Lane, the decadent desserts and dinner parties, the wrapping and unwrapping of Christmas books each night of advent, the doorbuster sales, the white elephant gift exchanges, the homemade cinnamon rolls and Christmas Day ravioli. I love Christmas [...] Keep Reading
Standing at the Intersection of Fear and Faith
I was standing in the middle of the community garden for a “serve day” with my daughter’s second grade class when I received the phone call. I hardly remember what my husband said but I remember I stopped breathing. Results of biopsy. Melanoma in the lymph nodes. My healthy, athletic husband had cancer. At 40. I stood there frozen, somewhere [...] Keep Reading
Preparing For Your Esther Moment
Through the years, I’ve had this burning question in my heart: What does it mean to be a Christian woman? It’s easy to get caught up in the swirling stereotypes, the rhetoric about virtuous women and the arguments about that dreaded word “submission.” Something about this talk always pricks my spirit. I try to redirect to God’s Word for answers. [...] Keep Reading
Organizing our Beautiful Mess
I am a creative spirit. I hate throwing things away because I know somehow, some way it could be recycled, recreated, reimagined in the future. When I was a kid, my mom would send me to clean my room and I would emerge three days later having uncovered a mountain of books I needed to read and boxes full of all the great crafting stuff I forgot I [...] Keep Reading
Growing a Heart to Serve
God has given me a heart of mercy for others. The widow. The orphan. The mom in need. These all tug on my heart strings. I recently heard author Rebekah Lyons say this, “Your calling is when your talents and your burdens collide.” This was a reminder to me of why I originally jumped in to be the director of The Haitian Bead Project. Since I was a [...] Keep Reading
