Being OK with Where You Are {book review}

When I give my "it" to God I am not setting it free to fly and let the universe decide to bring it back or not. Instead, I am surrendering my plans to a personal God who loves me and knows what is best for my heart. Being OK with Where You Are I have no idea what your "it" is ... in fact, some days I'm not even sure what mine is.  I'm sure I did know, long before the laundry piled up and the pre-algebra homework lasted until bedtime.  But now, somehow, I just feel like I'm treading ... [Read More]

Thoughts on Sin and Grace

{This post ended up being a lot longer than normal.  Apparently I had a lot to say.} My girl is 13.  She's in 8th grade. She's a cheerleader, a dancer, and in her school's Show Choir. She has a boyfriend and a cell phone. I'm sure there are those who think we are too permissive ... she, of course, thinks we are overprotective. I hope and pray we are wise and discerning. It isn't easy raising kids these days. The world is full of sex and drugs and abductions and more awful stuff then I care ... [Read More]

When You Want to Guide Your Girl toward God

I'm good at some "mom" things.  I can fix my girl's hair pretty much any way she wants it.  I'm learning how to create some pretty amazing nail art.  I don't loathe watching all the cheesy Disney movies. And I know how to make a mean tie-dye waffle. But one area I'm realizing I haven't been as diligent in is the one area that really matters most: guiding my girl's heart toward God. I know, I could get asked to quit writing for Mothers of Daughters and maybe even Hope for the Weary Mom ... [Read More]

Pouring Rain, Power Outages, Panicking Dogs, & Proclaiming the Best Book of 2013

I may have mentioned here {or on Facebook, I can't remember because I'm over 40 and I have a teenager and my brain can only store so much data and that space it totally full with the due date for ads for the football program and asking people to save their empty toilet paper rolls so we can use them to make spirit sticks ... because really, what says "Go Team!" like a toilet paper roll filled with candy? ... now what was I saying ???} ... Pouring Rain Oh yeah, it's been raining here in ... [Read More]

Lead Your Family Like Jesus

  I live a very real, very ordinary life.  There is always laundry to wash and meals to cook. Twenty-four hours never seems like quite enough.  And some days it feels like all I'm doing is spinning my wheels.  Everything I wash will have to be rewashed.  Every meal I cook will be eaten and another one will be needed within a few hours.  Dishes fill the sink as fast as I can get them washed and put into cabinets.  Beds need making, bathrooms need cleaning ... and before I know it, the ... [Read More]

Can Church and Home Work Together?
a review of Connecting Church & Home by Tim Kimmel

I'm a pastor's wife ... and daughter.  (and grand-daughter and great-grand-daughter, in case you wondered)  I've been going to church since before I was born.  I attended a private Christian college in a small Midwestern town.  And, with the exception of a few years in my early 20s, I've been actively involved in church my entire life. But it's not always been easy.  I haven't always liked it.  In fact, a few years ago, I was ready to ask my husband to leave the ministry, to walk away from ... [Read More]