The phone rang at 8 p.m. I heard the broken voice of my son’s best buddy, and he said that his grandfather was really sick and wanted to know if…
Tweens & Teens
One Small Solution to Stuff-itis
This week as I carted the new Christmas toys upstairs, contemplating where to store the new loot, I felt somewhat heavy and divided, as I have occasionally after Christmas. My children are…
Poised for Radical Love
She hurt me. To this day, sometimes when I think about her, fear folds itself around my chest. Though sometimes I have to choose to forgive her again, I believe…
Empty Stocking and Unopened Gifts
Christmas was quickly approaching five years ago, and the excitement was building in our household. But a part of my heart was missing, and a bit of sadness tinged my preparations. The…
Grieving at Christmas
I heard a thought second-hand recently, which was originally from a mother who’d just lost her child in a terrible accident. The mom explained that she’d diligently raised her kids…
Giving: A New Kind of Shopping Spree
One of the feelings I hate is what I’ll call the after-Christmas glut. It’s a little like that feeling you can get after a Thanksgiving feast: I reeeeaaally ate too much. I…
Mothering Melodrama
“Today is the worst day of my life!” This is the note I found etched into our Magna Doodle and left on the bottom step, so I wouldn’t miss it….
Noel Piper and Treasuring God in our Traditions
Okay, I admit it I’m a John Piper groupie. Love everything he writes, says, thinks. I’ve been like this since I discovered Desiring God. (Was it over a decade ago?) Two…
Thanksgiving Memories (a.k.a. Dinner’s Ready When the Fire Alarm Goes Off)
Before autism turned our world upside down, we did a fair share of entertaining. I loved filling our house with people and feeding them. The more the merrier. One particular…
Prepping for the Feast
For someone who isn’t into the Food Channel or trying new recipes or buying the latest Rachael Ray cookbook, I’ve recently logged more hours than I can count in the…