encouragement for every season of life
Yes, we know the calendar says it’s officially spring. But when we look around us, we still see a good deal of winter. When we look inside our heart and soul, we still feel a good deal of winter. Sometimes we long for a season to get with the program and change already. But like a bitter, frosty winter that has long overstayed its…
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For my family, the last week or so has been chock-full of vitamins C and D, cough medicine, Ginger Ale, and looking at each other in our same ol’ same ol’ pajama pants and t-shirts. All 5 of us managed to come down with the flu, and it was vicious. But we made it through and now we’re back to school, work,…
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On numerous occasions, I’ve shared what I’ve learned within a particular month of the year. Taking my cue from Emily who started this monthly series, it suited me well to share the silly and sacred, useful and just plain fun each month. Recently, Emily tweaked the “What I Learned” monthly format to instead reflect what we learned each season. This seems even more feasible and…
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Several months ago, I wrote about my struggle with fear on several fronts. Releasing a book found me “out there” to a greater degree, and while I don’t exaggerate my visibility or recognition, I still found myself afraid to be more fully seen. Then there’s the fact that raising 3 teens is chock-full of scary possibilities. Other circumstances poured into the fear-cocktail too….
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Well, these last couple of weeks have been chock-full of crazy. Among other things, every member of my family has been sick, the kids have had more going on than a variety show, and we’ve been doing quite a bit of planning for a big family trip this summer. Also, I meant to have this post out yesterday–this morning at the…
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Slowly, I slid down the wall while tears slid down my face. I glanced at the clock that read 9:10 am. The day was young, but I needed a serious do-over. I rubbed my tired head and thought about the last few weeks. As the calendar wound down on my husband’s deployment, my short fuse tightened up. My health struggles…
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To put it bluntly, there are seasons when it’s just dang hard being a person. And for this person here, seasons when I often feel this way are seasons when I struggle to fit in. At the beginning of this new year, we may feel that way on a broad political scale. And if we narrow down this notion of fitting in to a…
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We didn’t get all the snow our weatherman predicted, but I awoke this morning to a gray, pea-soup fog, the frosty kind that leaves the evergreens glazed head to toe. The fog stayed for a while, long enough for me to give the boys two extra warnings about driving to school. Go a little more slowly, please, since you can’t see too…
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If there’s one school subject that still makes me sweat bullets and my heart rate gallop, it’s math. Please, for the love of all that’s good and holy, don’t make me do math beyond what is required to measure ingredients or compile a grocery list. But when reading Chip and Joanna’s The Magnolia Story over Christmas break, I was intrigued by a section where Chip…
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‘Round these parts, we’re all about getting fresh air where we can, when we can. After all, the world can be one deflating, stifling place, as 2016 can testify. I am not one who typically makes New Year’s resolutions. It is more in line with my personality to look at the new calendar year and ask myself questions like my friend Lisa-Jo…
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As you move about your holiday activity both hurried and hushed, may you be aware of Christ around you. As you hold the monumental and minute in your heart like Mary, may you know Christ in you. As you open unexpected gifts great and small, may you know Christ for you. The Christmas spirit is that hope which tenaciously clings…
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Yesterday afternoon, I drove down the stretch of highway to the Air Force Academy, on my way to the base commissary. I needed to get some final Christmas groceries, including some appetizer fixings for Christmas day as well as ingredients for sugar cookies. As I approached the gate guard at the base entrance, I slowed down and turned down the…
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