encouragement for every season of life
I stand over the kitchen sink, eyeing several familiar Eskimo Joe’s cups in its open mouth. My son James, the one who brought the cups from his room some time ago, rummages through a cabinet. “Uh, James darlin’,” I say, pointing at the stacks of colorful plastic cups. “Do you plan to put these in the dishwasher or do you…
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As the sun slides behind the front range mountains of our Colorado town, my family of five slides into our seats for a late dinner at home. Over tasty Change Your Life Chicken, Ethan asks me to retell a story from his when-he-was-little years. I set my fork down, run my paper napkin across my mouth before placing it next…
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After moving to the sparsely landscaped Albuquerque, New Mexico, I discovered the most vibrant group of friends within a local church’s Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) group. When the day dawned on our second year in that arid desert town, I eagerly anticipated joining MOPS once again and connecting with those same awash-with-life mamas. The morning of our first gathering, I…
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Perhaps like you, I learned in the early morning hours of February 21st that Billy Graham had died at 99 years of age. And as my daughter and I wound our way through the slushy, snowy roads toward her school that day, we listened as our radio station payed tribute to this man who for so many was a hero…
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I’m tap tap taping on my keyboard inside the Starbucks at Target when a dad carrying two infant carriers, one in each hand like barbells, comes in to sit at the table next to me. The carriers are draped with matching sky-blue blankets, and I smile knowing it’s likely twin boys snugged under them. Since I’m also the mama of…
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I’m sitting here savoring the last bite of my velvety smooth cinnamon roll (delicious rolls a result of the pioneer woman’s easy to follow recipe rather than any of my own baking skillz). As I lick the butter and powdered sugar frosting off my fingers, I can’t help but be thankful it isn’t this time last week. While I usually…
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Today, I googled “men’s jeans with a 38 inch inseam.” And after traveling the superhighways of the internet for a good while, I finally reached the desired destination thanks to the Levi’s website. Bravo, Levi’s 505 blues, for coming through for my long-limbed, tree-man son. Kids keep on growin’ on, especially when we’re not looking. If yours are 18 like…
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I sit at the Thanksgiving table of my in-laws, rub my full-to-the-brim middle and swear I won’t eat another bite till Christmas. Even as I say it, I swirl my fork on my dessert plate to catch the last salty-sweetness of pecan pie. While my husband talks with his brother Andy about how their alma mater, Oklahoma State, fared this…
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It was a bright July morning in London this past summer when my husband, kids and I stepped out of our Air B&B flat to the sun-streaked pathway outside. As we started our walk toward South Kensington, we met up with a woman living in another flat down the row from ours. She said hello to us and kindly commented…
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When the news rolled in about the shootings in Las Vegas early Monday, I immediately prayed for the Lord to be close to those who had faced unimaginable horror. And after my sons left for school, my daughter and I climbed in my car, driving down pine-lined roads toward her school. We listened to radio reports of the events, both…
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If I asked you the following questions, what would be your answer? In what way do you struggle to fit in? What is one thing about you that makes it difficult for you to fit in with those around you? If you had asked me the second question in junior high, the answer would have rolled off my tongue before you…
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I glance at my phone just in time to see the lit-up news teaser, and once again I can’t believe what it relays. I tap the link and read the article, sickened to my core by hateful words and pixels. “Oh Lord, may Your Kingdom come,” I pray out loud. It is good to dwell in unity, but how heartbreaking…
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