What says "It's fall" to you? A few things do it for me. Multi-colored leaves crunching under my feet, sweater-wearing, apple-picking, and pumpkin cooking. Let me tell you, I wasn't always a pumpkin cooking type of gal. The only times I used pumpkin in a recipe,...
My first child was just four months old when we went on our first vacation with her to a small, quiet island in Florida. As I strapped my baby girl into my infant carrier and hugged her close to my chest, I took a short...
My Dear Chesed, Naming. It has been happening since the beginning of creation. God gave Adam the responsibility and honor of naming first the animals and then his own wife! Every two seconds in the world, a new child is born and given a name. Someone (usually...
Come Away with Me The twilight sky faded to black as I stood, nose pressed against the window, watching our flight to Zurich take off without us. A wave of nausea swept over me, obliterating the friendly buzz of champagne from the airport lounge. Tears poured down...
These last few weeks have been anything but quiet: We had a serious health scare with an immediate family member; the kind of scare that leads to strings of sleepless nights, travels, phone calls, research, and endless tearful prayers. My husband is bogged down with freelance work...
"You cannot have a heart for the gospel and a fussiness about your life at the same time. You will never make any difference there if you cannot be at peace here. You cannot have a heart for missions if you don’t have one for...
Dearest Abigail, Today you turn five. They say this is a milestone. As you've been learning in math this year, it means a "whole hand" worth of years under your belt - and what do you think? From what I see and hear each day, you really...
We don't get to choose what our children see and hear. I know that sounds wrong somehow. Well, in some ways it is. We get to choose what they hear from our mouths and what they see on our faces (sometimes good, sometimes not so good). We...
Dearest firstborn girl, Your beauty, it takes my breath away. From the crown of your curly mane to the tips of your colorful painted toes. From your ink-stained fingers to your sometimes tear-streaked face. You radiate. But. Beauty is a fleeting thing, straw that looks very much like...
Every day we wake once more with the sun. We help them brush teeth, make beds, get dressed. We pack lunches, wash dishes, fold laundry. We sing that favorite song as we take their hands to walk across the street. We cook meals and wipe noses, teach...