When God moves into the neighborhood

Thumbnail image for When God moves into the neighborhood December 12, 2011

It hasn’t snowed here yet. It’s been unseasonably warm. When Zoe and I walk to pick Jackson up from Kindergarten the sun warms us in ways unexpected for December. I’ve been able to say more yes to the playground than no. But the radio sings of winter. It plays song after song of worship that [...]

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Five Minute Friday: Color

Thumbnail image for Five Minute Friday: Color December 9, 2011

It’s Friday. Let’s do it. Let’s just write without worrying if it’s just right or not. For only five short, bold, beautiful minutes. Won’t you join me? 1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. Most importantly: leave a comment [...]

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The hard work of liking our kids, not just loving them

Thumbnail image for The hard work of liking our kids, not just loving them November 21, 2011

There are frayed edges of motherhood that aren’t often talked about. Those places where we’re holding onto our temper with one hand and the belief that things have got to get better eventually with the other. One night that place rocks me hard as I rock my baby girl in one arm and cell phone [...]

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How to feel productive on your most unproductive days

Thumbnail image for How to feel productive on your most unproductive days November 7, 2011

When he tells me his head hurts and my stroking it doesn’t help, I know he’s sick for real and not just for sympathy. His younger brother and sister are just emerging from the fever and croup he’s headed into. It’s Saturday and the US Marine museum outing has been traded for Netflix, mama’s bed, [...]

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Because children are in the eye of the beholder

Thumbnail image for Because children are in the eye of the beholder November 2, 2011

He’s wearing nothing but the blue camo underroos when he comes running at me. I barely have time to brace before all that stocky, nearly-four-year-old life slams into my knees. Amazing, to be missed like this. Today he asks me to wave from the door while he chops down that oak tree in the front [...]

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Things our parents could have told us about parenting

Thumbnail image for Things our parents could have told us about parenting October 26, 2011

How heavy a baby is. How that tiny, new human being can cripple a back with endless nights of swaying and leaning and crouching over a crib to listen to her breathe. They could have mentioned the ache you’d feel at the pit of your heart when she smiles or burps or rolls over. Perhaps [...]

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Maybe the best way to get over yourself

Thumbnail image for Maybe the best way to get over yourself October 12, 2011

I like sleep. I like spending hours reading books, alone, in perfect quiet, in a pool of sunlight on a late fall afternoon. I like a clean and tidy house. I like to eat food while it is still hot. I like clean clothes. I like to brush and style my hair in more than [...]

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I want my kids to know I was more than their mom

Thumbnail image for I want my kids to know I was more than their mom September 29, 2011

I want my kids to know me. Not some perfect version of me. And not just the mommy side either. I want them to know how much I loved books and what a great kisser I thought their dad was. I want them to know that like my mom before me, a favorite thing to [...]

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When you finally figure out that mama does know best

Thumbnail image for When you finally figure out that mama does know best September 28, 2011

There was a time and a church where women didn’t tell their hard stories. I was a sleep deprived brand new mom who wished someone else would whisper in her ear that they missed going to the movies as much as I did. If she was alive, I would have asked my mom if that [...]

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It’s the moments no one knows about that matter

Thumbnail image for It’s the moments no one knows about that matter September 27, 2011

Boys clamor for more ice cream and the baby wants milk. The day winds down slow and rough and my head aches between the whining of one and the frustration of another. I can’t find his favorite bear; I hear rudeness leak out of every syllable his brother speaks. This is the hard love. The [...]

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