Happy birthday to my sweet Carter Benjamin.
Read More
Looking back at 2019, five titles surfaced to the top of my list. Read more about them (and my first five for 2020) here.
Read More
I can see it on the horizon. Billowing. Gray. Slowly inching closer and casting its shadow on the landscape. Not ominous or threatening, but returning faithfully like a dark cloud every year for the last nine years.
Read More
Have you lost the joy of gift-giving? Are you looking for new ways to increase generosity and convey value? Maybe it’s time to rethink “giving well.”
Read More
If you’ve been around church people for amount of time, you’ve likely heard the word grace tossed about like confetti. Grace is essential to faith—but have we learned to cheapen it? Have we confused it with being #blessed? What, exactly, is grace?
Read More
When we shift from service to striving—from God-led to greedy grasping to make things happen—our souls pay the price. While God wants us to work hard, He doesn’t want us to be consumed by it.
Read More
When I stood in my white dress under a large oak tree and spoke my vows in front of our closest family and friends, I had no idea what our particular brand of “for better or for worse” would be. Not many of us do I suppose?
Read More
I’d lobbed more than my fair share of questions and accusations at God, wondering why this natural thing that we wanted so badly was being kept from us. But that morning, all that emotion was crashing over me…
Read More
The vacuum their absence created was hard to handle, adding more loss to my already complicated emotions. But if I could go back, if I could have helped my friends understand what it’s like to go home from the hospital without my baby, here’s what I wish I could have said.
Read More
October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month, and each week, I’m featuring a story from a mama who has walked the road of loss and has generously agreed to share her story. Today we hear from my real-life friend Kayla Ruhl.
Read More
For weeks after my son’s death, I walked around in a haze. The funeral, and all the decisions surrounding it, occurred in a blur of grief. Neighbors and church friends dropped off casseroles and baked pasta at our home. My body didn’t feel hungry, it felt tired and heavy, like I was dragging a load of bricks.
Read More
October 15 is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, so for the entire month of October, I’m making space on my website for stories—stories from women who have lost and who have seen God poke through their grief.
Read More
Tuesdays always get me. Already, the dirty dishes have taken over. Piles of maybe-clean laundry litter the living room floor. Wilting apple slices and popcorn kernels—bits from last night’s supper—hide beneath the kitchen table, taunting me from beneath their lair.
Read More
Together may we stand in the gaps for those who are hurting, who are raw and ravaged and in need of grace.
Read More
The stories of others can help us glean faith when we’re lacking, understanding when we’re ignorant, and words to describe our experiences. Here are my top five book recommendations for anyone touched by child loss or looking for grace in hard places.
Read More
Alone, we can know Him only in part, only see the world in black and white. […] The prismatic display of His glory can only be revealed when we come together, when we choose to love and to link arms during life’s passing storms.
Read More
I let the question sink in. Probably a few seconds too long. My mind began to draw circles around that phrase: knowing all you know now.
Read More
Today I turn thirty-six. I don’t at any moment pretend to have life all figured out, but I have learned a few things along the way. Here are thirty six of them.
Read More
A reflection on the year we (almost) adopted.
Read More
Just how can we know when we’ve crossed over from self-care into selfish care? The “line” can often seems hazy, and I have a suspicion it’s not the same for all women.
Read More