I’ve spent hours in the car with Sawyer lately. In these final weeks leading up to college, I’ve driven with him to new student conferences and college camps that are meant to prepare freshmen for their new life. During one long drive, I thought about how I had a chance here to teach him some... Read More
A fiery certainty lives inside most human beings when they’re 25 years old. 25 year olds are the ultimate in confidence that they know the best way to do things, the best way to think, and what is right and wrong. Most 50 year olds have realized that they know less than ever. We’ve seen... Read More
Growing pains are showing all around me. In all the various stages of life that my kids are in, each one is being forced to let go of what is behind to forge on toward what lies ahead. Growing up isn’t necessarily something that happens against our will–it just gradually pours us into a new... Read More
Last night I stood in the kitchen with Chad and asked him if he thinks my brain is working okay. I had had two incidents in the past couple of days of not being able to think of simple words that I was trying to use. We faced each other by the sink, and my... Read More
Our four year old loves to sing. She comes home from church singing snippets of tunes she learned in Sunday school, and the other day she launched into a loud version of “Oh, Be Careful Little Eyes What You See.” I remember this song from my own childhood, as a simple reminder that it matters... Read More
Stastics show that human beings are more bored than ever. We’re more bored during work interactions, more bored during social interactions, and we’re bored when cell phones are present. 35 years ago, if you would have told Gen X kids that the coming era of technology was going to be utterly boring, we would have... Read More
A few nights ago I hardly slept. Lightning flashed every few seconds. Rain pelted the dusty ground and then filled all the dry places and then overflowed out of the flowerbeds and sloshed against the curbs in the low spots of our small town. Thunder rattled the seventy-five year old bones of our cozy house,... Read More
When I was a younger woman, I wanted a lot of things from Chad. I wanted him to be certain ways and do certain things and understand all of my unexpressed expectations. There’s something wonderful about gaining a few years’ experience and understanding more about the comforts of having a partner in life. As we... Read More
At 48 years old, I’m learning new things about parenting. One of those things is that many parenting books, podcasts, and influencer posts are written by people with naturally compliant children. Hear me out. I can say this with confidence because I used to be one of those writers/speakers/podcasters who doled out a lot of... Read More
Last night I sat by our littlest baby, and we watched a movie together. She wanted to turn off all the lights and get snacks from the kitchen, pretending they were popcorn so we could make believe that we were in a movie theater together. Instead of nice, reclining theater seats, we sat on the... Read More