Why Retreats Matter

/
Why Retreats Matter

I think God tends to do his most profound work in small moments—the regular practice of opening up the Bible and leaving it out on the counter for random snatches of reading, of praying in the car, of keeping an open dialogue of gospel-talk with friends, of choosing to not be offended by a weird email. I think the regular moments matter most, that it’s where our roots grow and stretch deep down into the earth, grounding our faith and making it stronger.

But I also think big events can reinvigorate small-moment living. This is the reason I believe in retreats. (This weekend I'm speaking at a women's retreat, and I’m in the middle of planning a women's retreat in December, so retreats are on my brain. Also, treats are on my brain. That’ll come up later.)

Read More

Strange Encounters with Sleepy Toddlers

/
Strange Encounters with Sleepy Toddlers

My precious firstborn is rarely the type to do things by the book. She was born 15 days after her due date (I KNOW I KEEP MENTIONING THIS, probably because I’ll never get over it), she never crawled except in secret, she could eat an entire adult meal before she had any teeth, she took forever to talk but currently will not stop talking, and she has never had one single ounce of separation anxiety. While other children were missing their moms and agonizing over being away from them in the nursery at church, Adelaide would barely tell me goodbye. Basically, if it’s going to mess with my mind, Adelaide is into it.

However, one solid benefit to her “not-going-by-the-book”-ness is that she sleeps like a rock every single night and never, ever gets out of bed. For over three years she has waited patiently for me in the morning, and if she were the only other person in the house, I would get tons of sleep. Well, until this month.

Read More

He Is Good

/
He Is Good

This was originally posted in my old blog in October 2014. The link came up on my Facebook memories this week, and I shared it from my personal account. Because this old painful story resonated with some precious readers, I want to be faithful to share it here, too, in case God will use it to strengthen your faith. I know I needed to be reminded of this truth. However, if stories about scary incidents with children are too triggering for you currently (I have been there!!), please don't read it. I want this story to serve you, not overwhelm you. Our God is good. 

I threw out the pink monkey pajamas. They’re cute, and she only wore them once. But they make me remember that night, and I do not want to remember.

Read More

My Pastor Husband, Part 2

/
My Pastor Husband, Part 2

So remember last week when I told you about that time when someone scream-curse-flirted with my husband, the pastor? In a world of carefully scrubbed conversations (“Oh sorry man, I forgot you were a pastor”), it was strangely centering. People tend to worry they might get their sin on him or something. There’s already sin on him because, you know, he’s a human, but people tend to forget that about people in ministry.

Read More

My Pastor Husband

/
My Pastor Husband

My family has a well-documented ice cream problem. If we feel too happy, someone will suggest ice cream, and if we feel too unhappy, someone will suggest ice cream. As the matriarch of the household, I have to keep everybody at about a seven on the happiness scale so that we will not get ice cream. The other day, though, the kids were too cute, and I magically had dinner on the table when my husband got home, and somehow when he entered the door, I did not bare my teeth at him as an expression of my Stay-At-Home-Mom Rage, which is totally a thing, and we just ended up way too happy. DANGGIT. We went to get ice cream.

Things were going as you’d expect: Adelaide wants chocolate, will be furious if anyone else gets chocolate because she doesn’t understand that there is more than one cup of chocolate ice cream in the universe at any given moment, and Greer wants “blue,” a vague request that is not always possible to obtain, but conveniently, Greer is unclear on the color blue and generally good-natured, so chocolate or vanilla will do in a pinch. We pull up to the drive thru of our favorite place to get ice cream, and it’s there that things get squirrelly.

Read More