The Dress Didn't Fit

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The Dress Didn't Fit

The dress wouldn’t zip. It didn’t matter what I did. It was the bridesmaid dress for my sister's wedding, and I had to be in it, standing by my sister's side in front of 200 guests within 72 hours.

Sweaty and stuck, I willed the panic away and called my mom for a game plan. We decided I’d head to her house, where she and my grandmother could help me get into the dress. Maybe I just needed another set of hands to get the zipper going. If we couldn’t make it work, Mom said, we’d create a gusset ourselves with extra fabric or find a seamstress. 

I touched base with a few friends on the way to Mom’s house, joking that I was willing to go Middle Ages on this problem and remove a rib if necessary. I told Adelaide, “Pray for Mommy’s dress,” and she did. “Dear God, help Mommy’s dress. Amen.”

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The Value of a Life

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The Value of a Life

Yesterday I walked out front to trade our current, cheap wreath for this gorgeous one from my sister’s wedding, but then I remembered the nest. Our current wreath holds a perfect little birds’ nest, and the perfect birds’ nest cradles five little blue eggs.

Kara is the one who first noticed it, last week, on her way in. She said, “Isn’t it amazing that God made birds to make nests?” I said, “I don’t know how he thought to do that!” We marveled for a minute.

Kara isn’t here anymore.

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A Prayer for the Writer on Publication Day

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A Prayer for the Writer on Publication Day

The more writers I befriend, the more I realize how exposed and fearful we feel on the day our content is published. It's incredibly vulnerable to put your voice out into the world, and we need extra prayers on those days, whether we’ve posted a blog post, shared thoughts on a podcast, released a book or product, or spoken to a group.

So, writer friends, this prayer is written for you, and especially for the precious friends in my writing group. (HI, PALS!) You can download a copy to keep saved on your phone or desktop by clicking here or just saving the image below. It may be a good addition to your publication day process. I hope that it offers perspective and encouragement to you on publication day as you bravely surrender the words you’ve been given.

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Nesting Mamas: What They Teach Us About God

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Nesting Mamas: What They Teach Us About God

Nesting is a curious thing mothers universally do, tirelessly carrying the proverbial sticks in our beaks to create a place for our babies to belong. I remember hoisting our living room rug out the front door at 40 weeks because I decided it was too disgusting to be in the presence of my baby girl. Now that baby girl is four, and I still go to great efforts to make sure things around our home are functioning well for her and her little brother (though I haven’t irrationally tossed anything out the front door in a while).

Recently, my two kids started sharing a room, and I noticed how the preparation for the change felt like love.

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The Gospel of Fatherhood

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The Gospel of Fatherhood

Adelaide was three weeks old in this picture, but she and her daddy still look at one other like this. She's our oldest, and during those newborn months, the weight and magic of my new motherhood and my husband's new fatherhood astounded me. Who were we to be entrusted with someone so precious?

During those months, I came across a quote from Hayley DiMarco that I've never forgotten: "A girl's father is her first love, her evidence that there truly is a God and that he truly loves her."

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