Motherhood
“God gave you your kids for a reason.” My friend emphasized the word your. She was giving me a pep talk in my parenting, the kind of pep talk you never forget. She went on to tell me that my kids weren’t mine by chance. God chose me to mother and my husband to father […]
Scripture gets a bad rap when it comes to women. I’ve always considered this fact a bit odd because when you compare the depiction of women in Scripture to other ancient literature and historical accounts, the Bible is revolutionary. Homer portrayed women as objects, war prizes, pawns, and possessions, “the cause of all conflict and suffering” in […]
We were watching an episode of House Hunters on HGTV. My first grader looked at me with inquisitive eyes. “Why does that family have two daddies?” she wondered. The question hit me out of left field. I didn’t expect this topic to come up while watching a home improvement show. Agenda-driven television isn’t reserved for prime […]
There is a point I can come to in the course of a crazy day where my tongue barrels down like runaway freight train hell-bent on destruction. Without even realizing it, I unleash a torrent of flaming frustration about every imperfection I see. And my home becomes a dark place where the crack of eggshells […]
Last December, I wrote an article giving five reasons to be careful when watching Hallmark Christmas movies. Overall, the article was a light-hearted endorsement of this network which has remained committed to family entertainment. The concerns weren’t deeply disturbing. They simply highlighted areas where one ought to be cautious. Now, there is a sixth reason to be […]
About twenty years ago, I began a relationship with another man. And I must confess, it has become rather intimate. Now that I have your full attention… let me say that there’s nothing sordid about it. My first husband, Bryan, knows all about him. He tried to get rid of this other guy about a […]
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. Sincerely. He is usually the first to apologize. And this time, I was more to blame. I blew up over the most trivial thing. I’m mortified to put it in writing… I couldn’t find my small container of coconut oil that I use to remove eye makeup. I know, it was […]
Years ago, I did a short stint as a secretary for a stately old church near downtown Norfolk, Virginia. It was a quite a building. The mahogany wood work in the chapel and vivid stained-glass windows depicting Biblical tales inspired awe. Crimson velvet pews flanked a traditional center aisle. The lofty ceiling produced magnificent sounds—an […]
“I’m livin’ for May! I’m livin’ for May!” I said, more times than I could count. Back in January and February, this mantra played like a broken record in my mind. I would mouth the words to a fellow mom across the pews in our homeschool co-op, deep into an afternoon grammar class as my […]
Three years ago, a miracle was born. I prayed that she would sing. Before she was born, before she was even conceived—I prayed that God would give her the gift of melody. I’d had a dream of a young girl with a powerful voice. When she sang, men cried and women would fall to their […]
