My Uncle Junior was a very handsome man. Born Ezra, Jr. Fleener on February 29, 1924, he was called “Junior” from birth. With a talent in woodworking, his furniture now has a prominent place in the homes of each member of my immediate family. While academics were...
It happens to the best of us. We’re handling life well until one of our kids just pushes us right over the edge. We’re no longer talking in our sugary sweet voice that seemed to be helping us keep our anger under control. Now we’re yelling and the...
It was the moms group I didn’t intend to start. Desperate to meet other moms after a move to a new city, I invited eight moms I barely knew from church to join me once a week to read and talk about a book on motherhood. Truth be told, I felt better equipped to be a...
Today’s we get to benefit from the wisdom of author and speaker Ginger Hubbard. Ginger is the author of I Can’t Believe You Just Said That and Don’t Make Me Count to Three. A veteran homeschooling mother of two adult children and stepmom to two much-adored...
I sat at my friend’s kitchen table as our kids played just a few rooms away in their playroom. We had weekly playdates—one week at my house, the next week at hers. I loved our time together, but I also struggled with it as well. You see, my friend is an innie and I’m...
It was Theodore Roosevelt who said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” And he lived in a time where comparison wasn’t nearly as easy as it is in our world of social media! Moms are particularly vulnerable to the Perfection Infection (PI) I first wrote...
A couple of weeks ago my friend Amy lost her husband. This makes the sixth friend in my life who has become a widow. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain of losing the love of your life. It’s a club each of us hope we’ll never have membership...
When Dr. Kathy Koch and I wrote our No More Perfect Kids book, we talked about how important it is to love the kids we have, not the ones we wish we had. Sometimes we imagine what life will look like as a parent, but then we find ourselves face to face with parenting...
It was today, February 2, six years ago, that Mark left. Disillusioned with life, God, people, the world, and marriage, he was determined to ride off in the sunset with another relationship. It was today, February 2, four years ago that we both shaved our...
I’m so excited to share with you something Mark and I have been praying about and my team and I have been planning! It’s a Mom Getaway Day designed to give moms a day to run away from home so they can run back home to their family with a renewed spirit!...
I’ve been baking cut out cookies with my kids and grandkids for 32 years. It’s one of my favorite things to do! Several years ago I created a suggested plan for baking cutout cookies with kids of ALL ages. That’s what I’m sharing with you today!...
I saw the little square notice in our local newspaper. It stated basic information about a college scholarship available for Christian students. I didn’t have anyone in college at the time. My older three were young adults, my younger two were freshman and...
Four years ago this week my life changed when breast cancer became a part of my vocabulary. It had been a part of my extended family’s vocabulary for some time because my aunt, my mom, and my grandmother had all received breast cancer diagnoses before I did. We...
Last year, we didn’t spend Thanksgiving with a single one of our five children. Did it feel odd? Yes. Was it the best for everyone? We think so. Our oldest daughter and her husband alternate holidays with his family and our family; last year Thanksgiving was with his...
Today’s guest post is brought to us by Jerusha Clark. Jerusha is an author, speaker, wife, and mom. Her newest book Every Piece of Me: Shattering Toxic Beliefs and Discovering the Real You (Baker, 2017) is a book that reminds us that God never meant for us to...
