Adjusting to having adult children, and eventually adjusting to a fully-empty nest, was a journey for me. It is for most of us. I’ve now had the opportunity to launch children into adulthood five times. Watching each of our little birds fly out of the nest has been a...
Life is better lived together in community with others. In fact, that’s a principle that we are taught in the Bible: Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other’s...
Are you an empty nester, or are you preparing to be soon? One of the hardest parts of transitioning well into the empty nest season is intentionally releasing expectations of our children. Today I’m sharing an excerpt from my Empty Nest, Full Life book. I want...
No matter how old our kids are, prayer is one of the most powerful things we can do as a parent. God desires to hear our hearts for our children. The Bible also tells us that He listens to us. In Jeremiah 29:12, God says, “Then you will call on me and come and...
A few weeks ago, Mark and I awoke to a 6am text from our daughter-in-love. “When you guys wake up, can you give me a call?” She and our son Austin were scheduled to leave for Mexico within 24 hours and her mom was to keep the kids for their seven-day trip....
When my dad passed away almost three years ago, there was a steep learning curve for handling “the business of dying.” I’ve started a blog post to share lessons learned several times, but never finished it. I finally decided to sit down at the...
In the Bible, there’s a story I love in Joshua 3-4. I encourage you to read those chapters if you’re not familiar with the story, but to make it easy, here’s a short version: For many years, God had been leading the nation of Israel to the Promised...
Most of us have experienced being misunderstood at some point in our lives. Honestly, it has happened to me more times than I can count and each time it is simply heartbreaking. This often looks like being misheard, mischaracterized, or misrepresented by family,...
Too many of us are paralyzed by the fear of “what if.” Have you ever felt that way? We feel God calling and want to go forward with His plans, but fear often stops us in our tracks. Today we are going to declare no more! Instead of letting fear stop you...
Graduation season is upon us! You’re probably starting to see pictures across social media of graduation ceremonies and celebrations. I remember when each of my children graduated from high school, and the swirl of emotions I felt. Will they be okay? Did I do a...
Several years ago, Mark and I started hosting “cousins’ weekends” for our grandkids. This is when all the grandkids come to our home for 24 hours to have a fun time with their cousins and we get to enjoy time with all of them. As an added bonus,...
Do you ever find it hard to stay steady when life gets hard? Have you struggled to experience joy? Do you feel like it’s difficult to find reasons to have hope? When life feels heavy, it can be so tough to recognize that God has not left us on our own. I know...
Today’s article is an excerpt from Better Together: Because You’re Not Meant to Mom Alone. Grab your copy here! There’s a letter I received that I’ll never forget from a mom I may never personally know: Dear Jill, several weeks ago, you and I...
Did you know that there are more ways to break trust in a marriage than infidelity? Today, I have my hubby, Mark, joining me on the show, and we are going to be launching into a topic that we often explore in our marriage coaching: broken trust. While infidelity...
What is a crazy dream that God has dropped in your heart? Is there a door that God seems to be opening that you’re afraid to walk through? For many of us, the default answer to dreams or opportunity is, “No.” But today we’re going to explore...
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