3 reasons why it’s worth traveling with kids

August 21, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

I’ve heard it said that when you’re traveling with young kids, it’s best to call it a “trip” instead of a “vacation.” Parenting is parenting even when you’re in Hawaii or on an African safari. If you’ve booked a vacation somewhere and you are bringing your kids along, don’t expect to be swinging leisurely in […]

Pursuing peace in unsettled times

August 13, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

After two months in Michigan, we are back in San Diego. When a friend asked me if I was excited to come home, I told her that I was looking forward to being settled in. Settled means feeling comfortable and established. It’s what I want to feel immediately after coming home from a trip. But […]

How to clear your mental clutter

August 8, 2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

There are times when I am mentally overloaded: I have so much on my mind that I can’t seem to focus on what’s right in front of me. It’s at these times that I have the attention span of a gnat, and the most innocent and reasonable request from one of my children threatens to […]

How to grow closer to God in the midst of motherhood

July 31, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Before I became a mother, if someone would have told me that having a baby changes the way you relate to God, I would have scoffed. I’ve always been a creature of habit, and I still envisioned that my quiet time would stay unchanged after my baby was born. I could not foresee the sleepless […]

How to live a meaningful life with purpose

July 24, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

One of my favorite sounds of summer is my husband playing his guitar. He’s so busy as a professor during the school year that it’s rare he has the time to pick it up! But when we spend our summers in Michigan, he makes up for lost time. The other day, we were both out […]

When you hide in your baggage

July 22, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

I left my beloved boarding school in Germany and my parents’ home on the field in France when I turned eighteen. I was headed to college in a new state in my passport country: Michigan. I was a little excited, but mostly terrified. I grieved my high school graduation like it was a death: never […]

How to overcome fear in motherhood

July 18, 2019.Reading time 10 minutes.

Many years ago, I had a summer job as a night nanny for newborn triplets. The parents hired me to help with night feedings so one of them could sleep! Two girls and a boy… these were this couple’s only children. I remember one morning, in the moments just as the sun was beginning to […]