Keeping memories, keeping faith: why you should document your days

September 4, 2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

It was fun, at first. Hundreds of pictures are stacked in piles and lined up in chronological order: the highlights of 2018 spread before me. My gold striped picture album lay open, and the coordinating scrapbook paper is standing at the ready. I’d missed papercrafting and so I dove right in, arranging pictures, writing a […]

Excitement and anxiety: on new beginnings

August 28, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

It’s the fresh start of a new school year. Last week, we caught a whiff of new beginnings as we milled about the school for Meet the Teacher night. It smelled of fresh paint, rubber blacktop, and dry erase markers. The nervous excitement among the Kindergarten parents was mirrored back to us by the Kindergarten […]

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 […]