Hope For Believing

This summer I decided to clear the space beside my deck of the remnants of my failed vegetable gardens over the years.  We actually got some edible tomatoes and cucumbers last year, but mostly we just grow contorted vegetables or no vegetables.  Bugs come and eat them or disease comes and rots them.  That’s our dismal garden history.  

This year, however, I was bound and determined to reclaim that space and make it beautiful by relocating some garden stones and planting flowers and shrubs.  I did the backbreaking work of clearing away the weeds, leveling the land, and carrying the stones one by one.  The space was prepped and ready and I was filled with hope.

Then my baby turned into a toddler.  You know, the kind that moves.  After that we joined the swim team.  Then my husband decided it was time to stain the deck.  And then we said yes to some old chairs from my neighbor because, hello, they are solid oak, and we definitely needed to refinish those as well.  Let me show you the jaw-dropping before and after of our peaceful garden paradise.  

What Failure Has Taught Me About Forgiveness

The stereotype is true that the more kids you have, the more you let go.  I used to think of it as a frazzled and frustrated letting things go, the type that elicits searing thoughts like, What a shame, she’s really let herself go.  

You know the picture—a disheveled mom with greasy hair and milk-stained t-shirt wearing the same sweatpants four days in a row.  I’m sure I looked down on those poor women.  Children are just such a burden, no wonder she’s a wreck.

Does God Love Us?

I was never the type to ponder the meaning of life when I was younger.  I didn’t think much of death either.  Nothing from within or without forced me to deal with those sorts of things. 

It wasn’t until I lost my grandparents, and then my husband’s grandparents, over the past four years that the questions began to pulse through my mind with regularity.  Since then, all of my “book knowledge” about the Lord has been tested on the stage of real life. 

A Mama's Journey To Trust

Life is a journey to trust.  Have you experienced this? I think if we peer into our hearts long enough, we will find some “trust issues” there.  God uses circumstances as varied as His creation to bring us to the end of ourselves so that our story of trusting Him can begin.  Parenthood is one of them.  

Finding God When Disappointment Knocks

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our family to yours!

I don’t know what it is. There are 365 days in a year and somehow we are professionals at getting sick over the holidays.  I have to think back before children and marriage to remember a time when I didn’t get sick during the winter months.  Disappointment threatens all attempts at joy, peace, and love.  The world, it seems, is having a party and we are stuck at home.  Again.

To The Mom Who Is Fresh Out of Happy This Holiday Season

Last summer I bought two pictures on sale at a local home store to spruce up the basement. One says, I choose to be happy.  The other says a host of beautiful things written in clever font that fills the canvas perfectly. Use kind words. Be nice. Be grateful. Relax.  They remind me of Christmas cards this time of year.  

Be Merry the glistening font tells me.  Rejoice the vintage letters sing.  Dazzling designs atop rustic shiplap backgrounds announce the perfect holiday messages.  Merry & Bright.  Peace & Love.  Cheers.  Joy.  They inspire all that is good. I love looking at them....except when I don't.

Creating A Gallery Wall & An Exciting Family Room Update!

Have you ever seen a gallery wall and thought you may want to try one in your home? Maybe you have, but you've been too intimidated to start.  This post is for you!