places | seasons | mental & spiritual health
“I love you no matter how you feel,” I tell her as she backs herself against the wall, panic in her eyes as her emotions overwhelm her. I’m familiar with that panicky feeling— not only because I’m currently walking alongside my second highly sensitive daughter through toddlerhood, but also because my toddler’s emotions mimic my …
I’d decided to meet a friend and her kids downtown at the Science Center even though the thought of just getting there aggravated my ever-present anxiety. In the 7.8 million person Asian metropolis where we lived at the time, our two best options for getting downtown were taxi and subway. I generally tried to steer …
“My body is broken, ruined.” This became the overwhelming thought of despair in my mind more than a few times in the weeks following the birth of my second daughter. After being miserable during the recovery of my first delivery, an unwanted c-section, I'd insisted on a VBAC for my second, hoping (expecting) the recovery …
Continue reading "My Body, Broken: A Kindred Mom Guest Post"
A little over a year ago, at the start of Lent, I was in Thailand. Surrounded by the beauty and glory of Creation, my soul usually feels most alive, and yet, all I could see -- all I could feel -- was death. Months earlier, my dear friend lost her child very late term. Weeks …
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” After praying that God would make these words true for me as a wife, mother, friend - person - I’ve been wondering what holds me back from this. Why don’t I behave on a daily basis like this is true? I long to be generous. With …
I recently experienced a revival of sorts in my mothering. And my life - especially my life (and my mothering) overseas. Don't get me wrong: mothering is the hardest thing I've ever done (as much as it's also the most awesome thing I've ever done) and most days involve some kind of hard-earned learning -- …
I was telling my friend the other day about this scene from "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," where one of the girls tells is abducted by a man who asked her to come out to his car with him. She doesn't want to be rude, so she goes. And is abducted. Matt Lauer's cameo character comically (tragically) …
Continue reading "What I hope to teach my girls (and why ‘not being rude’ will be low on the list)"
