It Takes a Village: 3 Reasons to Parent in Community (for FamilyLife.com)

Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com If you came to my house and listened to me parent, you’d hear several things I’ve robbed and duplicated from my village. My kids are called “lovey,” and I say, “That was kind,” instead of “nice” because of my friend Erin. “If you choose to disobey, do things go …

6 Prayers for Marriage When You Need a Miracle (for FamilyLife.com)

Photo by Michelle Leman on Pexels.com When I tell the story of God pursuing me, I usually tell how He miraculously answered my prayers for marriage … my parents’. My parents’ marriage was often a battleground, the “D” word (divorce) brought up often. The summer before my 7th grade year, it felt inevitable. I headed off …

Stranger Things Holidays: Like Home Alone, But Without the Feel-Good Ending

When my firstborn daughter was one, we moved approximately 8,000 lonely miles from all our friends and family. After 32 hours of travel, we arrived to our new country,  on her first birthday (we did celebrate that occasion with loved ones before we left). Her birthday falls on Halloween, so we left our home country …

Grief at Christmas: Where God Meets Us (for FamilyLife.com)

If grief is a mighty river, most of us live the majority of our days from the safety of the shore, where the occasional strong wave laps at our toes. But inevitably, at some point in our lives, we’ll find ourselves in over our heads, choking on grief’s bitter water and grasping for air. Our …

A Prayer for Tired, Weary Parents

I don't know about you, but I've been feeling pretty worn down recently. Pandemic, politics and parenting have my baseline anxiety a bit higher than normal -- I've been catching my jaw clenched, my breath shallow, my back sore with tension. When anxiety is high, my threshold for other stimuli becomes lower. So when my …

4 Ways to Stop Toxic Thoughts During the Holidays (for FamilyLife.com)

The holidays are stressful. Schedules and to-do lists are packed, we see people we don’t often see (like your cousin’s father-in-law’s nephew), and there’s pressure to make everything magical for everyone. And while there are plenty of things vying for our mental and emotional attention, toxic thoughts don’t need to be one of them. What …

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