Why We All Need Some Margin in the Madness This Christmas

When our fourth child arrived at Christmastime nearly a decade ago, no one was more excited to welcome a 7-pound miracle into our family than our firstborn, Lukas. Though he loved his little sisters, 8-year-old Lukas had long yearned for a brother. He’d wished for one each year when he extinguished his birthday candles with a breathy blast, and he’d plead every night when he closed the day in prayer. “Dear Jesus, can I PLEASE have a brother?” After years of waiting and wishing, pleading and petitioning, God finally answered his prayer with a brown-haired bundle of joy just a week before …

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Hope for Try-Hard Moms

I was elbow-deep in soapsuds when my 4-year-old’s cries prompted me to drop my dishrag, abandon the breakfast dishes, and  race to the other room. Maggie had been coloring a picture, but when I reached her side, the paper lay crumpled and torn on the floor. “Honey, what’s wrong?” I asked. “I can’t color in the lines,” Maggie complained. I retrieved the wrinkled paper and smoothed it with my palm. The kitty on the coloring page looked like it had been caught in a crossfire. “See?” my preschooler said, as she rubbed the crayon furiously over the holes on the …

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The Stretch Marks No One Told Me About

No one told me about the stretch marks that come after the baby is born.  No one told me about the stretch marks that come after the baby is born… Click To Tweet  Oh, I’d been amply warned of the blemishes that accompany pregnancy. I remember sitting in the waiting room with my firstborn tucked safely inside of me, his tiny form no bigger than a grain of rice. And as I’d flipped through a pregnancy magazine and munched on saltines to keep the morning nausea at bay, a seasoned mom had willingly filled me in on my soon-to-come reality. …

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