I did it. I said no. I said no to a really good opportunity that pretty much fell into my lap. It looked good. It appeared lucrative. ...
Moving Towards Servant Hospitality
I'm moving towards something God has been pressing down on my heart to pursue: servant hospitality. If you watch any amount of Home and Garden TV (HGTV), you'll hear people shopping for new houses and how it will be great for 'entertaining.' ...
Why I Gave Up Makeup for Lent
Several years ago, my family and I had set out on a brief weekend trip to visit my extended family in Reno. Having been in Texas for my grandmother's memorial service the week prior when Lent began, I wasn't in the frame of mind to tackle something to give up. The time with family to honor my ...
Wanted: Middle-Aged Mom
Our organization is seeking a highly skilled and talented individual to fill the position of middle-aged mom. This is a contract position that includes work-from-home privileges yet also requires long hours, travel, and sometimes unfavorable working conditions. ...
You Can’t ‘Be All You Can Be’
Once the U.S. Army recruiting slogan written to entice people to serve, "Be All You Can Be," has come to embody something very American. It extends beyond the bounds of the military and has trickled into our psyche It plays on FoMO, or Fear of Missing Out. It piggybacks on our relatively recent ...
Downsizing Christmas
I'm no humbug, but I have to admit that I occasionally have trouble enjoying Christmas. I'll admit changing the station when "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" croons from the radio, as sometimes it just makes me angry. For our family, December is often one of the hardest months. All the ...
Monday Morning Grace
When I worked in Silicon Valley, pre-kids, Monday morning had a completely different context for me. It would set in at about four o'clock Sunday afternoon that Monday morning would soon be upon me. I needed to "shift" modes internally to put on my "kick ass and take names" hat, ditch self-care and ...
Wrestling with the 3 A’s: Anxiety, Approval, Abandonment
No matter who you are, I'm willing to bet you struggle with what I call three A's, which are anxiety, approval, and abandonment. Just when you think you've got life figured out, or you got today's checklist done, sneaky Satan will up the ante by suggesting to you that perhaps you need to worry ...
3 Steps to Refocus Your Life on God
I recently read a great blog post by Michael Hyatt on the problem of drifting away from your life’s focus. It reminded me that not only can we drift away from our life plans–work, family, creative endeavors, for example–we can also drift greatly from God, and quite possibly, the two go ...
Return [Poem]
It is quiet today here in my house. The children, one-by-one, kiss me and leave, the door swinging behind them. Like the calm after a hurricane, there is mess in their wake-- and yet the storm will return, perhaps with less force later on. ...
Waiting Faithfully [Poem]
It's no small task to wait faithfully (and patiently) for God's timing in your life; when to get married, when to start a new career, when to buy a house, when to move, when to give up, when to say 'no,' when to start over--the list is perpetually long, and most of us wrestle with our confidence in ...
My Jewel [Poem]
The past may hold us, the future may change us, yet something binds, it holds and secures— Memories, old and new, combine to seal and hold tight the grip— the years cement. ...