It has been exactly a year since our foster daughter (affectionately known as Bean or Little Bean) left our care. It feels like forever and just a few weeks all at once. The last time I blogged was a little after she left. In the year in between I’ve had so much to say, but so much of it wasn’t… Read more →
Bean has been gone 15 days, and we are still unraveling. We are unraveling grief in layers. The hat found in the jacket pocket. The nursery door closed. The cry you think you hear at night. The last time we were here was with her. We are unraveling our lives. Living for just two again is easy and yet… Read more →
So last year my word was cultivate. I went back and read my blog post about it, and I laughed because even then I wanted my word to be flourish or growth. Oh if only I had known. I picked cultivate really as a pushy word. I mean that I was trying to trick my life into getting to growth… Read more →
In February my husband and I began the process of classes and trainings to be foster parents. We’re almost to the end now, hoping that our approval will be coming through any day now or maybe any week now, there’s no way to know for sure. I meant to write about it after we told people, but I’ve still… Read more →
This morning I opened up Facebook to another one of those videos. You know the one where it’s a middle aged person complaining about/ telling everyone that they’ve figured out Millennials. We’re the generation that got participation trophies, spends too much time on our phones, and can’t commit. Maybe you’ve read one of the top 12 lists for why Millennials… Read more →
I realize how behind I am to be writing about my word for 2017 in April. It’s not even that it’s taken me this long to decide on my word. I had it picked up by New Year’s Eve. I think my struggle has more so been in knowing how much this word truly fits, and wishing it didn’t. My… Read more →
Just in time for Lent, I thought I’d share my favorite children’s Bibles and a few storybooks. It’s been a process finding ones I like, so I thought I’d let you benefit from all the good recommendations I’d received, so here are my suggestions. Did I miss any of your favorites? The Jesus Storybook Bible This Bible has great… Read more →
Or everything I wish adults knew I teach to children One incredibly hard day at the children’s hospital when I was a chaplain intern, I was with a family who had just lost two children. The remaining child would start to cry and his father would tell him that superheroes didn’t cry. They were a Christian family so in a… Read more →
Last year I set the goal for myself that I would read 50 books in 2016, and while I only made it to 38, I enjoyed keeping track of what I read and having a goal to work toward. This year I’ve decided to be a little less ambitious and am hoping for 45 books, but am off to a… Read more →
Some days it is hard to hope. I say “Come Lord Jesus” in our Advent prayers as a desperate cry, not a uniform response. I need Advent right now, not the Christmas season. I am not ready. I am waiting. Some days I wait in anger. Anger at the way life is treated… when children are put in dangerous situations,… Read more →