Traveling through life with hope, joy, and Jesus.
2018 was not on plan. A major family issue tripped me up, plowed my face into the pavement, and brought on another full-on war with my depression. But you know what? God is still in control. None of this took him by surprise. And he is still faithful. Even when life is not working out. […] Read more…
The Advent and Christmas season is my favorite time of the year. Advent is the four weeks of the church calendar that leads up to and helps us prepare for Christmas. For me, Advent is the refrain, “He’s coming, He’s coming, get ready” that culminates in the bells of Christmas ringing in “He’s here!” I […] Read more…
My Dad recently celebrated his 79th birthday. His comment, “I never thought I would live this long.” This got me thinking about my own life. The average life expectancy of a woman in America is around 78 years. I am more than “middle aged”. How am I spending my life? Am I living intentionally? Drifting […] Read more…
Sometimes when you have a mostly unplanned camping trip, you also get some unexpected campsites. We had two very different, both very memorable campsites on this trip. Campsite Beautiful Since this was a trip without a plan, we did not have campsites picked out ahead of time. When we were in Kansas, we started looking […] Read more…
When we started homeschooling, I did what most people do. I read the literature, I bought the books, I planned. And most of all I had dreams. We decided to start homeschooling when our oldest was in 2nd grade. She had had a rough couple of years, being bullied and not learning how to read. […] Read more…
“You’re no fun.” “You are so mean.” “You don’t love me.” Parenting can be hard and I have heard about every “bad mom” accusation in the book. And you know what? I am OK with that. My children survived and thrived. And yours can too. Here are three tips for being the bad parent. 1. […] Read more…
It is hard to believe that is has been three months since I have been trying to turn my health around. Why is it that a few weeks of major depression and bad eating choices can lead to 20# on, and three months of trying to control my eating results in only 11# off??? How […] Read more…
I am a big believer in plans, checklists, details. Things just go smoother when I have a plan (and everyone follows my plan…). But sometimes life just happens. Plans fall apart. One of our most memorable camping trips came about because life got crazy and we were forced to be spontaneous. The Plan One of […] Read more…
We were made to live life in community with people. With friends. And yet for many of us, “likes” and “shares” substitute for relationships. How do we make time for friendships? And what kind of friendships do we have? The Back Door In Wisconsin we lived in an old farmhouse. The back door opened to […] Read more…
How do you explain depression to someone who has never experienced it? Is it like describing colors to someone color-blind? There is no frame of reference. Sure everyone has felt down from time-to-time. But that is not depression. And depression can differ from one person to another and from one time to another. This is […] Read more…