Planning ahead can sometimes be hard to prioritize, especially when life feels hectic or when you’re feeling pulled in more than one direction. Even when we make the time to pause and think about the upcoming week, sometimes the chaos seems to follow us there. We fight to settle our thoughts, silence the noise, and focus without interruptions. I feel it more than others some weeks, but I’ve come to realize this: Simplicity is key in forming this habit. So for those of you who feel pulled by too many things, here are five ways I simplify this weekly planning rhythm and make it easy to repeat ..read more

Scheduling an hour or two each week to plan the week ahead has long been a part of my weekly rhythm. These hours have helped me to prepare for our meal-making and learning at home, of course, but they have also helped me to make quick decisions about spontaneous opportunities, teach our children about time management, and create important margin for myself, too. The reality is there are only 24 hours in a day, and many of us aspire to do much with them. We want so much for ourselves, our homes, and the people within them. Planning ahead has helped me work diligently toward what matters most a ..read more

Hello, dear reader, and happy new year! It has been nearly a year since I’ve written in this space, and had I known then, I would have given you warning or at least a note. But we don’t always know when a tug may come for us to go, only that when we sense it, we should, as Frederick Buechner puts it, “go with our lives where we most need to go, and where we are most needed.” And so I have obeyed the calling toward home and homeschooling with a fresh gladness and intention the last year, putting aside nearly all forms of public writing for a time, including this humble space. Once again, witho ..read more

Liam walked in the door from work recently, sauntering over for a hug and a hello. At 17 and cresting six feet in height, I find I’m the one now cradled at the chest and something aches a bit inside. He reaches for the fridge door and lightheartedly mentions a conversation at work that day, stories shared between the co-workers about childhood. You know, I was listening to everyone talk about their experiences as a kid today, he says, and realized I had the best childhood! Burke and I were a bit like Calvin and Hobbes, always playing or building something, filled with so many stories. And the ..read more

I read a favorite Psalm this morning and noticed the familiar words: let your heart take courage. The imperative feels simple enough, as though courage lurks somewhere behind the bowls on the kitchen shelf. We only need to grab it. Yet perhaps on the tail of a volatile election or a year of living within a global pandemic, amid the age of cancel-culture, digital surveillance, shifting economies, violent winter weather, and blaring cultural questions about authority, truth, and justice, our hearts feel a little leary of grabbing anything at all. We begin our small endeavors with fresh gusto on ..read more

Hello, and a happy new year! I have missed this space, and I have missed the connection with those of you in this community. Thank you for your presence here even while I have been away, for your kind check-ins and patience with my silence. I’m grateful for you! At the start of last year, I jotted down a single line of wisdom a local friend Michelle Thomas shared, “don’t ever leave a dark place empty-handed.” I found myself returning to that thought throughout the year, looking and listening for Wisdom in the midst of sheltering in place, in the midst of racial and political tensions, in the ..read more

Illustration by Morgan Harper Nichols Like many of you, I have been deeply grieved by the events happening in our country right now. The tragic deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Robert Fuller, and Rayshard Brooks have freshly revealed the deep wounds and injustice in our nation and highlighted the work that still needs to be done. I have never written about racism here. And until the last few weeks, I painfully admit I hadn’t recognized that as a problem. I have beautiful Black and Brown friends and family members. I have taken courses on race and ethnicity, searched out b ..read more

The last eight weeks have had an unexpected thread of familiarity for me, like a found trinket from childhood or an old pair of running shoes. Holding them provokes something deep within me, a small sense that I have been here before. To be clear, I have never been here before, but there were years of early motherhood that felt a little like sheltering in place. Whether juggling a schedule of staggered naps or experiencing too many sleepless nights or feeling overrun with logistical details, it can simply be necessary to stay home. Or at least that was the case for me. With four children 5.5 ..read more

Spring is in full bloom here, a delightful gift while we are kept at home. Here is another beloved recipe from my sister Kristen to brighten each of your homes right now. These images are nearly two years old, but the kids love joining in the baking. This is a great project to include your children! I love sharing tasty and healthy alternatives to traditional, favorite desserts. I’ve experimented with a few different carrot cake recipes over the years, and I’ve landed with this favorite GF carrot cake. For those of you who are nervous about the bananas, you really cannot taste them. They keep ..read more

The most healing aspect of national or international crises is the way it seems to unite humanity in the best ways. Somehow in our own distress, we wake up to the needs of others with a fresh perspective. We dig a little deeper to bring hope to someone else, and in the process, we find it builds our own. The unique part about sheltering in place is the way it cuts against our desire to physically unite with people, whether gathering in prayer, volunteering in a work effort, or simply sharing hugs with a friend. How do we help others without physically being with them? We lean into the gifts a ..read more