Why do we feel that what’s limiting to us is a bad thing? Maybe it’s a way of remembering we don’t need to be all things all the time. We all have them: life limitations. They look different for me than they do for my best friend or for my neighbor. But all of us have this commonality: there is a life we dream of (daily) and another that we live — and we wrestle with the gap between them. We all subtly ask the question that we don’t often name out loud: where is God when what I imagined for my life right now isn’t what I’m living at two o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon? It was two o’clock on a ..read more

How can you experience more joy in your life? Are you sabotaging your joy? There are three things you can practice right were you are. When we think of celebration, we tend to picture a joyful reaction to good news or a reward for an accomplishment. We wait for a reason to celebrate. As a result, we often see our joy sitting on the other side of a dream realized or a goal achieved. Certainly, good news, accomplishments, and dreams are worthy of celebration. But if these were our only permission slips for joy, celebration would be an experience for the lucky few who happen to enjoy favorable c ..read more

We can be our own worst enemies. We are often the saboteur of our own lives and it ends up affecting the ones we love, too. So often, we are self-saboteurs. We want peace in our homes but snap at everyone around us. We desire close friendship but are easily offended. We want our husbands to love us, but we walk around with a contemptuous spirit. Our mouths speak out of the abundance of the heart (Luke 6:45), as does our body language. Yet we often lack awareness of what our hearts are overflowing with until it comes tumbling out. These situations serve as opportunities to receive the Lord’s c ..read more

Friendships come and go and it can be hard to cope with those losses. How can we be satisfied through our deepest aches? We all need the kind of friends who welcome us whole. The kind of friends who make space for all of who we are—every intricate insecurity and celebrated characteristic. It’s as if we are going about our way, all through life, waiting for friends to find us—really find us. To see us and to say all the things we ever needed to hear. Like, we are wanted for who we are and wanted for how we are. I found friends like this in the first half of my life, and then I lost them just s ..read more

It’s not too late to set goals, no matter what part of the year we’re in. Think progress not perfection. True confession: I’ve never been a fan of goals. When I worked in the corporate world, I remember sitting in an enthusiastic quarterly meeting. Someone put a slide on a screen with a list of numbers and percentages. At break time, a coworker walked up to me and pointed a finger in my face, grinning. “I saw you shake your head when that manager said, ‘What we measure gets better!’” Oops. What finally got me to start setting goals was realizing my default goal is 100 percent. If I don’t set ..read more

We’re in that season of life when a midlife crisis can sneak up on you. You may not recognize it but you suddenly feel out of control. One of the Tarr kids’ favorite pastimes is “hang riding” up the driveway. We have a long gravel driveway, and if it’s been a while since grading, crater-like divots develop, and it’s a real wild, bumpy ride. My kids call these divots speed bumps, and the faster I go over them, the better because one of them might get some air. At the bottom of the driveway, I roll down all the windows; they jump out of the car, assume positions on the runner boards, and grab a ..read more

Pregnancy and infant loss often take more loss from moms than the baby. How can we recover hope when this happens? The first chapter of my motherhood story began with the unexpected: loss. Death invaded the dreams my husband and I tenderly held of parenthood when the signs of miscarriage appeared on a sunny day in May. In the months following my miscarriage, I realized I miscarried a lot along with my baby: my blissful expectations of motherhood, my innocent optimism, my dreams for beginning a family, my relatively uncomplicated relationship with God, and my trust in my body, to name a few. A ..read more

Sometimes we walk through a parched season because we aren’t drinking from the Lord’s well nor allowing God to prune what is dead. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:13 We have officially reached that time of the year which I affectionately refer to as ‘The Crispy Season’. Outside, the plants that were lush and bright only last week are now dry and wilting. The spiders are in their heyday, weaving webs all around the yard where they glisten in the late summer sun. When my ki ..read more

Does the feeling of failure or shame overwhelm you? God has made a way for you to overcome these feelings and rest victoriously in Him. Today the teen is frustrated with me, annoyed, and it feels like I’m really bad at this motherhood job. It’s far too easy to be annoyed right back. And so, I am. My jeans don’t fit quite right lately; they bulge in too many places. I sigh out my exasperation as I pull them on, but it doesn’t make them fit any better. Why is the battle so hard? Finances are thin again, and I know where I’m to blame. I know which rugs haven’t been vacuumed. Which windows never ..read more

Are you a binge eater? A secret eater? An emotional eater? Are you a sugar addict? Draw close to the one who can satisfy your craving more deeply. Those nine little words changed the trajectory of my life when I posted them online in 2014. Innocently, I invited people on my Facebook page to join me for a 40-Day Sugar Fast. I wasn’t simply having a problem with sugar. I told my friends; I was having problems staying kind and consistent with my closest family members too. Sure I was experiencing physical problems like weight gain, but I was also grumpy, tired, and impatient with my kids and my ..read more