Several years ago, I wrote about the hardest prayer to pray. You can read more here. I find myself revisiting the hardest prayer to pray on a regular basis these days. What is the hardest prayer to pray? Whatever it takes, Lord.  Let’s really think about that. Am I willing to pray whatever it takes in the really hard days of adultery and divorce? If I’m honest, no. I wasn’t spiritually mature enough to have that prayer in my vocabulary. But, I’ve found myself uttering those words on more than one occasion over the years. Here’s the thing: Sometimes I pray that prayer for myself, desperate ..read more

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 It has been almost two weeks since I put my baby girl on a plane knowing I wouldn’t see her for two months. As I’ve said previously, it’s not the two months that has a ..read more

Friday morning, I put my 19 year-old daughter on a plane knowing I won’t see her for two months. Two months really isn’t the issue. She’s been living 45 minutes away while she goes to college. We go weeks without seeing each other, but we do talk frequently. If she needs something, I can be there in no time. One Sunday morning, she called me at 2:00 am. She had a horrible migraine, was vomiting from the pain, and had no more options to dull the pain. I threw on some clothes, drove the 45 minutes in the middle of the night to be by her side. I was able to get her in the car and take her to a sm ..read more

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again: The hardest years of parenting are when your kids are ages 18-22. I thought it was hard when I had three kids under the age of five. I was sleep deprived. They were totally dependent on me. They were non-stop energy and required constant supervision. The days of littles was exceptionally hard. Then I became a single mom of three, aged five, seven, and nine (approximately). I was both mom and dad. I was trying to work and mom. I was pulled in so many different directions. I bore the weight of being the sole provider, the sole chauffeur, the sole nur ..read more

Have you ever heard of a sherpa? To be honest, this term was pretty new to me until last summer, but it’s one I have become more fascinated with each day. The Sherpa are a people group who live near Mt. Everest. They serve as guides for the people courageous enough to attempt to summit Mt. Everest. The Sherpa have an incredible advantage in that they are born in the high altitudes, and their bodies are acclimated to the low oxygen levels on the mountain. They are also completely committed to the climbers. They are responsible for looking out for these courageous individuals who have committed ..read more

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33 At the beginning of the year, I pasted this verse on my bathroom mirror so I see it every single day, multiple times each day. I have chosen it as my theme for 2024. This week, the same verse pierced my mind. The last few weeks have been pretty insane. I feel like everything has been crashing in as I attempt to rearrange my life into what I hope will be a much more conducive environment for the many things I feel called to do. But, the process of getting there has proven to be v ..read more

I had lunch with a friend today. Part of my goal for 2024 is to build community, to find like-minded friends with whom I can walk through this season of life. A couple of weeks ago, I reached out to a friend I hadn’t seen in several years. We scheduled lunch, and it was such a blessing to see her. We caught up on life. We talked about all of our kids, her four and my three. When our kids were little, they were inseparable. We spent so much time together because our kids were best of friends. Sadly, as we’ve grown, we’ve all gone our separate ways. Some of the kids still stay in touch or cross ..read more

I am a firm believer that we should not live our lives by fear. When my kids were young, I tried to find ways to ensure they had courage to face fear. My safe way of teaching to live in bravery was to take them to amusement parks and put them on every possible roller coaster. And yes, I jumped on with them. It’s probably been ten years since I was on a roller coaster. In fairness, there’s several reasons including a spinal fusion. Probably not the wisest choice for me at this stage in my life. But, what I’ve found is that I seem to be allowing fear to have a grip on my life. Fear is a normal p ..read more

This week, I’m excited to have my daughter write a guest post for me! She’s now a sophomore in college, and an absolute delight! This summer, she is going to Cambodia and Thailand on a two month mission trip. It would bless her to have you join her in prayer! You can also pray for me as I’m not sure how to let my baby go around the world without me! **************************** Hi everyone! This is Cassie, it’s been awhile since I’ve written for my mom’s blog. Last time you heard from me I was a sophomore in high school, and now I am a sophomore in college! I’m sure some of you are new readers ..read more

Last week, I spent my morning commute praying. As you may remember, my word for 2024 is miracles, specifically miracles of restoration miracles of purpose. I have several people in my life for whom I am praying for miracles of restoration–restoration of their relationship with God, restoration of their marriages, restoration other relationships. As I drove to work that morning, the word miracles was heavy on my heart and in my prayers. As I drove and prayed, I had this vision of God. He was sitting in heaven, listening to my prayers. As I prayed, He had this mischievous little grin creepi ..read more