Several summers ago, I was gardening wildflowers. It was therapeutic — weeding and watering the cosmos, blanket flowers, cornflowers, and other delicate beauties that graced the yard. They brought me more happiness than I could articulate. (This is probably largely due to the fact that I’m not a gardener-type at all, and plants that survive me are a mini miracle.)   When mid-August ushered in the beginning of the end of the growing season, I grew so depressed that I refused to work in the garden anymore. (A super mature response, of course.) At the time, it felt like that tiny piece ..read more

I’m a recovering grayish-black thumb (aka discouraged gardener wanna-be), but this year I’m enamored watching plants grow in our yard (aka maybe there’s hope!). Maybe it’s that I have more energy this year for this kind of thing. Maybe it’s the joy of collaborative contributions. Whatever it is, I’m dubbing it the year of the plants! Early in the season, my mom sent a surprise package of wildflower seeds. THEY ARE ACTUALLY GROWING. My husband replaced a battered flagpole with a silver maple and added a hedge of arborvitae. I love that man! I’d never heard of Solomon’s seal, but a good friend o ..read more

Two disclaimers before you advance any farther. #1: If you think that the four years you spent in high school (or college) were the best years of your life, this post is not for you. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, click out of this article, abort mission. (Unless you are actually in highschool or college! Then disregard that!) #2: This post is the bathing suit version of what I had decided was going to stay jeans and t-shirt. If you don’t want to know who I am, run for the hills while you still can! Speaking of hills, I’m officially “over the hill” today! And you know what? I’m super gra ..read more

It’s been baffling to know what to share with you. I’ve started and discarded at least four drafts. I realize that we are each uniquely impacted by the craziness our planet is currently enduring. So I have said nothing. But I don’t think silence is right. Especially while we’re isolated and social-distancing, it seems more important than ever to reach out to each other. Where are the words that will somehow be appropriate for all this? Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash It seemed insensitive, at first, to write about “praiseworthy” – which is the last word in the series of Philippians 4:8. I’v ..read more

The irony is not lost on me: dropping off the face of the earth midstream through a series is NOT a conventional example of excellence. August was the last time you heard from me, and April was the last time we explored this anxiety-busting series that I’m calling “Yeah, Whatever” from Philippians 4:8. We have considered the words true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable so far. (Click the bolded words to read those posts.) But in a post extrapolating on excellence, why you should you listen to someone who appears to have very un-excellently dropped the ball? I’ll explain and let you de ..read more

It hit me, perhaps, because my son (who just turned thirteen years old!) was working on his science fair project over Christmas break. He had been encouraged to select a simple, repeatable experiment and to isolate the components so that there was only one variable. And as I sat reflecting over this year, I remembered something I heard or read somewhere: that God showing up is the given, not the variable. That was such an encouraging thought. Do you also need that reminder? As we head into a new year, a lot of variables assault us. It’s reassuring to hang onto the promise that God will never ..read more

Do you find this to be true of you? A loved one comes to you in distress and you immediately try to discern the cause and what you might do to relieve their pain. Encouragement rolls from your lips along with a prayer for restored joy and peace for this person you love dearly. But when you find yourself in a similar situation, everything encouraging you’ve ever said to anyone vacates the premises faster than you can blink and you feel like you’re left grasping for a lifeline? Great, I’m not alone then. They say that you remember most that which you contribute to any given conversation. (Not th ..read more

I had just settled on the couch, grateful to have crossed the day’s finish line with two kids intact and in bed. I eagerly reached for a book I’d been longing to read, when my six-year-old padded out of her room – one bare foot and one slipper-socked foot. I bristled, wondering with the psalmist how long, O Lord? Sweet Girl held up the partner slipper sock in one hand and a gray pom-pom in the other. The slipper had had (perfect past tense because it was perfectly fine with me to leave it in the past!) a pair of dangly gray pom-poms attached at the top which I was preparing to mentally curse ..read more

The last time you heard from me was mid-August and now we’re in an entirely new year! It’s ironically fitting that obstacles have tried to prevent me from sharing this encouragement to keep going with you… Homeschooling and Doubts and Malware – Oh My! For starters, we dove into our second year of homeschooling. It’s been a great relief to have less of a learning curve, but there’s still been plenty to consume our time. Another obstacle was simply not having anything I felt was worth sharing. And on the heels of not having anything to share come the doubts that every writer battles – is this a ..read more

Some people readily promote all kinds of products and books (and that’s great), but I’m way too picky, and I hate the idea of coming across like a slick scamming salesman. That is NOT the case here. Comparison Girl has personally benefited me, and I’m convinced you will benefit too, to the point that I don’t mind if this slightly annoys you because I think it’s that useful. (Shannon actually has a hilarious story about not worrying about possibly offending others when you’re trying to gift them with something life-changing in another book she co-wrote with Kate Motaung called Influence.) Perso ..read more