I’m not sure of its exact origins, but I believe it was my father-in-law who heard a pastor share about a nightly ritual he had with his children. My father-in-law liked it, and so he shared the idea with us. My husband liked it too, which lead him to fold it into our own family culture. It goes like this… Father: Do I love… Read more
I feel that God is calling me to a deeper life. (And you!) This is a shift that’s happened subtly over the past several months. Somewhere along the line I began surrendering my expectations about my life to God. These were expectations of things like comfort, help, control, sleep, breaks, entertainment, pampering, “me time,” goals, date-nights and personal pursuits. I began letting go of… Read more
My oldest daughter is turning five in just two months’ time. (How is that even possible??) And as she has gotten older and closer to starting Kindergarten, her future schooling has become the natural course of polite conversation with the adults in her life. Each time it’s brought up, I cautiously help her relay that we will be homeschooling her next year,… Read more
Some people are just thinkers. They ponder eternity, existence and theology. They love to philosophize and find meaning that colors the world their eyes see and the way life is lived from the core. That’s me 110% in case you haven’t picked up on that yet. 😉 The opposite would be a fun-loving and practical-minded mom. She seeks to know what it means to… Read more
One of the neatest things I’ve done in my prayer life is ask God for specific prayers to pray for my children. It all started when a close friend shared that, ever since her son was quite young, she’d had it on her heart to pray that he would be one who includes others. She asked God to give him a heart to… Read more
How do we get through to them when our children know they’ve done wrong, but they still don’t care? Here’s how I’m approaching it. I’m sure as parents we’ve all had those moments. Those moments when our child snatches a toy out of another’s hands and runs, leaving the often younger victim crying and feeling quite bullied. So we as… Read more
A weekly family night will help you strengthen your family relationships. These family night ideas are simple yet effective at doing just that! We recently launched an official family night around our house. It’s on our shared iCloud Calendar, currently set to repeat every Wednesday night into eternity. I want to share a little bit about what we’re doing as we figure this… Read more
This is my eighth year at home, yet I can remember the first year as though it was yesterday. Blogging wasn’t as popular then and Facebook was just starting, so it was a very quiet time to be a stay at home mom. No one was talking about it as much then as they are now. Sometimes I really hate… Read more
I love egg-hunts and traditions and hidden Easter baskets. But more importantly, I love the amazing truths of Jesus life, death and resurrection that we get to celebrate with our children on Easter. This year in particular, as my kids are getting a little older, I’m looking into what it might mean to turn their attention to Jesus in a… Read more
I read a Psalm this morning that gave me pause. It said: “Seventy years are given to us! / Some may even reach eighty. / But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble; / soon they disappear, and we are gone… / Teach us to make the most of our time, / so that we may grow in wisdom.” Psalm 90:10-12 (NLT)… Read more
This was our first Christmas with a child old enough to want “more.” Old enough to get that crazed look in her eyes when presented with a mountain of presents from extended family on Christmas morning. Old enough to now think that because she got new things, she should get new things. This mentality is something I work against all… Read more
Looking for some great non-toy gifts for kids? Here are my favorite 20 non-toy gift ideas (from a minimalist mom of four)! When it comes to birthday parties and Christmas, I am often at a loss as to what gifts to give the young children in our lives. Many of them already have an abundance of toys and clothes and all… Read more
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