Faith, Family, and the beauty of Everyday Grace
welcome to the blog
You
We’re looking for love
We’re looking for connection
We’re looking for acceptance and approval
We’re looking to hang on
We never want to let go
The One
One life
One love
One raindrop
One city
One moment
One kiss
love through generations
You don't know what you don't know.
And I didn't know what I put her through.
My mom waited eleven hours to hear from me. Eleven hours that should've been six, while she was home in Illinois, and I was a high schooler on a January drive with friends, from there to Iowa, to visit my boyfriend's college.
Embracing Humanity: Lessons from Irish Encounters
We grasped hands and held tightly, probably longer than appropriate considering we were mere strangers at the start. But our short yet profound conversation bonded us in a serendipitous way.
"Mind yourself," he said, with a sudden solemnity before releasing his grip. "God bless you."
they all count
On August 28, 2024, China suspended its international adoption program.
As of November 1st, approximately three hundred American families who had been matched with a child in China are now separated from them indefinitely with the status of their adoptions uncertain.
words that make a marriage
I hold my husband's hand and remember that our lives, and those of our kids and grandkids, began because of God’s love for humanity and, specifically, for the passion and adoration He’s given us for Him and for each other.
Strong marriages make strong families which, in turn, make strong societies.
What Good Is It?
Can I be honest?
I’ve been pretty discouraged lately.
Or, more specifically, discouraged with how technology has changed us.
Yesterday, I was in a waiting room and it hit me like it does every time—we don’t talk to each other anymore.
the heart remembers
Words don’t suffice.
There aren’t enough that can express.
A and E, let my heart talk to yours.
You are so adored by your hard-working and fun-loving parents, grandparents, aunties, and uncles: Life will be a great adventure.
Dear Younger Me
May 14, 1985
Dad died in the hospital today. Why, why, why, why, why? Why wasn't I taken instead? Mom, Karen, and the boys could live fine without me. How will any of us survive without Dad?
June 9, 2023
Dear Younger Me,
These are such good questions.
true gold
They know all your secrets.
They can name your old elementary and high school crushes, your most embarrassing moments, and your biggest regrets.
They know the one you love and the ones that got away.
all of God's grace in one tiny face
After I repeated the expression, you told me it brought you to tears.
“All of God’s grace in one tiny face.”
We'd talked on the phone for an hour that afternoon—me swatting bees on the deck of our rental house in Indiana and you back home in Illinois in your comfortable recliner, looking at birds out the window.
the fragrance of life
I’ve kept the gift for over twenty-nine years.
When I take off the top and inhale, I’m right back in that significant time—the beginning years of marriage and living in our very own little home, expecting a baby. My sister-in-law, Jan, gave me the Elizabeth Arden body lotion for my birthday, two months before our firstborn's entrance into the world.
last drops
My husband was out of the country on a work trip.
While caring for our two boys, I often counted the seconds until his return.
The first days of his absence had been rough, but this one started and ended, almost, uneventfully.
an audience of one
I’d take physical exhaustion over mental exhaustion any day of the week.
And that’s what social media produces in me—a mental and emotional burnout.
So I took the plunge and removed myself.
Ties That Bind
The beautiful connections that occur in our relationships are not accidental but intentional.
It' s a key word for every Christ follower: intentionality.
Marriage Looks Like This
Marriage looks like a desperately needed, intertwined nap on a lazy, rainy afternoon and later chopping vegetables, side by side, for a favorite Sunday soup recipe.
grace abounds
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.”
It took us time to get this right.
I wish I could go back to our early days of marriage, knowing all that we know now.
forces of love
We've been desensitized to reports of innocent people being shot.
We hear a new story every night. It has become our status quo.
But most anyone with a beating heart can express that it feels so far gone, we wonder if our course can be changed.
let mercy draw you near
In this Lenten season, we can be reminded—if we take the time and look—that God‘s goodness is everywhere.
We can focus on the direness, or we can remember that Jesus came to defeat it all.
power of life and death
Words matter.
Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.”
It’s worth reminding ourselves over and again: What we say can bring life or can bring death.