I blame the kale. All pre-chopped and bagged. It’s why I took the kids into the store in the first place. Have you ever been to Trader Joe’s ? It’s—interesting. The layout is odd, it’s significantly smaller than I thought it would be, and the shopping carts are tiny. On this morning, I plopped my three-year-old into… [ read more ]

I saw it yesterday morning, green morphing into yellow. And then, today, I saw the first to fall. One lonely leaf, landing at the base of the tree. I felt sorry for him.  Imagine it. Poor guy burst out of a blossom a few months ago. He’s hung on through day after day of rain… [ read more ]

Ever had someone let you down? It happened to me recently. At first, I was surprised. I have a fairly optimistic outlook and I tend to expect the best of people, so when they reveal a different side of themselves, it often catches me off guard. The surprise was followed up with dismay and a… [ read more ]

I love hearing my kids find their voice as they learn to talk to God. Emma goes for loud and proud. “Dear Jesus,” she’ll begin, then we usually get a nice pause. This is followed by her thanking Him for something about her day, or the food, or something really random like swings or a… [ read more ]

My two-year-old learned a hard lesson this week. The iPod doesn’t work unless it’s been charged. He doesn’t care that it has a cracked screen or that the operating system is so old we can’t download new apps to it—he loves to push the buttons and find the pictures and listen to the music. But… [ read more ]

As a Mother, I’m tuned to the needs of my children. I know when the whining has more to do with hunger than attitude. When the fighting has more to do with cabin fever than hostility. When the drama has more to do with fatigue than the situation at hand.   This is why most… [ read more ]

Emma getting ready to flip over the bar. Last Friday night, our family had the privilege of watching a Special Olympics gymnastics meet. There were many amazing moments—the flair each athlete brought to their floor exercise, the impressive balance demonstrated on the beam, the jumps on the vault, and our own Emma’s bar routine that… [ read more ]

So many things are messed up. So many people I love are hurting. So many friends are broken. And while I’m a lifetime member of the “I can fix this” club, there are some things I cannot fix. Some hurts I cannot heal. Some wrongs I cannot right. Some hearts wearing scars I cannot fade. But… [ read more ]

Last week’s post – Are we taking the “RunPee” approach to the Bible? – generated some interesting feedback both in the comments and in person. The basic gist of it was this….it’s all well and good to say we need to read and embrace all of Scripture, but we don’t want to just go through the motions. How do you actually DO this? To… [ read more ]

How many times have you been sitting in a theater—jumbo Coke and large popcorn forgotten—trying to concentrate on the movie while another part of your brain is analyzing each scene for an opportunity make a mad dash to the restroom.   Well, there’s an app for that. It’s called RunPee and it can make your movie… [ read more ]