Updated on November 1, 2017
How to do the things you don’t want to do
I hate lists almost as much as I hate math. Seriously. I will do anything to keep from having to enumerate life. My brain thinks freedom is found in being untethered, in lyric and cadence but never with bullet points or numbers. It also thinks that I can remember and know and keep up with much more than I actually can. Turns out, my old brain is rather forgetful.
Updated on October 3, 2017
Why we have to talk to our kids about Las Vegas
My older boys get most of their news and information from Instagram and the school bus. It is simply the way life is these days. If they begin a sentence with, “Hey mom did you know that …” I brace myself for the barrage of jumbled news that is about to come out of their mouths. Or the random sports fact. It is usually one or the other.
Updated on September 14, 2017
Finding grace in the storm
The clean-up is continuing around here as storm damage is assessed and debris removed. We are the lucky ones, though, in our suburb. Not much damage was done. We even kept our power through the worst of the storm. The pictures on the news tell a different story of other places, however. As the sun peeked out yesterday and its light settled on the landscape of many cities, it only illuminated the heartache. Trees, houses, whole city blocks, all destroyed. People’s possessions and ways of life tossed about like toys in a sandbox. And it is all beginning to feel overwhelming. Hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, the pictures of devastation just keep coming. And what in the world does God think about all of this?
Updated on August 31, 2017
When prayers seem small and the water keeps rising
“The water reaches all the way up there?” my little guy points to the top of the street sign as we stand in early morning light at the bus stop. The sun is cresting orange and pink into the sky all around us, but it’s the street sign that holds his gaze. He has seen the pictures on the news of the devastating floods in Texas, and he’s doing what we are all doing this week. He’s picturing it happening here. His eyes are as big as saucers as he tips his head skyward, “Why did God let so much water fall from the sky? Doesn’t he know that we can’t handle it?”
Updated on August 15, 2017
On being salt and light and why it matters
I’ve read so many words about the riots in Charlottesville this past weekend. I’ve read words of haters and ones claiming that love wins; sad words and outraged ones. I’ve seen friends’ words unravel years of friendship in comment threads on social media; watched leaders stand and lead well into the face of this tragedy while others falter and ignore the evil staring us all in the eye. And you have too, I am sure. And so on this Tuesday with the world feeling a bit like it is tilted in the wrong direction, what are we to do with it all?
Updated on August 9, 2017
How Yes and No stack up to build our lives
Yes? No? Maybe? Every year I struggle with these words. Every. Year. And it isn’t like I don’t see it coming. As soon as we trade the sand and the sun of summer for the backpacks and pencils of a new school year, I have learned to expect it. Maybe you, too?
Hey, Leigh, I need to ask if you can help with _____? Can we count on you to be a part of ______? Are you still willing to lead _______?
Those emails, calls and texts asking for help, leadership, service. They stack up in my inbox, my brain, my heart. And man, how I want to get the answers right.
Updated on July 31, 2017
What I need to remember on this back to school day
The little one is a bit scared; the older one kinda nervous and the middle one’s just plain mad. But like it or not; here we go again. It is Back to School Day here in the southern suburbs. It feels like we just did this. Or like we should be packing up to head to the pool; not the bus. The calendar still says July?!? But nonetheless it’s backpacks and peanut butter and jelly this morning.
Updated on July 18, 2017
Because, No. We are not there yet.
“Are we there yet?” The most famous question of the summer. My kids ask this on a 5 minute drive to Target; so you can imagine a road trip in our car. And usually I begin the trip by kindly answering their questions, giving them a sign to look for, or at least being pleasant. But by the end? Pleasant gets thrown right out the window. Does it look like we are there? We are still on the highway, the car has not stopped; so therefore WE ARE NOT THERE YET! Yeah. Mom of the Year, right here.
Updated on June 30, 2017
When life is like a pile of Legos
Please tell me that you have one of these piles at your house too? I banned screen time last week because I say things I don’t mean and then am forced to follow through with them. So this has been my reward. Legos, multiplying on their own. I herd the little one into the playroom this morning and insist. CLEAN. UP. NOW. OR ELSE. Behavior management at its finest.
Posted on June 20, 2017
Everything I need to know I learned at Vacation Bible School
We’re back at it again this year and I needed this reminder! Prayers for all those Bible Schools out there as we spread the love of Jesus this summer …
Everything I need to know I learned at Vacation Bible School
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