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Beautifully Taken for Granted: Building Trust in Marriage
Who WANTS to be taken for granted? You’d probably have thought there was something wrong with me if you had walked into my kitchen two years ago late at night after a long day and found me giggling. I was giggling to myself over a sink full of dirty dishes because after 9 years of marriage, countless hours of diligent sacrifice, my husband finally, beautifully, had taken me for granted. I worked really hard to be taken for granted. (this site uses Affiliate links-purchases support our ministry through a small referral fee that never affects your cost.) That sounds really crazy, I know, but the reality is I never saw…
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World Adoption Day – My Starfish
I always hope that I’m going to have something inspirational ready to post on World or National Adoption Day, but here it is, and I don’t know what to say this year except being an adoptive mom makes me . . . a mom, maybe not the same kind of mom as someone else, but the one I was meant to be. Having a biological child was never possible for me, and I’ve grieved that loss. Yet, I realize now, that if I had given birth, I wouldn’t have the daughter I do today. I might not have pursued adoption the way I did. And my daughter is perfect, sometimes…
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No Complaints
This morning, God’s plan for my day was not what I was expecting. I was prepared to begin my 2nd Annual 30 Days Without Complaint Challenge with a Sunday full of fellowship and worship, excited for our new pastor, but . . . My day started by challenging ‘no complaints’ right away. Instead, I snuggled with a sore-‘froated’, upset-tummy-having-little-girl and got the opportunity to tackle laundry, carpet cleaning, and scrubbing the bathroom. Focusing on no complaints meant biting back discouraging words about starting my morning cleaning up vomit. I took captive the bitter thoughts seeping into my heart over a groggy barfing child, and smiled. 2 Corinthians 10:5b take every…
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Day of the Deployed – Saying Goodbye
Today is Oct. 26 – the 11th annual Day of the Deployed, a day to remember the sacrifices of all the service members deployed around the world. Perhaps, also a day to remember the families left behind as well. (this site uses Affiliate links-purchases support our ministry through a small referral fee that never affects your cost.) I don’t know what it is like to be deployed. I only know what it is like to say goodbye and be left behind: the heaviness in my chest, the knot in my stomach, the steely resolve, and the tears hiding behind every smile. Below is my post from the day my husband…
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Natalie’s Juice – a fresh take on juice
Between shopping with a 5 year old who thinks she needs to have an opinion on everything I buy (or pass by) and navigating nutritional labels, grocery shopping is more and more challenging these days. I am trying to balance making healthy choices with not allowing a fear of additives and GMOs, etc. to overwhelm me, but it is hard to know what are good choices. Being a Christian parent my faith is part of everything I do, including grocery shop. I want to be a good steward of the body God has given me and teach my daughter to do the same. When I saw a sample table in…
