Dear Nate… (on your first day of Seventh Grade) This year is already different. You are different. You’re growing up, exploring everything, and very much transforming into your own person. I’m honored and exhilarated to watch you become your own, unique person. In a family of runners, you’re trying football instead. All your siblings hated...Continue Reading
Dear Sam (on your first day of high school), Here we are—fifteen years old, freshman in high school, and learning to drive. It feels exactly right for you to be tackling these milestones, and also a bit startling. To see you in the halls of high school, with boys who are 6’2 and girls who...Continue Reading
Welcome to Houston, the most ethnically diverse city in the U.S.Our people are loyal and loud. The brutal heat, constant traffic, and devastating hurricanes unite us in deep and important ways. And so, when it comes to welcoming visitors, we do it with confidence.Welcome to the very best big city in the world. Here’s what...Continue Reading
The other day a memory popped up of you on your first day of Preschool. I was struck by how your first-day grin has not changed. Back then—and on the first day of eighth grade—your smile looks the same: excited, silly, anxious, and grinning like you have a secret. That was twelve years ago and,...Continue Reading
It’s been a bit of bad news lately, but here is something that makes me smile. I’m sharing it with you because it’s beautiful and a captivating illustration of the Bible study I shared with hundreds of wonderful friends in Kentucky sometimes a picture is worth one million words I would use to describe my...Continue Reading
Where are you at with journaling? Have you followed the same journaling routine for years? Do you have a record of your daily dramas and big moments? What do you turn to when your weary and need real encouragement? I feel like there are two groups when it comes to journaling: those who do it...Continue Reading
To run a 5K, or redecorate your living room, or crochet a scarf, or write a book, you have to start with tons of grace—like endless heaps of it.Continue Reading
Dear Mamas of Teen Daughters…. Your daughter is hearing too many harmful messages. The world tells her she should be everything to everyone. She believes the lies of social media and thinks that her value is tied up in likes. She is striving for perfection and no one is telling her about grace. This is...Continue Reading
Dear Catie… It’s a little hard to believe you’re starting over again. We moved houses. You moved schools. Sophomore year and you’re having to deal with #freshmanproblems again. It’s a bit scary—for me, at least. There’s so much at risk here. The years of high school feel like stair steps to the grand goal of...Continue Reading
I write for teens and for moms, so talk to them both a lot about what’s happening in their lives. Over the past few years, something has changed. Daughters now have all the information. Like never before, they are able to use social media, YouTube, Amazon, vlogs, and Pinterest to figure out life on their own. More...Continue Reading
