1. Go to church for yourself. You need the quiet space, the Sabbath, the communion. You need to know everything will be okay if you turn off your phone, your Instagram, and your to-do list. Better actually. Listen closely to the ancient Word, the new songs, and the liturgy you’ve heard seven thousand times. You need...Continue Reading
We were ten minutes into the twins’ first basketball game when the mom next to me told me Elisabeth’s shoes were on the wrong feet. This woman was sitting with her toddler daughter, whose shoes were not only on the right feet, but the exact shade of pink as her Ralph Lauren dress. Her daughter could have been an actual Ralph Lauren model....Continue Reading
So far, 2015 hasn’t been a great year for discipline, especially health discipline. I’ve slipped from eating paleo to paleo-ish to whatever is left on the kids’ plates. My spiritual life has become more reactionary than structured–i.e. desperate, quick prayers instead of any real time with God. I’ve never fasted before, and when I saw Snap Kitchen...Continue Reading
Alright, Summer, give us what you’ve got. Bring on your 102-degree days and your 90-degree nights. Take our breath away with your humidity. Make us sweat. Sunburn us. Heat up the swimming pool until its scalding, and the sand until it burns our feet, and the patio chairs until they scorch the back of our...Continue Reading
When Catie took this picture of Mike and me, I thought it would turn out pretty good. We felt strong, outdoorsy, and happy and I assumed we looked that way too. Later when I uploaded the picture, I saw we actually looked tired, old, and spacey. Isn’t this true for life, too? Especially in parenting. I’m doing...Continue Reading
Our Cocker Spaniel, Madison, turns 16 this year. Even though she has no major health issues, she’s at the upper end of life expectancy, and our vet has started to prepare us for the inevitable. She has lost a few pounds since her last check-up, her fur is slowly falling out, her eyes have cataracts, she can’t hear, her nose...Continue Reading
If life is divided into trimesters, I am smack-dab in the middle of the second one, the Parenting Years. The First Trimester was about growing up, finding what I’m good and not so good at, building relationships, and falling in love with my husband. The First Trimester was a selfish one, doing more of what felt good...Continue Reading
This has been the week of decisions, crossroads and overanalyzing the heck out of everything. For real. This week I earned a blackbelt in obsessive thinking. Most of the obsessing had to do with my career. I’ve been working on a book for two years, and this week I finally found a home for it. But I wasn’t...Continue Reading
This was, in fact, the kids first rodeo. For years, Mike and I have pulled on our boots and headed to the rodeo to hear our favorite country singers, to eat our weight in the world’s best bar-b-q, to watch cowboys ride bucking broncos and to see tiny cowgirls wrestle sheep. Houston’s rodeo is the world’s biggest,...Continue Reading
Lately when I look at Catie, I can see her little-girl self and her future teen self mixed together. Her smile is the same as when she was six months old. The look she used to get when she concentrated on writing her name is still the look she gets when reducing fractions. Her laugh...Continue Reading
