Dear God, First, Lord, thanks for letting us get this far. Thanks for keeping her safe—through the years of croup, and riding her bike to the park alone, and driving alone on rainy Houston highways. Truly. I was terrified. I should have known You were in control. And thanks for college, God. Thanks for helping...Continue Reading
Dear Sam… Whew! Welcome to your last year of Middle School. It’s been such a weird ride… Moving. Trying all the sports. Navigating friendships. COVID! Zoom classes. Quarantine. So much loss, learning, and adjusting. Through it all, I’ve seen you mature a bit more every week. Sometimes more than a bit. Lately, it seems like...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
What actually went down this year? None of us saw this coming—and yet it has changed us in ways we will never understand. 2020 has changed all of us in the most important way. This is the year you learned grace. This will be our most important lesson for the people we want to become....Continue Reading
Here are my yearly suggestions about what your nearest and dearest might want for Christmas. This year is a little different. Instead of curating strange and wonderful gifts from all over the Internet, these are all from Amazon and they are all available for Prime shipping. Because, let’s face it, if you still need gifts...Continue Reading
Dear Nate- Here’s the funny thing I see happening in our family right now, Nate. Long ago you were assigned to be The Smart One, The Sweetheart, and The One with No-Drama. As the fourth child in a big family, you didn’t get much of a say in who we decided you would be. Except...Continue Reading
Dear Sam- You know that sign in our gameroom? The little one that says, “Love like Catie, Live like Elisabeth, Laugh like Sam, and Look like Nate?” When we jokingly hung that up, everyone agreed we had one part right—laugh like Sam. Because you, my dear boy, know how to look at the world and...Continue Reading
Dear Catie- Wait. Hold on What is happening here? You—my oldest daughter, young woman, sixteen-year-old—are changing right now more than you ever have before. I did not see this coming. You, who has always been so exceptionally sweet and laid-back—and a certified black belt at relating to other people—are becoming something even more. Just when I thought I knew you completely,...Continue Reading
Dear Elisabeth… My dear El, you are a devourer of books. You are a voracious teller and reader of all the stories. For most people, this year—Seventh Grade—is an epic chapter of dramatic proportions in their life stories. It’s the awkwardness of sudden growth spurts (or the lack of those spurts). It’s the hormones and the crushing peer...Continue Reading
