My first married December was rough. We had moved from Southern California to Northern Idaho a couple months earlier and I wasn't going to see my family on Christmas. I was grumpy most of the month, unable to appreciate new traditions and the Currier and Ives weather in our new state. Decorating the Christmas tree was a special event when I was growing up. My step-dad got it in the stand and as perpendicular as possible. My mom and brother did the lights -- always colored and the more the ... continue reading...
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25 Delightful Advent Books for Children
My husband is terrible at surprises. I can tell he has something up his sleeve from the little crinkles that form around his eyes when he’s talking about a date night he has planned or a present he wants to give. Without prodding, he will spill all the details. It’s a quality I’ve come to adore. For him, sharing the excitement of anticipation is better than pulling off a grand surprise. That’s how I feel about Advent. Celebrating on December 25th is wonderful, but the reveling in the ... continue reading...
More For Fans of Anne With An “E”
The spirited redhead who is just as likely to break a slate over someone’s head as she is to be found in raptures about a plum tree-lined avenue has earned her place in the cannon of favorite literary heroines. It is, indeed, hard to resist Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne with an E. She is endearingly flawed, perfectly honest, and sees beauty in the world around her. Montgomery has kindly given us eight books devoted to Anne and her family, but it’s hard not to want more of the whimsy and heart ... continue reading...
Resources To Help Parents Navigate Technology With Their Kids
My Mac-geek roommate breezed in with her laptop firmly clutched under one arm and observed me in my natural habitat that first semester at college - sitting at the desk under my lofted bed doing homework. Settling in at her own desk, she casually asked if I had been on Facebook lately. I’m sure my blank stare was answer enough because she came over straight away to help me set up my account, explaining the concept of this college-only social site as she tapped away at my keyboard. That was ... continue reading...
How To Derail Anxiety
Bending down to pick up another toy, I feel a little twinge in my side. Huh. I wonder why my side hurts? What organ is mid-back, under my ribs? I think that’s where my kidneys live. Why would my kidney hurt? I do have a nodule on my right kidney. You know, the one they found a couple years ago. The doctor said it was nothing to be concerned about... What if something changed? My yearly ultrasound isn’t until March. Hmm. I bet it’s growing. I bet it’s become something serious. I must have ... continue reading...
Getting Back to the Bible
Reevaluating our priorities should be regular and always include getting back to the Bible. Sports weren’t really my thing growing up, but I did (and do) like to win. The desire to come out on top of something that didn’t involve hitting a ball or running probably contributed to my skill in the Bible trivia department. As a youngster, I could recite Bible stories by heart and flip to Malachi 1:9 before my Sunday Schoolmates. I am very thankful for the Bible knowledge I garnered as a ... continue reading...
25+ Unique Gifts That Book Lovers Will Treasure
Whenever we visit my grandparents’ ranch, my grandma invites me into her storage room to show me what’s on her secret gift shelf. The mission: to see if my children already have the books she was planning to give them for their next birthday or at Christmas. My grandma and I share such similar taste in books that inevitably--without the secret meeting in the storage room--she ends up giving the children a book I’ve already bought them. Books are my grandma’s gift of choice when she’s shopping ... continue reading...
For Fans of Little House on the Prairie Books
The trouble with loving classics is the knowledge that when you finish a series or have read the entire works of a certain author, you know there will be no more. I have felt that loss with many authors like Austen, L’Engle, Lewis, and Montgomery. And now that my kids enjoy longer and longer stories, I’m feeling the loss all over again with the childhood classics I’m introducing to them but know will not magically reproduce. Thankfully for one such classic--the Little House on the Prairie ... continue reading...
A Collection of Favorite Children’s Bibles
When I read through the Gospels and get to the Parable of the Sower, I see kidney bean shaped seeds being thrown around by man very akin to Johnny Appleseed. I see their distressed faces as they maneuver around trampling feet and their tongues lolling out as their roots hit glowering rocks below the soil. I see them cowering away from mean weeds and, finally, their happy smiles as they luxuriate in rich, warm dirt. I see these things because we read The Seeds That Grew To Be A Hundred by Victor ... continue reading...
6 Inspiring Books to Encourage You in Hospitality
A bowl of fire-roasted goat passed around under an inky Kenyan sky, the unforgettable smell of camel and smoke permeating the air. A ride offered by an acquaintance so the foreign student could join a Bible study at her temporary church. A perfectly made cappuccino and slice of toast waiting every morning, crafted by a woman who didn’t speak a word of English. The common denominator between a goat, a ride, and daily breakfast? Home. I have been on the receiving end of hospitality all around ... continue reading...
7 Motivating Books to Jump-Start Your September
A 50-count pack of colored pencils, with their uniform points and array of pretty hues lined up neatly in the box makes my heart go pitter patter. Picking out a three-ring binder with coordinating page dividers is a thrill. It’s been years since I received a school supply list in the mail, but I still love roaming the back-to-school aisles when they pop up (earlier and earlier it seems) in the summer. Those glue sticks, rainbows of markers, and lined paper are a harbinger of fall and a ... continue reading...
Great Christian Reading: My 4 Favorite Series for Biblical Fiction
I’m a product of flannel graphs and puppet shows, AWANAs and Bible trivia. My brother and I can both still recite the books of the Bible to the tune we learned in Sunday School 25 years ago. Though I am forever thankful for my Christian upbringing and early Bible education, my scripture knowledge hasn’t always been a boon to my faith. Sometimes, I find it hard to engage with well-known stories and not be distracted by their familiarity. My mind and heart go into auto-pilot, leaving the ... continue reading...
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