It was during our most recent travel to the States that I stood at a gas station in Arkansas, with an ear to the glugging into my tank and an eye to the climbing digital numbers of my total. I was also attempting not to look at the car parked two lanes over, whose car alarm honked petulantly, heedless to the fact that its owner was also its alleged perpetrator: Impostor!

I didn’t want to embarrass her. Poor thing. It didn’t help matters that her lapdogs went bananas behind the glass every time the alarm protested its would-be attacker’s vulgar atrocities.

It was my oldest son, though, who climbed out of the car. Blonde, blue-eyed, and nearly eleven, he spoke in a low voice so that I inclined my head. read more

The power of fear in our kids’ lives can be nothing short of crippling. And sometimes fears are more than the monster under the bed: They’re actually legit. So how do we deal?

I’ve attempted to compile some uber-practical solutions in these posts on Helping Kids Deal with Their Fears, Part I and Part II. But even then, I find that sometimes I’m even confronting my own fears all over again through theirs–which God has been also shaping powerfully in me.

Missed Part I? Get it here!

We’d all likely agree that each person matters to God. But when it comes to us, in our own moments alone, we can allow fear, doubt, and darkness to trump the gifts piling up to our left and right, evidences of a Father. read more

A friend and I were headed for haircuts together. It was definitely time: My naturally curly hair was starting to resemble, at alternating moments, a lampshade or a labradoodle. As we circled a roundabout discussing spiritual matters, her confession tumbled out. “Honestly, I’ve always struggled with whether God loves me—as an individual.”

photo courtesy freeimages.com

Blogging unearths all sorts of spiritual questions in me.  I suppose here and there I shall be telling you about them. But one of the weirder ones involves this idea of posting the highly recommended three (three!) times a week–which to be honest, you may or may not get from me.

When my kids were little, I explained to my husband that, like a computer, he can run Happy Preschoolers version 2.0, You Get Dinner Tonight 1.0, Your Bed is Made 2.0, and Interested Lover 4.0, but you may not get Clean House 5.0. Or you can interchange a couple of those, perhaps with Wife Who Has Had a Shower 1.0, without the optional plug-in of Shaved Legs. But the computer only handles so much, you know? read more