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My family, 2017

I gotta tell you guys: Blogging’s a humbling venture. Sometimes it’s like sending a piece of my heart into cyberspace, and just trusting God to do whatever he wants with it. Sometimes it’s less than I hope; sometimes it’s far more. My husband reminds me that instead of numbers, I can look at the hours of worship God is hopefully generating. He’s continued to do more than I imagined even through a tough year.

But really, this is the part where I get to finally thank you, readers. So many of you, I don’t know–and yet you continue to care about these things along with me. Thanks for caring about the relationships that matter most, and for sharing these posts with people you care about. Here were the posts that resonated most with you this year.

  1. Spiritual Disciplines for Real Families series: We don’t just have fun spiritual stuff for kids to compete with Nickelodeon. We want them to pursue God out of pleasure they’ve already enjoyed with Him. Topics from this year: Service, Fasting, Study, Sharing our Faith (Evangelism), Simplicity, Hospitality, Praise, and Submission and Respect.
  2. ADHD and What Works for Us: Tips, tactics–and hope: Coralling ADHD can make a girl want to take a bat to her soup tureen. But with perseverance, help, & discipline, it’s also vibrant and full of depth.
  3. He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: Do you remember the moment that first made you wonder if He truly loved you? This year—or, just today—what makes you afraid?
  4. On God and the Dreams of Women: After all the years of setting dreams aside for the dream that is loving a family, I wondered why I seemed to hold in my hand the short straw.
  5. A Mountain of [Surprising] Reasons to Get Our Kids Outdoors this Summer (…and Maybe Follow Them):Outdoors–the God-art we live within—changes us. And it changes our kids. Here are five reasons to boot our kids outdoors this summer…and maybe follow them.
  6. How am I supposed to have joy when my world’s a wreck? What in the world does “joy” in hard times mean? What’s joy look like when the edges of your world curl black?
  7. 11 Ideas toward More Emotionally-whole and -healthy Parenting: Here, I’ve compiled some new and best-of ideas to offer all of us a head start on more whole parenting. Never underestimate the impact of a healthy home.
  8. Essential Social Skills for Kids (and Ideas to Teach Them), #1-4 and #5-7: Think of these as gold keys to the future, getting kids into a lot of places! Sadly, without them–some doors are shut. In the first post: phone skills, table manners with a guest, conflict resolution, greeting. Then, gratitude, poise, and respect.
  9. The Broken Heart: On Leaving Africa: I’ve wondered for awhile now how I would write this post; what I would say. Eight hundred words seems only enough to barely outline the dimensions of what I’ve wrestled with for the last several months.
  10. I’d Rather Be Whining: Complaining vs. Healthy, Honest Expression: In two words: unbelief and entitlement. Here’s how I boil down the difference between complaining and just speaking the truth in love.