The Blog
of grace & gumption
One of the things I love the most about my church is that we celebrate how God is working in each other's lives. One of the ways we do this is with our Table Talk Podcast. Recently I got to sit down with my dear friend and women's minister, Betsy Thompson, as she...
I was so honored to be a guest on the God Hears Her podcast to talk about Guilt-Free Quiet Times. I can't say enough great things about the wonderful women who host the show and the army of workers behind the scenes. They made me feel welcome and blessed, and the...
Philippians 4:6 is a compound sentence (two complete sentences that could stand alone but are joined by a coordinating conjunction). Grammatically, the two clauses are equivalent. But are they in content? Because the "do not be anxious" part comes first, we often...
It's that time of year again - time to sit by the water and soak in the sunshine with a great book! Time for libraries to start their summer reading programs (mine even has a summer reading log for adults too! Swoon!). Time to turn off the TV and open a book instead....
Christmas Eve Eve, 2009 “The best part about making a gingerbread house is eating the candy as you go,” I said as I licked a dripping glob of icing from my thumb. Gideon’s eyes grew wide with delight and he popped a handful of M&Ms in his mouth, clearly wanting to...
A few weeks ago, I sent my husband an S.O.S. text. “I hate teaching. I hate teaching. I hate teaching. I am going to quit. I am going to quit. I am going to quit.” Dramatic, yes. But in my defense, it was a Friday afternoon at the end of a very long week. A large...
Between me and my kids, we had six open houses to attend in the first two weeks of school. The first three were scheduled on the same night. Jason and I discussed our plans ahead of time and divided the obligations between us. Our schedule had become a carefully...
My most treasured college graduation gift is a beautifully restored antique card catalog that I received from my parents. They hid it under flowered bedsheets in our garage until graduation day when they led me by hand to the dark corner of the garage and pulled the...
I lowered my visor, adjusted my sun glasses, and sunk into a folding chair as the sand exfoliated my bare feet. I was happy that my flip-flop tan would not be undone in a single day at the beach and hopeful that the subtle outline would remind me of these carefree...
A few weeks ago we came home to discover that our air conditioner wasn't working. That lead to an unplanned stay with my in-laws for several days, and I realized something as we were crashing their home: Their house is a lot more restful than mine. Personally, I crave...
Last week I decided to do a little pre-school nesting and ended up doing something incredibly stupid. I threw my back out. Just typing that sentence feels pathetic for several reasons. First, I don’t think there’s another sentence in the world that makes one sound...
Next week I will report back to the classroom to begin my second year as a teacher. I’m feeling anxious/excited, just as every teacher is right now, but definitely glad that the dreaded “first year” is behind me. Everyone tells me it only gets easier from here. Time,...