What Helps Me When 2020 Kicks My Butt

For me yesterday, for all intents and purposes, was fall. Yep, it’s still warm and sticky here in central Illinois and very, very few trees have started to turn into their magnificent fall wardrobe. But for me the page has turned—two of the kids left Saturday to go back to […]

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Two Questions to Help You Live Purposefully in This Pandemic

During the ongoing pandemic my schedule has been severely pruned. At times it felt like I’m not doing much for God or anyone else. It has taken me quite a while to figure out and adjust to my new normal. Doing life one day at a time was all I […]

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How Change and Disappointment Bring Us New Opportunities

  Note: I understand the difficulty parents face when deciding on what “back-to-school” will look like for their family. What I share today is our family’s experience. I respect what each parent decides is best for their family. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to parenting.  This August I […]

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Two Lists that Help Me Find Joy in the Midst of the Negative

This summer I’ve been making two lists. The first list I actually started in the spring. It is a sad list of what I didn’t get to do as a result of the pandemic. The second list I started after I finally accepted the reality of our new normal—at least […]

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Why I’m Starting a New Volume in My Life

I always want to stay positive but real with you. Today I’m sharing part of my recent journey. It starts as a bit of a downer. My prayer is that you will read on to see God’s goodness and that maybe you can find a point of connection and encouragement […]

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There Will Be Failures

This morning I while working on the material for Friday I received a sweet text from a dear friend. She was at the spring brunch at the church she and my daughter, Kelsey, attend. Her text read, “Kelsey is doing a great job speaking!” My heart sank. What? Was Kelsey […]

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Yesterday’s Blog Today

I tried to write this blog last night. But it wouldn’t come or maybe more accurately, my mind was so bone-tired I couldn’t think. As you know we had The Grand Sunday night. We kept him yesterday while his mama and daddy worked. Everything I tried to write sounded the […]

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Navigating Changes in Your Holiday Traditions

“So how was your Thanksgiving?”, a friend at church asked me Sunday morning. She meant it to be pleasant small talk and she really did care. I started my reply with the usual, “Good, thanks for asking”, but before I knew it feelings that I thought were neatly tucked away […]

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Are You Where You Belong?

  “There’s something delicious about writing those first few words of a story. You can never quite tell where they will take you. Mine took me here, where I belong.” –Beatrix Potter in the movie, Miss Potter. I love this quote from Miss Potter. She is so right. Yet, finding […]

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Don’t expect immediate results.

Gene and I love the show, Madame Secretary*. It is about a female Secretary of State, of course, and her family. She and her husband were friends with the President before he became President and before she became Secretary of State. On one episode the couple is in their bedroom […]

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