Guest Author 5 Minute Read I think it’s time someone wrote an article on the “almost” relationship.
You know what I am talking about when I say “almost” relationship, don’t you? Perhaps you’ve even experienced one (if you haven’t yet, you may one day!).
Guest Author 3 Minute Read “Why would you let this happen?” “Don’t you care about me?” “Why didn’t you save my baby?” In the wake of miscarriage we’re pummeled with questions—questions about the biology of reproduction, about our bodies, about medical procedures which may be required, as well as questions about how to process grief, how to share the news…
Guest Author 12 Minute Read by Nel Stephenson Did I ruin my life? It’s a demonic thought, really, but one that gripped my mind in the first few years of my marriage. I had a thorn in my flesh—a problem of portions larger and greater than I could have imagined. I had a mother-in-law conflict. The situation I walked through is…
Guest Author 7 Minute Read It’s been more than 27 years since I received the letter from my future mother-in-law that almost severed all ties of friendship and family before they had a chance to grow. I sat on my bed, looking out the open window at the beauty of the setting sun, listening to singing birds mocking me as…
Guest Author 5 Minute Read I signed up for a women’s retreat for our church, and the nerves of my introverted side made me anxious for the weekend. After I arrived and settled in the Southern California mountain retreat, the rhythm of the weekend allowed for depth and friendships to form.
On the final night of the retreat, the speaker shared the value of vulnerability in community, organically leading to beautiful moments with six new friends that night. One of those friends shared how God restored her marriage, and her authenticity trickled into every part of our veins.
Since we didn’t want our time together to come to a crashing end once we drove away from the mountains, we decided to start meeting twice a month in each other’s homes and build on the started foundation.
Through the decade that followed, our group of six became life to our bones. We walked through medical issues, raising kids, depression, financial and job challenges, marriage struggles, and celebrating major victories, among a plethora of other opportunities life threw at us.
We cried. We prayed. We laughed. We cheered.
It was as if we’d entered the story of the Israelites defeating the Amalekites. Joshua was on the front lines per Moses’ orders.
Guest Author 5 Minute Read “Elizabeth, I trust that you’ll make a good decision,” said my friend as we tromped through the woods on a long hike where we had been discussing a difficult situation I was in at the time. Not only was the decision tricky but also it involved a personally emotionally charged issue from my friend’s past.
Instead of telling me what I should do, recommending five books for me to read, and then praying for me in quivering tones, my friend had simply shared her experience and then let me know that I had her trust and support no matter what.
Her vote of confidence meant the world to me and put me in a place of peace with myself and peace with her. I knew that she was the type of person whom I was totally safe to share my life and struggles with. And her example really challenged me to reconsider how I respond when friends come to me with difficult situations, particularly those that trigger something emotional from my past.
Guest Author 5 Minute Read by Anika Ryan Ortiz The serrated knife in my shaking hand cuts through the heart of the pear while a ringing trumpet blasts downstairs, singing songs of Christmas. Hope. Joy. Peace. Love. I can’t help but feel as if the knife is piercing deep into the recesses of my heart. My hero, Grandpa Ted, should be downstairs…
Guest Author 5 Minute Read by Pam Vredevelt Miscarriage. Stillbirth. Infant death. They all rock your world. I’ll never forget hearing these words from my doctor: “I’m not picking up a heartbeat, Pam. There doesn’t appear to be any fetal movement. I think the baby is dead.” In disbelief, my emotions began to run wild and unchecked. Engulfed in a…
Guest Author 5 Minute Read by Ashleigh Slater Our fourth baby was due in late October. By the time this fall due date arrived, though, my husband Ted and I had already said goodbye to our preborn child, without ever saying hello first. It happened in my tenth week of pregnancy. After a Doppler failed to detect a heartbeat, an…
Guest Author 3 Minute Read My kitchen window isn’t very big and it’s nothing fancy. Just a little kitchen window above my sink with some pretty fabric draped across the top. But it is my kitchen window. The one my dear husband put in just for me.
When we first got married I became homesick for everything familiar that I had left behind; for the view from my mom’s kitchen window. I had a lot to learn about life and love along with some growing up to do.
Guest Author 4 Minute Read by Lindsay Lea It took me 26 years to get into the kitchen, and when I finally did it was not by choice, but rather necessity. I was raised on Bisquick, Top Ramen, and “homemade” meals that mostly came from a box or a can. My mother was a product of her generation, and the daughter…
Guest Author 3 Minute Read by Charlotte Gray Hey you, Yes, you, the one who is a mother without documentation to prove it. The one who has given mother-love to those who didn’t come from your body. The one who wipes snotty noses at a daycare. The one who dries tears at the playground. The one who babysits for free…
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The End.