Jenni Marie 4 Minute Read Stepping into motherhood was a fear-filled journey for me. I’m probably not alone in that, but it was a surprise to me just how impossibly overwhelmed I felt by the weight and ache of fear. The reality of the cliché proved almost debilitating as I lived with my heart outside my body and felt the pinch of each painful new milestone.
Jenni Marie 4 Minute Read I hate motherhood. I’ve never said those words aloud, so it feels wild to be typing them and especially wild to be typing them with the intent of sharing this heart secret with the internet world. But I think it’s time to say it: I hate it.
Jenni Marie 3 Minute Read I’m perpetually desperate for a good read and ridiculously horrible at finding new books. My typical system? Filter through Amazon.com’s free Kindle offerings, choose the prettiest covers, download to my tablet, read as little or as much as my attention span will allow, ultimately devouring (up to) a book an evening. My pickiness in five…
Jenni Marie 3 Minute Read I stared in bleak desperation. Two burners, one pot, one frying pan and a microwave. The logistics of preparing a full-fledged Thanksgiving Dinner to remember seemed impossibly complex. Maybe we could eat dinner in several courses, and do dishes in between? Maybe I should give up and forget my favorite holiday? Plus, throngs of mopeds…
Jenni Marie 3 Minute Read If you’re a book-lover like me your bookshelves are perpetually bursting at the seams, overflowing with cherished books and serving as the consummate conversation starter in your living room. Maybe bookshelves are the staple in your living room and maybe you’ve decorated your home around the number of bookshelves you’d need to keep (most of)…
Jenni Marie 7 Minute Read My mom tells the story of her college days, when she held a part-time job, managed a full class load, had a fulfilling social life, participated in extracurricular activities, turned all her assignments in on time, and maintained a decent GPA. Her classmates who didn’t have a job or extracurricular activities complained about not having…
Jenni Marie 5 Minute Read My whole job is reading people. Or, as I am learning, I do my job well because I am good at reading people. I watch body language, I pick up on preferences (Do they like my corny jokes or my attempts at intelligent wit? Are they comfortable with PDA or do I need to coach them into…
Jenni Marie 5 Minute Read I am not a prayer warrior. There, I said it. I’m not a prayer warrior. I avoid praying in public whenever possible. I don’t say “I’ll pray for you” because I know it’s a lie. I tend to rely on prayers of desperation. I use prayer as a band-aid. I don’t pray. Corrie ten Boom’s…
Jenni Marie 4 Minute Read Despite doing everything right and following best practice, even thrown in some extra precautions for good measure, our day turned sour. Fast. In a foreign country, halfway through our long anticipated vacation-for-the-memory-books, the bliss turned bad. Our practically perfect day of waterfall-swimming and wave-jumping ended with a jolt. A jarring sense of violation. The locked…
Jenni Marie 4 Minute Read I was surrounded by ladies yet had never felt so alone. The new girl, I assumed loneliness was my new normal. I never went back to that women’s ministry event. Instead, I chose aloneness. Making friends, being vulnerable, living in community felt too hard. Last week, I went back to the same women’s ministry as a guest…
Jenni Marie 3 Minute Read I looked at blue skies and knew the clouds were coming soon. I marveled at a shadow cast across my floor and wondered how long it would last. I saw an autumn scene and saw only gray, ignoring the greens and browns and reds of the trees. I saw the world half empty, the glass…
Jenni Marie 5 Minute Read “Are you doing pre-marital counseling?” The bride nodded. “Do you have plans for post-marital counseling?” The poor bride cocked her head and looked at me in confusion as if to say: “Post-marital counseling?! But we’re fine!” Marriage counseling isn’t just for the hurting, the almost-divorced, the dysfunctional. Marriage counseling is for everyone. A veteran wife,…
The End.
The End.