A few days after my husband proposed to me, we walked his farm and talked about the future.At one point we stood together, looking across the backfield, and he said quietly, “I had pretty much decided that I would never get to share this with anyone. I can’t wait to come home to you ... read more
Natasha Metzler
Natasha lives with her husband and two children on a farm in Northern New York.
The God Who Breathes Life into Dry Bones
It was somewhere around my third anniversary that reality hit hard enough to make me gasp for breath. I really couldn’t have babies. Not without a miracle.I had so many dreams that involved motherhood and they all crumbled around me. I found myself standing there with dying dreams and agony ... read more
Found Treasure: A Love Story in Books and Memories
The year I turned twelve years old we moved into the upstairs of my grandparent's house in Northern New York.Until this point my family had been living in far off Homer, Alaska where my father taught at a Bible School. Our interactions with my mom's parents included a handful of visits, many ... read more
Writing God’s Presence Into Our Family History
There is clipboard in my desk that is heavy with papers. Pages and pages of copied handwritten notes.The handwriting is my beautiful 91 year old grandmother’s, but the story those pages tell isn’t really hers. It’s the story of my grandpa, how he met Jesus in the barnyard one day and his life ... read more
for the one who feels empty and weak
Our son came home on a rainy November day. Instead of a hospital room, we gathered him to us from an airport waiting area. We knelt and talked to him by the luggage carousel and bonded over dinner at Cracker Barrel. My heart cracked with the glory of the Lord’s redemption in my life. While my body ... read more
Do You Know Who You Really Are?
I don’t remember every word they said; I just remember the way I felt.I was a young teen. I’m not even sure how old. Maybe fifteen? We were at a church function, perhaps just a Sunday service. I was alone in the bathroom and when I stepped out I heard two voices talking. For a long time I ... read more
Wounded by “Christians”
There are so many stories. They pile up and run over and leave aching sorrow behind. And sometimes I think the hurt that grieves God the most is that which is inflicted by believers. We speak so rashly, words slashing and leaving bloodied hearts behind. We're broken human beings, but unfortunately, ... read more
Priceless: why every woman possesses intrinsic worth
"...there are more humans enslaved today than there ever have been in the history of the world." (Joel Smallbone)I look at my eleven-year-old daughter, and I realize that except for the Lord’s incredible mercy in her life, she could be one of them.The country she was born in has one of the ... read more
How to Persevere When Things Get Hard
Right before Christmas my husband was injured.We were just upstairs in the barn, cleaning up a few building scraps from when we built the house last year. It wasn’t hard work, nor was it particularly dangerous work.When my husband took a deep breath and told me his finger had just been cut ... read more
Devotionals for Busy Moms
I used to devour books by the dozens. I’d read theology, fiction, memoirs—whatever I could get my hands on.Except one thing.I didn’t ever read devotionals.(Well, except that one time I picked up a Guideposts and read the whole years’ worth in one sitting.)The problem was they only ... read more
