I'm not sure how old I was when I picked up my first Elisabeth Elliot book. Twelve? Thirteen? I had read a children’s biography of Amy Carmichael, so when I saw Elisabeth Elliot’s A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael, I was intrigued. I’m not sure I understood much of the book, as it was written in deeper prose than I was used to—but I remember being struck by the story of God speaking to Amy in the street one ... Read More about How to Build Things That Last: Truths From Elisabeth Elliot’s Books
Natasha Metzler
Natasha lives with her husband and two children on a farm in Northern New York.
5 Things to Remember When the Doctor Says You’ll Never be a Mom
I still remember the doctor looking at me over the top of her glasses. "What this means," she explained, "is that it is very probable you will never bear children." And something inside me just withered up and died right there. I stumbled through weeks, then months, and then years before I finally started breathing easy again. Through the gentle love of friends, and the incredible grace of God, I learned five important things about facing ... Read More about 5 Things to Remember When the Doctor Says You’ll Never be a Mom
To the Mama Who Already Feels Overwhelmed by Her Resolutions
I'm sitting here at four in the morning writing you this letter. My two month old got sick and threw up all over my side of the bed. I'm now on the couch, with a towel on the floor beside me in case she has another round. I'm in a medium amount of pain because she was only halfway done nursing when she threw up, and she was so miserable and sad afterwards that she never finished. Now she's sleeping fitfully on my lap and I am loath to ... Read More about To the Mama Who Already Feels Overwhelmed by Her Resolutions
How to Respond to Correction from Other Believers
I was confronted not long ago by a fellow Believer. She questioned my actions in a situation and then gave me Scripture references to back up her words. She wasn’t mean, or spiteful in any way, but of course it still hurt. This wasn’t the first time this has happened. In fact, over the course of my life as a Christian there have been multiple times when I have been confronted. It’s a good thing, one of the best parts of being in community, ... Read More about How to Respond to Correction from Other Believers
To the Mom Who is Trying So Hard to Just Get it Right
I read too much. Don’t misunderstand—reading is powerful and beautiful and a gift that I am so thankful for, I don’t even have words to explain it. But I still read too much at times. I know this because two years ago, I was reading everything I could get my hands on about parenting. We had a struggling adopted child, and I was researching and reading parenting theories left and right. I was 100% willing to change everything about my ... Read More about To the Mom Who is Trying So Hard to Just Get it Right
How to Be An Introverted Mother with an Extroverted Daughter
After many years of infertility, my husband and I finally brought home a daughter. She was eight years old, adorable, precious, and…extroverted. A few months went by without any issues because, hello! I had a daughter. Of course she can talk to me nonstop, of course she can be attached to my side 24-7, of course she can be touching me and needing me constantly. It was my husband who started saying things first. I wanted to shrug off the ... Read More about How to Be An Introverted Mother with an Extroverted Daughter
“I kept busy.” (A Guy’s Thoughts on Prolonged Singleness)
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 here.” Amos was thirty-three when we married. He had built a farm, a business, and a reputation of integrity in our community. He had a good life, but as ... Read More about “I kept busy.” (A Guy’s Thoughts on Prolonged Singleness)
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 ripping my heart to shreds. I spent a whole season of my life shoveling dirt over dead dreams. And I learned something new in that season: God does ... Read More about The God Who Breathes Life into Dry Bones
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 phone calls, and handwritten letters that flew back and forth. But this year things were different. We were going to live with my grandparents for a ... Read More about Found Treasure: A Love Story in Books and Memories
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 was transformed from someone who knew about God to a man who intimately knew the Father. The notes aren’t really in chronological order, and ... Read More about Writing God’s Presence Into Our Family History
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 was barren, my life wasn’t barren at all, and this child coming home was the settling of another layer of God’s incredible grace into me. This ... Read More about for the one who feels empty and weak
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 thought it was just because I heard my name that I stopped, but of course that wouldn’t make sense. If I just heard my name, I would have continued around ... Read More about Do You Know Who You Really Are?
