Natasha Metzler 6 Minute Read When my husband and I decided to pursue older child adoption, I committed myself to studying about trauma. There are many types and effects of traumatic circumstances, but one of the hardest to recover from (in my opinion) is trauma that results in lost relationships. Our bodies were created to stay connected with those closest…
Guest Author 9 Minute Read Do you want to develop a close-knit family? Do you long to have close relationships with your extended family members, improve communication between parents and grandparents, and develop friendships with those who live far away?
Most of us want these things, but often we don’t know how to “get there.”
There is no perfect family. We are all a mess to some degree.
Callie Mitchell 5 Minute Read “Christmas gift, give it to me!” That’s how my grandfather would greet us at the front door on Christmas Day every year. I remember him sometimes having a bell, but always wearing a smile. We’d walk in past the columns on the front porch that he so proudly wrapped with red ribbon to look like…
Shannon Coe 22 Minute Read I had four sweet baby boys at my knees and around my kitchen table. I blinked and now half of them are husbands and fathers. I have become a mother-in-law. This once testosterone-dominated family of mine is now balanced with some much-needed estrogen, thanks to my beloved daughters-in-love. But this infusion of estrogen disrupted the…
Chautona Havig 9 Minute Read “I’d like prayer for my relationship with my mother-in-law.” I shot a glance at the woman who’d asked and fought the churning in my stomach. Five… four… three… I doubt I made it past three before the first outburst came. I can’t remember any specific comments, but I recall the turmoil I felt when I…
Guest Author 13 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…
Durenda Wilson 6 Minute Read There is often a special bond between a mother and a son, so when the “other” woman walks onto the scene, there can be a lot of unforeseen emotions for both of them. The daughter-in-law/wife may feel like she cannot measure up or be as important to her husband and because of that bond between…
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…
Jessiqua 12 Minute Read She came fluttering into my personal space, squealing like she’d made the best thrift store find in a decade. “I’m so glad to meet you! I have the perfect man for you! He’s right over there, see? And very handsome, I must say. “But you know the best part about him?” she added. “His parents…
Caroline Rose Kraft 6 Minute Read One of my earliest memories of my mother is an image of her doing many things at once. She would rock my baby sister to sleep while giving me instructions (in song) on folding socks. I realize now that she was soothing, singing, rocking, supervising, entertaining and teaching all in that one moment, and I can still hear…
Callie Mitchell 5 Minute Read Pooh Bear and I have been friends for as long as I can remember. At the mere mention of his name, my heart launches into song… Winnie the Pooh (Pooh!) . . . Winnie the Pooh (Pooh!) . . . Tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff… (Yours too?) We were first introduced through Disney…
Natasha Metzler 6 Minute Read 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…
The End.
The End.