Callie Mitchell 6 Minute Read Speak to me inside of her. That was the word the Lord whispered into my heart the day I hit my knees in prayer for a friend. I had struggled in our relationship. We were in a Bible study together and it seemed that no matter how I tried to encourage her in her walk…
Rachelle Rea Cobb 6 Minute Read My husband and I will celebrate our first married Christmas this December. Although we were dating last Christmas and spent some of Christmas Day together, it feels different this year in a lot of ways. For example, practically, we’re making a home together, so we have decorating decisions to make. I have my own kitchen…
Gretchen Louise 8 Minute Read Now I know why my mom never really finished books when we were growing up. Because now I have those same stacks of half-finished books everywhere — by the bed, near the couch, on my desk beneath my Bible. Each one is supposed to inspire me just by sitting there, right? Can I absorb traits of…
Trina Holden 4 Minute Read Now I desire to encourage other young moms and moms-to-be to make the time to read certain titles before the squalls of full-time motherhood arrive. Get direction now, so that when the winds hit, you’re not scrambling through the rigging trying to figure out which rope to tighten…
Gretchen Louise 11 Minute Read “‘You are loved with an everlasting love,’ that’s what the Bible says, ‘and underneath are the everlasting arms.’” If you, like me, grew up listening to “Gateway to Joy” on the radio every morning, you knew the next line was going to be, “This is your friend Elisabeth Elliot.” That soft, deep voice would proceed…
Elisabeth Adams 4 Minute Read When I was an awkward, anxious twenty-something who felt hopelessly crippled by shyness, it dawned on me one day that even a stick-in-the-mud might actually be transformed into the kind of person who joyfully welcomes new people, new adventures, and new growth in my heart. It might be possible to be born “old” and steadily…
Hayley Novak 6 Minute Read If I could write a letter to myself ten years younger, I wouldn’t write wistfully: you have zero gray hair! you aren’t yet jaded by burnout! you have so much enthusiasm! I know now how much joy will come wrapped up in the painful lessons of life and I will almost pity the shallow happiness…
Caroline Rose Sanders 10 Minute Read Dear Adoptive Families, You may be wondering why I’ve called you all here today. You are probably already on the defense, expecting me to ask you all sorts of inappropriate questions. You have little laminated notecards in your purse with “auto-responders” for queries such as, “How much did your kids cost?” and “Are they real…
Christy Fitzwater 5 Minute Read You wouldn’t mind going to the dump with us, if you could see the views. On the left, we pass McWenneger Slough, which almost always has an aluminum fishing boat on it. The highway makes a sweeping curve to the right, before you feel like you’re going to run straight into the Rockies. Fields of…
Jeannie Pederson 4 Minute Read My parents were not perfect parents. I am not a perfect parent. Every day that I parent, I am humbled as I face my own failures. Every day that I parent, I am more able to grant grace to my own parents for what I so often perceived as their failures. I was raised in…
Natasha Metzler 8 Minute Read I did not think of myself as someone who had it all together, but I suppose I came off as one who did. So many children had passed through my care that dozens of moms asked for input on parenting, never mind that I was a single, childless woman. After I married and infertility became…
Hayley Novak 12 Minute Read I’ve always admired families who stay close after their children are grown. A boy who wants to bring his girlfriend home, girls who go shopping with their mom even after mom’s style is. . . mom-ish. Happy camaraderie and a freedom to be unique while coming back to the fold to be loved unconditionally are…
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The End.