A little over a year ago, I started following a blog that spoke to my heart in immense ways. Ami Atkins lost her husband due to a health issue. I knew her husband Jon from my college days. I admit, I didn’t know him well. I believe we had a speech class together. Ami started posting her blog articles on Jon’s page, and that is how I got to know her. She is wise beyond her years and the grace God has shown her is so evident in her life. She has been faced with
Let’s not sugar-coat it. Life is hard. Like, I had no idea how many really hard moments there would be. It always seems like life will be a little easier if [insert solution]. . . Or life will be a little easier when [insert next stage of life]. . .
I have been thinking a lot lately about the stages of life. I was told growing up that I would always anticipate each new milestone in life and that no one “stage” would fully satisfy. You don’t believe that as a kid though, right? I mean getting married seemed like the best thing ever! To find your prince and allow him to take you off into the sunset on a white horse?
(Thank you, Disney.)
I distinctly remember sitting in my room one day, extremely frustrated at how long it seemed to be taking to grow up. I don’t remember how old I was, but I remember thinking Continue reading
I am not a movie re-watcher. In fact there are movies that I would swear to you are in my top 5 favorite movies, yet I have only seen them ONCE. I just do not enjoy re-watching movies or re-reading books even. There is no more surprise I guess. No more suspense.
However.
Hook.
Every time that movie comes on, I turn it on, expecting to only watch a few minutes, yet I am always sucked in until the bang-arang of an ending! That food fight?! I mean, c’mon, every child watches that and
I have been thinking a lot lately about beauty. Of course, beauty is a little bit relative. But, a lot of things that cause us joy and give us pleasure come from things that are ugly or things that are hard. I grew up in Chicago, and while snow is beautiful, winters in Chicago were and are difficult. Usually by the time March rolls around, everyone is ready for the beauty and the pleasure of spring.
My husband renovates houses. I have seen him take houses that honestly should not even be standing Continue reading
I loved teaching college students. When I was younger, I knew I was going to be a teacher. My favorite teacher was my third grade teacher, Mrs. H. Ever since then, I wanted to teach third grade. Boom. That was it. Then I got into high school, and I realized I really didn’t have a gift for being with younger children, Continue reading
I have been wanting to write a post for moms who stay at home, but haven’t yet because I don’t want it to be guilt-inducing to those moms who don’t stay at home. However, I finally realized that it’s ok to target one group of women in one post and that it doesn’t take away from the good that a working mom does too. It is my opinion that deciding whether to stay at home or work is a very tough decision with no universal right answer. When I was trying to decided if I wanted to continue working after having Logan, Continue reading
This is a post for all you new dads out there! I just visited a neighbor friend who has a baby about a month old. She was talking about all the normal struggles she was having and it brought me back to those first few weeks as a new mom. I thought about my husband, Nathan, and how crazy he must have thought I was. This made me think to write a post encouraging all you new dads Continue reading
Growing up, I always craved a very best friend. Just like every other kid growing up, I went through lots of different friends. My first very best friend was a girl named Erin. I met her at recess in kindergarten. At first, she did NOT want to be friends, but I guess I was persistent, because we ended up being pretty inseparable. Unfortunately, after kindergarten, Continue reading
Many of you know that my sweet Logan was diagnosed with a condition called Laryngomalacia when he was 2 months old. I feel compelled to do some late night writing on this topic and am just getting that feeling that someone needs to hear this story.
First of all, according to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the definition of laryngomalacia is: Continue reading
A few years ago, I was going through a situation that, to this day, was by far the hardest thing I have ever been through. Only a few people knew about my situation. One of my friends texted me and said, “I’m going to pray that today you feel Christ’s love surround you in ways you never have felt before. I want His love to be so real to you.” I was thankful for the text, but continued to go through my day, not thinking too much about it. Things started to happen throughout that day Continue reading
Investing in heavenly treasures
My messy life. Grief. Grace. Gospel. Good things.
Daily Joy 