The Pattern of Scripture Advent. If you look back to its Latin origin, you’ll find it means “to come” or “the arrival,” and is usually used in reference to something or someone important. Christians celebrate Advent, the arrival, of Jesus at Christmas. The extraordinary, humble birth of Jesus altered the…
Category: Christian Living
Christian Living
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A Decade of Homeschool – The Most Common Questions
This fall kicks off our tenth year of homeschooling! I am far from an expert but a decade of this lifestyle has taught me a few things. In celebration of this milestone, I want to share with you some lessons I have learned and address questions we are commonly asked!…
Christian Living
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The Suffering Tree – Trembling Branches and Secure Roots
Lament is not the absence of praise. It is simply the path through pain to praise.
Christian Living
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Echos in the Valley
I recently found myself in the garden, tending to some flowering bushes I have attempted to grow over the past couple of years. My beloved dog is buried amongst the fragrant gardenias and sweet olive trees. I had Molly for almost 14 years. As college sweethearts, Chris and I took…
Adoption
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God’s Astounding Sovereignty in Broken Bodies and Hurting Hearts
And on my knees, gently shaking CJ’s unresponsive body and between my sobs begging him to wake up, I heard my most desperate prayer groan out of my mouth, “Oh God, HELP!”
Adoption
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Holding Onto Hospitals and Hope
The last month has been nothing like I planned. We spent almost half a year preparing for a major spinal surgery for my son, whose scoliosis suddenly curved to 100 degrees and was in the beginning stages of compromising his heart and lungs. CJ carries on his small shoulders a…
Christian Living
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Mary Magdalene- When The Claws of Fear Are Defeated with Faith
Mary. Mary Magdalene stands outside the empty tomb. The disciples have looked in the tomb, and finding it empty, returned to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where…
Christian Living
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The Suffering Table
God has repeatedly brought a verse to mind over the last few weeks. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Isaiah 53:3 My husband, Chris,…
Christian Living
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Broken Seashells and Shattered Reflections
Brokenness. It’s a word I have carried in my chest for several years now. It’s a word I see when I look in the mirror and at the world around me. Sometimes it is all I can see. I close my eyes and imagine shattered pottery, the jagged edges slicing…
Christian Living
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Tearing off the Roof
Our kids spend a large portion of their days dancing and singing (read: screaming) along to music playing on YouTube. Something about watching singers on TV makes them feel like they are at, or maybe they are, a fun concert. Their favorites are some phenomenal worship songs. Lyrics that have…
Holding Torches and Pushing Wheelchairs
Hospitals have become a bit of a second home for us. As a child, I didn’t have much exposure to medical facilities or people who frequently needed significant medical care. In college, I bounced around a bit hoping to land on the right major and dreaming of all sorts of…
Walking Each Other Home
As the calendar pages fall and the years seem to pass quicker, I visualize life as a journey. I have enough time under my belt now that I can see the hills and valleys behind me and know more await my arrival in the future. How is it that our…
