Photo Courtesy of Courtney Lorenz Photography. My family and I drove home from church today in our Town and Country van. We bought it new, had it custom-fit for our family, and delivered to the same dealership where we had bought our last minivan, just a couple years before that. When we got ...
Stop Comparing! Start Encouraging!
I'm feasting on cage free brown eggs with organic garden fresh onions, and sipping a cup of Oolong tea from the cutest Asian Market around all of Minneapolis. & that Hobby Lobby mug, totes adorbs, right? ~BUT WAIT {seriously} ~ Dear Sisters in Christ, PLEASE don't let this snapshot of one meal ...
The Random Reasons Why We Love Church (And You Should, Too!)
We all have our reasons why we attend church, or don’t. Sometimes I struggle hard with not wanting to attend and be fully present there; other times I don’t struggle at all, I just get in the van and go. This is just a random post, folks. I do have some deep feelings about church, religion, and God, ...
What’s on my heart today? Unity
What’s on my heart today? Unity. I see so much division over denominations, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, Catholic… the list goes on. But at the end of the day, aren’t we all children of God? If we were truly living as Christians, striving to be Christ-like, I think we’d take this verse to ...
Rain, Remembrance, and Peace
It rained all day yesterday. My husband took the day off work to take me to a doctor’s appointment, the one I've been dreading, for my breast exam. I told him I could have gone on my own, but he knew better. He knew I needed him with me. My mom watched the kids, and I was so thankful, since the ...
Siblings Day 2015
This morning my dad sent me an email with an old picture attached. He said, “You can use this for Siblings Day.” Siblings Day? I’ll admit, I had to look it up. Turns out, April 10th is the official day, and I hadn’t planned for it at all. No cards, no gifts, just this sweet picture and a whole lot ...
Choosing Patience in the Parking Lot
There we were, a family of five, hustling through the parking lot so I could squeeze in a quick stop at the shoe store and still get all my errands done. Our little circus looked something like this: A dad strutting confidently with his fresh haircut. A preteen with her eyes glued to a ...
I Love You to Death, Marry Me, and Have Fun
A couple weeks ago, I was digging through my keepsake box for a specific picture of an old friend. I couldn’t find it, and for a moment, I felt a little defeated. But then I found something else from that same time period — a playful, just-for-fun “marriage proposal” from a co-worker at the pizza ...
Stop Saying NO Out of Fear
As a young mom, I was asked to take on a volunteer position. At first, I didn’t accept it. I felt inexperienced and unsure of myself, but I also didn’t want fear to keep me from something God might be calling me to. The woman who asked me said something that still guides me today: “Don’t say no ...
My Friend, Amy.
Amy Elizabeth Hild. September 9th, 1987 - February 25th, 2015 Amy Elizabeth Hild I’ve known Amy’s full name for well over 10 years, and I’ve never forgotten it. She used to doodle it in her math notebook all.the.time. She’d put fancy designs around her name and play around with ...
Memories For My Baby Girl: Daddy Twirls You Around the Kitchen
My memory may fail me at some point. I know this, because it has before. This little blog is not only my place to encourage others, but to chronicle my thoughts and store my memories, in case I ever forget these sweet moments. I have no idea how long my posts will stay on the internet. It's my ...
Tidying Rooms, Tidying Hearts
I spent part of the evening cleaning my oldest daughter’s room. It wasn’t the worst I’ve ever seen, but it certainly wasn’t what anyone would call organized. She struggled to let go of little plastic dolls, Happy Meal toys, random papers she had drawn on, and keychains with no real significance ...
Enjoy the Journey, Heaven Awaits
For Christmas we gave the baby a stroller for her own babies. It took her less than a week to figure out she fits in her new dolly stroller. Oh boy. The last doll stroller we had (about 10yrs ago) was held together with massive amounts of duct tape by the end of its life (well, its ...
You Think I’m Strong-Willed? Whatever THAT Means!
There were only TWO other women at the conference with sparkle shoes. One of them was Sally Baucke, the woman who taught me it's okay to wear sparkle shoes and find the joy in your life right where you are. The other woman was like me, just trying to be as fashionable as Sally! So you know ...
Church Family: Feeling Disconnected? Be The Change You Want to See~Part 2
This is part 2 in a series on my feeling discontent and disconnected within my church family. You can skim Part 1 Here. Here I am, on my quest to be the change I wanted to see. I thought about changing churches. I really did. I even had my new church all picked out, but then someone ...
Church Family: Feeling Disconnected? Be The Change You Want to See~Part 1
Something has been on my mind and I just can't sort it out. So naturally I come here, to my little corner of the World Wide Web, and literally the corner of our home. You see for the past couple years I've been telling my husband that I feel like I'm not growing at church, I don't feel ...
Bless The Lord My Soul
Emotions have ran high the past couple weeks. I've prayed for the Lord to break my heart for what breaks His, and he has. Along with that there's been real true deep heartache, and tears. I've been in mourning and feel like crawling under the covers and staying there... but then the little people ...
{Guest Post} A Response to The Death of Robin Williams: Notes on Suicide and Salvation
RIP Robin Williams Today’s guest post comes from my friend Becky. Becky is one of those down-to-earth moms with great perspective and a positive attitude. Her blog doesn't currently have a recent post, that's only because she's been busy living the stories that she will someday get a chance to ...
Reflections from my 10 yr class reunion
Thoughts the day before my class reunion: I'm not going! But just in case I do, in the next 24hrs: Drink water Avoid carbs Whiten teeth Shave legs Thoughts just hours before the reunion: Crap, I ate carbs! Could I buy one of those girdle things? I really wasn't cute in high school, so I'm sure no ...
Life Isn’t Fair
I bet you can’t count how many times you’ve heard that before! When our second child was a toddler, I made a little rule in our home: my children were not allowed to say, “No fair!” It’s still a rule in this house today. Call me crazy, but this simple rule has really helped our kids get along ...