Dear Daughters, From the day each of you was born, I felt a deep responsibility to prepare you for the world in which you will live. I’ve tried to model for you what I believed to be best for your life, but, on occasion (OK, many occasions), I have failed. Oh boy, have I failed….
Ah, finally, a moment to write what I’m living right now — We’ve talked about the feeling of disorientation and ambivalence that strikes hard and fast, sometimes so dizzying we don’t even know what hit us! Today — five thoughts on living in God’s story of grace through these seasons: Grieve the loss. Yes, it is…
First of all, I don’t know why the new issue of Parenting Magazine seems to show up in my mailbox once a month. I suspect there is a mom out there who has judged me the worst mother in the state of Florida and has taken me on as a mercy ministry. She probably sponsored my subscription hoping the articles will…
Tis the season – graduation invites are dropping in my mailbox like flies on watermelon juice, so I am re-visiting some of my previous thoughts on the season. (This year, our third child, second daughter is graduating from college — and getting married 3 weeks later, and moving, and starting a new job….! So, once…
A reflection on taking our first son to college Indiana University Orientation A hot weekend in roasted granite wandering the ivory tower of Southern Indiana red. Hoosier Red. Red faces with beads of sweat streaming down alongside sideburns still coming in. Red cheeks blazing with melting hot passion inside, waiting to bust out. Waiting to…
College visits come, a prerequisite to growing up, while garden tea parties fade as seasons extinguish alongside summer camps, baby ballet slippers, reading logs, and AP tests. The future is wide open on I-35 north. Open handed sky, arching this Texas highway with a ribboned morning of March mist, unveiling sun glinting streams upon cattle…
The first smile, the first tooth, the first steps, the first word. As a new parent, these are the wonderful, magical moments you anticipate and cherish as your first child grows—forever etched in your memory like a frozen slice of time and place. But there’s one “first”, I’m sure you will agree, that you would…
It’s hard to admit when we’ve done something wrong and hurt another person in the process. Really hard. In fact, it’s easier to point our finger at another source than to own up to our role in the matter. Have you ever noticed this tendency in yourself? You know you’ve got to apologize because it’s…
Parenting requires so many decisions, it can sometimes become mind-numbing. How to respond to discipline issues, what to do about kids’ friendship struggles, which sports to encourage them toward and what other activities to enroll them in. We have so much information and so many opportunities at our fingertips, it can be hard to sort…
Years and years ago I read an excellent little book (more like a booklet) called The Tyranny of the Urgent. This was in the days before cell phones, email and text messaging. I remember being struck then by its simple message about how we should stop diverting our attention from the important to take care…
I’m waiting at a stoplight when I see one again: that oval sticker on the back of a minivan that says “26.2” (or sometimes “13.1″). Are you tired of those yet? Because I am. And not because I think those who have completed a marathon don’t deserve to boast. They do. Completing a 26.2 mile…
My parents did not love me well. I thought maybe they didn’t know how for most of my life. I told people, when they asked about them, that they just didn’t have the right tools in their toolbox to be generous loving parents. So, I forgave them before they ever asked to be forgiven because…
Today I saw a sticker of two female figures, each donning the iconic triangle, but one in color, clearly a superhero’s cape. The quote read, “It was never a dress.” I laughed and immediately bought some. We are in the era of “girl power.” Companies such as Dove and Always are seeking to change the…
Sugary calorie rich junk food covers my kitchen counter this morning and pop-its litter the garage. Somewhere in the neighborhood 3, maybe 5 or 7 teenage boys are loose, celebrating the end of middle school while every other grade remains in class for two more days. That makes the freedom all the more vast: they…