The Mountains of Special Needs Parenting
In August, my husband Todd and I hiked the Highline trail in Glacier National Park. As the name of the trail implies, the path cut along the side of a mountain and was so narrow near the beginning that a thick wire cable drilled into the rock served as a handrail, lest a misstep cause […]
Finding True Rest As A Caregiver
A cedar tree trunk, its branches stripped, serves as a railing along the stairs to our master bedroom. I welcome its invitation to help me pull myself up. I am tired. Bone tired. My back and legs ache. Once in bed, I feel the cotton sheets and the cool night breeze wafting in from the […]
Finding Meaning & Hope in Life’s Burns
On a sunny spring morning with nearly no breeze, I stood in the still-dormant grass of the ditch just a half-mile up from our home. I watched that old, white farmhouse burn. Flames swirled orange out of every window and door. I felt the heat on my face from across the street. Our 25-year-old son […]
I Didn’t Want a Different Dream
My friend and fellow author, Jolene Philo, runs a helpful website dedicated to special needs kids and their caretakers. I’ve read all her books and have found her knowledge extremely helpful on my own journey in caring for special needs kids that led to my own special needs. After 21 years (this month) of caring […]
The Wonder Years & How to Move Through Our Doubts and Fears
Have you ever felt inept? Like you suddenly found yourself in the deep end of a pool with absolutely no idea how to swim? Have you ever felt scared of what life’s handed you? Awesome! Me too! I’ve been swimming (dog paddling?) through many challenges I thought beyond my capabilities through each decade […]
Silver Hair and Wisdom Hard-Won
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV I sit across from him at our favorite Italian restaurant, waiting for our pizza to come out of the wood-fired oven behind […]
Unexpected Harvest: When You Wonder What God Has in Mind for Your Life
Harvest. Our garden provided abundantly throughout the summer and keeps giving. Lettuce, spinach, beans, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, cantaloupe, pumpkins, raspberries. Each summer, this garden reminds me of the same truth—I can’t out-give God. I plunge seeds into the dark earth in spring. And then this. So much blessing. Too much blessing. I must […]
When You’re Scared and You Don’t Know What To Do
Since this weekend? Seems we’re consumed. In our nation . . . What he said. What he didn’t say. When he said it. Or didn’t say it. Why he took so long to say it. Is he fit? Is he unfit? Are we safe? Are we unsafe? Is the world safe? This opinion. That opinion. […]
Make Hay While The Sun Shines
They say, “Make hay while the sun shines” and this is true. Those of us around here with horses need hay cut at just the right time. We watch the weather, hoping for three, back-to-back sunny days for hay harvesting because horse hay must be dry. Otherwise, hay molds and can’t be fed to horses. […]
Abundance from Dependence
What do you do when your dreams aren’t coming true? What do you do when your heart breaks from the ache of wanting something so much and it looks like that one dream may never be yours? Like Hannah who wanted a child. Desperately. So what did Hannah do? Instead of lashing out at her […]
Foreign Affairs and What’s Right With the World
Terrorist attacks. My two sons and my husband are heading to London and Paris in two weeks for a WWII trip . . . I pray. I reflect . . . I put a poster board together for him Saturday, the day before he walked the aisle. The day before he took his seat among […]
My Second Best Christmas Gift of All Time
Of course, the best Christmas gift of all time is Christ himself. On Christmas morning, I received my second best Christmas gift of all time. We’d been to church on Christmas Eve and seen and heard all the kids dressed up as Mary, Joseph, wise men, shepherds and a bunch of shaggy, smelly sheep. We’d […]