-
Melissa
In the spring of 2016, my current apartment lease was ending and I needed a place to live for a few months before Josh and I got married. I casually mentioned the situation to Melissa, a friend from church. She was nearly a decade older than me and a mother to three young boys, so […]
-
September
September rushes inWith her big hopes and dreamsInsisting I fill my calendarWith appointments and plans It’s important! She tells meSo I get swept up in the frenzyOf buying and planning and committing Until there is no margin left To savor the stillnessOf September’s golden eveningsOr enjoy the gentle caressOf her cool morning breezes But her own […]
-
Chill mom
I once babysat two children whose mother left a 3-ring binder for me. In it, I found a detailed schedule, various house rules, and each child’s likes and dislikes. Screen time was a definite no, as was sugar (obviously). Bedtime was 8 p.m. sharp, which made me briefly wonder if the kids would turn into […]
-
Pool days
When I was in elementary school, I lived for summer afternoons with my best friend. We doted on our Breyer horses, watched television shows we probably weren’t supposed to, and grazed constantly from a giant yellow bag of Peanut M&M’s. Many days our parents would take us to the neighborhood pool, where we proudly sported […]
-
School supplies
Supplies needed for (mom’s) first day of preschool: -Backpack to hold all my hopes and fears about the school year -Box of crayons to color on a brave face -Ruler to measure the depths of love I have for my children -Box of Kleenex to wipe the tears away -Individually packaged snacks to stress eat […]
-
That time I almost walked out of yoga
On Sunday afternoon, I went to hot yoga for the first time in… years? “Mommy yoga!” The boys astutely observed as I left the house holding my rolled-up purple yoga mat. I walked into the studio a few minutes late, and it was packed. The air was thick and warm, almost tropical. I wedged my […]
-
Sharing
It’s official: CJ and Kyeler now share a room! It happened, as many things do, out of sheer desperation. Kyeler was sleeping horribly—crying for at least an hour when we put him to bed, then waking up at 5am screaming. One day I asked him if he was scared of being alone in his room […]
-
Yes
What if they had said yes? I’ve wondered this hundreds of times since Kyeler came into our family. We were not the first family the social worker called about being his foster parents. Before us, she asked the family that was fostering (and has since adopted) his full sister and two half siblings. What if […]
-
Looking up
I look up because the night sky is a plate of diamonds, spilled and sparkling. I look up because there is my husband, my neighbor, my friend, ready to tell me their thoughts. I look up because I don’t want to be so busy staring down at a rectangle that I miss the natural shapes […]
-
100 things (summer edition!)
I love sliced tomatoes with sea salt. Basil from the garden, on everything. Eating berries like candy and watching my fig tree grow in the front yard. I love perusing the farmers market on a Saturday morning and bringing home bread and veggies and coffee. I love watching fireflies light up our backyard at night. […]
A Continual Feast
"…for the happy heart, life is a continual feast." -Proverbs 15:15
A Continual Feast 