The Difference of a Year

Another new year. Another birthday.  Actually 5 other birthdays (kids count too). Another Easter. Another Christmas.  It’s been over a full year since my last post.  It’s been a whirlwind of a year and only now do I feel like I’ve taken a breath. I’ve never been one to take the easy path — life […]

It’s okay to not be okay…

(continuing the series on separation and divorce. You can find previous posts here, here, here, here and here.) You don’t feel okay.  You don’t look okay.  You may manage to put on a happy face to fool folks in public, but the truth is, you aren’t okay.  And that is okay.  Confessing that is actually great! […]

Don’t forget the lonely…

13 days to go…my kids are most certainly counting down.  13 days until Christmas.  13 days until “the most wonderful time of year” culminates.  But for many, it is 13 more days of dread.  13 more days of missing the spouse that died this past year.  13 more days of the reminder that they won’t […]

To whom shall I go?

Every so often I receive what is meant to be a compliment; it generally goes something like this: “Good for you for not turning your back on God.” This often comes after they find out that despite being divorce, I have continued to homeschool my four children. My response to them is the same as […]

Replace pride with gratitude

Christian brother and sister, upon hearing that the new visitor at church is divorce, what first goes through your mind? Do you remind yourself that God hates divorce? Do you wonder what s/he did to end up divorced? Do you assume s/he gave up too easily? This isn’t a trick question.  We all have knee-jerk […]

Divorce stinks!

There is no way to sugar coat the reality that divorce stinks! It stinks for the one on the receiving end. It stinks for the one on the pursuing end (although they often think pursuing the divorce will make them happy). It stinks for the children who are collateral damage. It stinks for friends who […]

They don’t fully understand, yet neither to I

I know who goes before me. I know who stands beside. The God of angel armies is always by my side. Singing this one Sunday induced a swell of emotion. It brought me back to our 3 1/2 month homeless trek across the country. I was reminded once again of how the Lord was ever so faithful […]

Pride-fueled forgetfulness

“I’m bad with names.” It’s often one of the first things I say after meeting someone new; establishing my excuse to forget their name before we meet again, and likely, before the current conversation is even over. I’m bad with names. It’s true. Always have been. I generally forget a person’s name not long after […]

They Were Never Mine

A few months ago I stood with the mother of a groom during the wedding reception and asked, “How are you doing?” She was enduring many changes in her family: good chances, but changes nonetheless.  The most recent and most drastic of those changes was the marriage of her oldest child. I had been praying […]