“I’m waiting for us to get there,” my four-year-old told me. We were on the way to her second gymnastics class, the cars on the freeway breezing by us, the sky blue and adorned with soft wisps of clouds. We’d been in the car about two minutes. “I hear you, honey,” I told her from …
Change Comes from Choosing
Originally over at Suzannah Paul’s site. When my kids are angry, I have a religious experience. Sometimes my children rage, wild-eyed. Or they are cold, whispering “Bad Mama, bad Mama,” their lips curling in a smile. Or they destroy something and drop it at my feet, in shards or shreds. Jesus says to bless those …
Are you having a hard time handling parenthood—or life?
I struggle to handle both too. And then I read a post that made me start to wonder about why, exactly, I need to “handle” these things at all. At first, I really wanted to hate the post. “F&^% Ina May,” the title said. As someone who had two home births, who thinks natural birth can be …
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What Will REALLY Solve Your Problems?
One of the first questions everyone asks me when they find out that we homeschool is some variation of what kind of curriculum do you use? But the answer is I try not to use curriculum. Here’s why: the more money I invest, the less it gets used. I would really like to blame this …
Shouldn’t I be doing more? and other impossible questions
A new friend of mine from church came over for dinner the other day. She was looking at the homespun art we pin up to the walls: swirls of watercolor, stick figures and drawings. “I see you teach them about God,” she said approvingly. I glanced at the wall, surprised, feeling like a fraud. Why …
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I can’t help you unless you come close
At least once a day, one of my daughters will come to me and ask for help buttoning a , tying a shoe, or putting a ribbon into their hair. Almost every time they do, they will turn and stand several feet from me, far out of my reach. “I can’t help you unless you …
The most powerful culture in the world
One thing I notice about being abroad is the powerful pull American culture has around the world. People know the names of our states (quick! name a province in Argentina! Or more than one in Canada!) they know our movie actors, our television shows. They buy our technology, they translate our books, they learn our …
What to do when parenting isn’t going well
We had a week. A week of being stuck inside from rain. A week of fevers, of bad tempers–mine included. A week of cancelling play dates. A week of homesickness hitting. A week of stir-crazy. A week. I’ll be honest with you: I would rather write a post where everything in my parenting life is …
Playing at worship
I love a good list. Even if the task is unpleasant, I grit my teeth and don’t procrastinate. This might sound like a good thing. But when it comes to connecting to Jesus, my type A personality has often robbed me of joy. Since I became a Christian, I’ve known that daily connection to God …
Why Crazy Enthusiasm Changes Your Life
I felt pretty proud of myself the first time Lori Pickert favorited one of my tweets. Lori is the author of Project-Based Homeschooling, a book that continues to influence how I approach my two kids’ education. Her blog is always inspiring me to not only educate my kids with more passion, freedom, and intention, but …
Choosing Rest Over Art Saved My Art
With my first kid, it happened without me wanting it to. With my second, it was planned. I’m not talking about the pregnancies. I’m talking about writing. Or, more accurately, not writing. I stopped writing from after each kid was born for about a year. With my first kid, I did not plan to stop. It …
How to Make Your Dreams Come True
Here it is. Let’s all take a deep breath. Become a beginner. Not an expert. Not yet. First, you must start someplace. A start, a beginning, will humble you and bring you to your knees. Stay there a while. Consider what it is to start something. Starting a healthier lifestyle, or a new way of …
When You’re Afraid of Getting Judged
A while ago, I attended a party with some families I’m just getting to know. My youngest was the only toddler, but there were older kids, and several about my eldest’s age. The only outside place to play was right alongside a parking lot. I headed out to supervise my younger one, but I was …
life isn’t an on/off switch
I like checking things off lists. Dishes? Check. Returning emails? Check. Meeting goals? Check. There’s a cleanliness to a completed task, a finished goal, a project brought to fruition. But I’m realizing that the most important things in my life can’t be checked off. Because there isn’t a point where they’re done, or finished. They …
home alone…with kids
I love my kids. I love homeschooling them. I love not rushing from one place to another. So why, then, when I wake up and we have nothing planned, why do I feel afraid? Now let’s be clear: I’m aware that being at home all day with two kids can be trying. I’m an introvert, …
easygoing as a spiritual discipline
Let’s just get this out in the open right now: I’m not one of those easygoing parents. Wow, I feel better already. At least, I don’t feel like one of those easygoing parents; easygoing is a spiritual practice for me, wherein I practice being okay when my child does not want to organize her clothes …