When You’re In the Middle of It

I look down at the pregnancy test, bracing myself for one line, not two. We’d been trying to get pregnant for several months, and so far, it just wasn’t happening. Today was no different. No doctor would categorize this season in my life as infertility. But right now,...

I’m a Control Freak.

When the car lost control on loose gravel, fishtailing wildly only to end with an ominous smoking crash in the ditch, I knew immediately on impact that something was wrong. Hanging suspended from the lap seatbelt in the backseat behind the driver, I felt panicked by...

When You Can’t Forget What Someone Said

Tracing letters on the floor with the tips of my scuffed shoes, I sat in a folding chair, my 7-year-old self waiting patiently for my parents to finish their conversations. The evening meeting at Family Camp had ended, and most people had filtered out of the building...

When Did I Turn into Judgy Mom?

It was Silly Day at preschool. My 4-year-old, Elise, was wearing pajamas, mismatched silver and ladybug shoes, and big, floral sunglasses that accompanied the numerous wild buns in her bright blonde hair. As we stepped in from the cold sunshine outside into the warmth...

Choosing Gratitude Over Grief

I felt immobilized by grief last week. Maybe it was the relentless rain, the gloomy gray clouds an external gauge for my internal turmoil. My girls were restless and so was I. It could have been self-pity; a series of days where even the thought of my to-do list feels...