The Cure for the “What Ifs”

by | Jan 23, 2014 | Faith, Relationships

We wanted to become parents so badly. I wanted to be a work-at-home mom, just like my own mom was home to take care of my brother and me. When it didn’t happen the second we started trying after four years of marriage, I trusted God for his perfect timing. After...

I’m a Recovering Perfectionist

by | Jan 6, 2014 | Relationships

I am a recovering perfectionist. And though I try to stifle the impulse, sometimes I’m reminded of it. Take the other day, for instance — I watch in slow motion as the Tupperware bowl of large, child-sized buttons falls off the table. They scatter, rolling...

Reaching Ten Years By the Skin of Our Teeth

by | Dec 30, 2013 | Relationships

This month, my husband and I will celebrate our 10-year anniversary. When my parents reached their 10-year mark, they celebrated with a large recommitment ceremony that included me wearing the 9-year-old equivalent of an awful bridesmaid dress. But despite the mark...

Do You Know How Much I Love You?

by | Nov 25, 2013 | Relationships

“Do you know how much I love you?” I ask my youngest son Abe one night as I tuck him in to bed. “How much, mommy?” he replies. And I have to think for a minute about my rhetorical question, not actually expecting to need to explain how much, not sure where even to...

Freedom from the Pain of the Past

by | Nov 19, 2013 | Relationships

This is the third story in our “Freedom From…” Series, an 8-week series featuring women who have faced adversity and found freedom in the process. Our story today is from Linda, as told to Kendra Roehl. Linda is a wife, mother, and grandmother. The greatest challenge...

Love Letters

by | Oct 28, 2013 | Relationships

I’ve had an interesting week, and that’s an understatement. It’s been an exhausting, frightening, painful, surprising week! I went in for laparoscopic surgery to remove my gallbladder. It was to be a simple 45 minute in-and-out surgery, and it was. But once under...