I’ve been wanting to write a follow-up to our November Joy series.  I’d had it planned out for a couple weeks.   But everything changed last Friday morning. The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary altered so much for so many.  My mother’s heart was completely shattered, as all four of my children are around that…

A few weeks ago I was in our church’s Sunday morning service, standing with so many others, hearing the music, watching the band lead us.  My heart was heavy when I’d walked in, the result of a rough morning and hard week filled with too much.  I stood there thirsty, longing for a life-giving something…

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness.    Come before Him, singing with joy.  Acknowledge that the Lord is God!     He made us, and we are His.     We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving;     go into His courts with praise.…

“‘Fleas!’ I cried. ‘Betsie, the place is swarming with them!’ “We scrambled across the intervening platforms, heads low to avoid another bump, dropped down to the aisle and hedged our way to a patch of light. “‘Here! And here another one!’ I wailed. ‘Betsie, how can we live in such a place!’ “‘Show us. Show us how.’…

“But it’s not fair,” breaks the heart of my little one.   As tears stream down his cheeks, I try to explain in vain.  But how can he possibly understand, this little one who is so unfamiliar with how the world works, not even having a decade of experience in it. This phrase, this pained…

When I was in my mid-twenties, I received a phone call I never wanted to get.  On the line was the doctor who had just performed exploratory surgery on my father.  He told me the news was bad and they had discovered colon cancer that had metastasized quite extensively into his liver. I was in…

I am regularly surprised at the speed of which I can go from being peaceful and happy to flat-out irritated. My life is in the thick of raising four mostly-small children.  I was a really great parent before I had kids.  Because at that time, parenting was only a theory.  But when reality hit and…

This was the sweetest face I had ever seen.  Five hours old, wrapped up like a burrito, this little one was the answer to years (and years) of prayers and dreams.  November 1st was the day.  The day I became a mother. Eight years ago I stepped into that hospital room with much trepidation, so…

And so November will begin… This eleventh month offers a quieting of the earth, a resting of the soil.  A time to reflect on the harvest, all that the summer and fall have grown. November ushers in a season of Thanksgiving.  A season that provides time, moments…to reflect on all that the Lord has grown…

Kids piling in the car, already fired up and in a mood, everyone hungry and a little bit snarky.  Traffic is slow, home did not clean itself while I was away.  They are still crabby and I might be too.  Life can so ruin my good mood. God keeps asking me to answer this question:…