I’ve had my share of daydreams about living on permanent vacation, but this wasn’t how I pictured it going down. After moving to a new city for work, we couldn’t find a home that fit our family or our budget, despite how hard we tried. And to our surprise, this new city of ours even had a waiting list for…
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Thirsting for Rest Amid Stress
I’d barely tiptoed into dreamland before hearing a clamor down the hall. Rising in the moonlit shadows, I tend to the night-owl-noise of my offspring before shuffling back to the warmth of my sheets. Yet my mind has long forsaken sleep, wandering instead through a mental desert of checklists and concerns. A tide of trouble beats against the shores of…
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When You Wonder Who You Would Have Been
Some seasons of our stories are so challenging, they invest themselves into who we become, leaving a clear before and after in their dust. We hold these moments close, protective of their scars, as they nestle deep within our personalities, affecting the way we view ourselves and others. Perhaps someone who was supposed to love you, didn’t — leaving a…
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The Long Prayer of Motherhood
Raise your hand if you thought for sure 2020 would look normal again by now. Me too. In this season of sheltering-in-place, yesterday looks like today looks like tomorrow, yet nothing looks like normal. While this wayward year remains seated in the principal’s office of life, it can feel challenging to lead our families into a fresh semester of uncertainty….
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Daughters of the Day
Once upon a Saturday morning, the house chores held a conference and elected me their leader. While rushing through chores, I noticed a theme unfolding in my living room. All day, our napping kitten, Noelle, scooted herself around, warmly snuggled in the patch of sunlight beaming through the window. As the sun moved across the sky, so Noelle moved across…
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Hope for the Hard Days
Air-conditioning blasted through dusty moving van vents as we pulled away from our southern roots, yet the farther north we drove, the more those vents burned high with heat. Our choice of sandals and shorts proved naive, as 1300 miles later, our new city welcomed us to a sky-show greeting the likes of which we’d never known: snow flurry confetti…
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