Simplifying… me

So many crumbs.  So little time.
I find myself more irritated by the amount of crumbs I find scattered all over the kitchen counter and floor than I am by the big messes around my house.  It seems that no matter how many times I swipe down the counters with a cleaning rag, there are still [...]

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“I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32
My kids are not exactly fans of household responsibilities and chores.  It is not uncommon to hear groaning when they are asked to clean their rooms, pick up their toys, and contribute to the overall upkeep of our home. [...]

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“Lord, how great is our dilemma!  In Thy Presence silence best becomes us, but love inflames our hearts and constrains us to speak.  Were we to hold our peace the stones would cry out; yet if we speak, what shall we say?  Teach us to know that we cannot know, for the things of God [...]

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I accidentally dropped the belt to my jacket in the toilet at work yesterday.  Joel’s car was in the shop, my head was throbbing, and a difficult conversation from the evening before was still very fresh on my mind.  It was a struggle to stay focussed and productive amidst all of the distractions pulling for [...]

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Growing up in Africa, Sundays meant long, bumpy trips off the beaten path to get to church.  During the rainy season, heaps of red clay and dirt roads would turn into miles of thick, muddy paths.  On one particular Sunday, our car got stuck in the mud.  We were out in the middle of nowhere, [...]

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My heart is so easily distracted.  I have a passion for Jesus, and pursuing those things that are eternal, and I have a passion for temporal things that quickly fade away.
I start believing I can have it all.  Half of my heart can belong to God, and half of my heart can belong to the [...]

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Do your kids ever get scared?  Mine do.  In fact, I can get called upon, at least, three nights a week to come and pray for the “scary thoughts” that are keeping one of them from sleep.
“Scary thoughts” can be paralyzing:
“What if I fail?”
“What if I lose someone I love?”
“What if I don’t have what [...]

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Life is cyclical.  From sunrise to sunset, everything moves season to season, upsides and downsides, highs and lows.  I think it is difficult for us in the Western world, with our Western mindset, to comprehend the principle of time and season.  We believe anything less than the high is unproductive and wasted time.
And yet, in [...]

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The kids were upstairs playing, enjoying the later bedtime freedom that summer brings, while Joel and I plopped on the couch and started listening to some of our favorite songs of the 80’s and early 90’s.  Flashbacks of high school slumber parties, listening to Wilson Phillips, Chicago, and of course Michael Bolton’s “How Am I [...]

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The way to my children’s hearts is through their tummies.  They love food.  They love thinking about food.  They love knowing what’s for dinner before breakfast is over.  And they loved every delectable bite of the Ritz crackers and string cheese I served them for snack this afternoon.
With that in mind, I decided that if [...]

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