Caring for elderly parents. It’s both an incredible privilege and a delicate challenge – the transition from receiving their care to being their caregiver. If you’ve been there, you understand. Buried in those mixed emotions, though, are priceless nuggets of hope. Recently, one of those nuggets shook my soul and reminded me that I don’t [...]
Families today are so busy. So tired. So restless. So full, yet wanting even more. Like shoehorning large feet into small shoes, we’re forever forcing yet another activity into already crammed schedules. Maybe there’s a better way. Ironically, some of the happiest people have the simplest lives and the grandest treasures. They sacrifice the good [...]
You are the greatest influence in your child’s life. No one can take Mom’s place. No one. The question isn’t if you shape your kids. . . it’s how are you shaping your kids? Are you creating in your kids a hunger and thirst for God? Granted, only they can choose to partake of the [...]
Sometimes we miss the joy. In every age and stage, there’s reason to rejoice, even if we have to look hard to find it. One of my daughter’s joys is sunflowers. Just like my Leslie, sunflowers are bold and beautiful. I can’t pass a field of sunflowers without thinking of her. But sunflowers also remind [...]
Rare is the woman who feels fully ready to be a mom. Then you have a child and realize you were right. So many responsibilities. So many roles. You’re supposed to be Dr. Mom when your kids are sick, Dr. Phil when they’re confused, and Dr. Spock when they’re needy. The real problem, though, isn’t [...]
I’ll never forget it. My throat choked and my hands shook. Tears streamed. Barely able to catch my breath, I watched the doctor deliver my first child and proclaim, “It’s a girl!” As they cut the cord and rubbed her down, I thought: Wow, we made her! . . . Now what? If you’re a [...]
“Alexa, make my child behave.” If only it was that easy. As a young parent, I struggled to lead my kids. Then I realized that my kids weren’t the problem. The problem was raising them without scarring them for life. A friend said her only goal as a mom was to minimize her kids’ counseling [...]
“How’d you do it?” I can only imagine how often my wife hears that question, along with, “How did you get a trophy husband?” Maybe not those exact words, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Well, if you know us, you’d know the irony of that idea. You’d know I’m not younger [...]
I’d heard that you can’t outgive God. In August 1984, I saw how that’s true. As a recent college graduate, I had seen God’s favor. He had blessed with the wife of my dreams and a job that humanly speaking was beyond my reach. Then I passed the CPA exam in one attempt (98% failed [...]
Last week, our family, like yours, tore into wrapped Christmas gifts with oohs and aahs like a Wheel of Fortune episode. COVID, however, cancelled our much-anticipated white elephant gift exchange – a chance to regift previously-received, yet unused, gifts. This year, though, I want to regift something COVID can’t cancel, something people are actually more [...]
