Why is it so hard to live by grace for ourselves as a parent? As I was raising my children when they had behavior that was, let’s just say, “unbecoming,” my first instinct was to blame myself. Did I not teach them right? Did I not model good behavior? Is this because of the fight […]
“Let’s not become discouraged in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not become weary.” (Galatians 6:9) Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched my son, Tim, open the church service in prayer at the mega-church where he’s one of the pastors. Now, that seems like a silly […]
I’ve been really working on getting rid of my ego. It really seems to get in the way of my life and living fully and abundantly. The ego always seems to say, Not enough or Not good or You did better than… Comparison is such a horrible way to live. Wouldn’t you agree? Or not […]
Thou shall not… Before I became a Jesus follower, I thought being a Christian meant not being allowed to have freedom. I thought it meant there would be a long list of all the things one could not do. I thought it meant I would be living a life where I was continually being condemned […]
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” -Mark 12:30 Loving others like Jesus is our lifelong “following Jesus” quest. Life presents us with challenging circumstances and what to do in such circumstances can be difficult to decipher. However, […]
“Bad Mommy!” “You’re a bad Mommy!” Those were the screams of my grandson to his mom and my daughter. Full discloser: I thoroughly enjoyed his heckling of his mom. I had heard many “mean girl” antics from my daughter while raising her. And she turned out great. Why was he calling her names? He didn’t […]
[This article first appeared in Ann Voskamp’s blog.] I remember the day I parked at my children’s elementary school to get a glimpse of what they were like on the playground. I witnessed in horror as my ten-year-old son, Tim, played a game in which he was throwing numerous little girls to the ground. He […]
With permission today’s post is written by my beautiful cousin, Grace Alfredson. These are her elegant words: Today is suicide awareness day. Nine years ago today, that meant nothing to me but for the last nine years it has meant many different things. In 2011 it meant shame, in 2012 it meant guilt, in 2014 […]
When was the last time you were counting on someone and they totally let you down? My first recollection of being totally baffled and dumbfounded by someone who I thought I could trust and count on was when I was five years old. There was a teenager in my neighborhood, actually it was a male […]
