Watching my future sister-in-law's foster daughter at a Wizards game, I saw myself—the rebellious teen who once told her mother "I hate you." What if the common thread that heals all wounds starts on our knees?
Faith & Mental Health
Horseback Riding in Narnia While My Friends Miscarry: Learning to See Past the Baby Longing
At thirty-four, watching a TV couple announce pregnancy made me cry ugly tears. But riding through snow-covered pines with Charming, I realized: if I keep focusing on the children I don't have, I'll miss the Narnia I'm living in right now.
Introducing Charming to the People Who Loved Me When I Was Dead Inside
Joanie and Bob met me when I was a fallen woman hiding in my childhood bed after divorce. They loved me anyway. This Christmas, they finally met Charming—and emailed that he's 'handsome, delightful, and perfect' for the restored woman they always knew I'd become.
Half My Christmas Lights Keep Dying—Just Like My First Marriage Did
Charming hung and rehung icicle lights three times this weekend. I kept thinking of my ex-husband and how we got better at fixing Christmas lights than our marriage. Some relationships have too many broken strands. But this little house still glows like a beacon—reminding me I'm never alone.
Learning to Trust When Life Falls Apart: What Friends’ Miscarriage Taught Me
When friends lost their baby overseas, I realized I'd been applying the logic of one failed marriage to every future possibility. Sometimes trust isn't about odds—it's about the One holding the camera.
The Halloween Photo That Broke My Heart (And What It Taught Me)
I wasn't in my nieces' Halloween photos, and suddenly I saw the truth: I can't use other people's children to fill the void in my own life. Sometimes we need to look up.
Why I Couldn’t Have Fun at the Halloween Party
Dressed as a flapper with the man I love, I should have been happy. Instead, I felt empty. Here's what loneliness taught me about looking for God in all the wrong places.
There’s a Chill Under Everything—Even on Perfect Fall Nights
I needed a blanket not for warmth but comfort. Hurricane Matthew took a thousand lives, the presidential debate felt like another storm, and under all our distractions—football games, festivals, forty flavors of chips—something isn't right. Teddy Roosevelt said character is indispensable. When we finally stop and feel the chill, that's where character gets built.
How God Used My Writing to Write My Love Story
Seventy-seven weeks of Tuesday night writing led me back to faith and into the arms of a man who found me through my words. Sometimes God's best work happens when we're not looking.
Why I Don’t Want Summer to End (And What God Taught Me About Letting Go)
As a teacher, I know I have to give up my heart to 120 new students. Here's what my nieces and a street preacher taught me about trusting the faces you can't see yet.
Writer's Growth 