“Mommy, that lady’s dress is really short.” My then 4 year old said this to me as we were pulling out of the parking lot at church one Sunday morning and it completely floored me. I didn’t remember ever talking with her about dress length, so the fact that she would comment on it was powerful to me.  I had to agree that it was kind of short, but I don’t remember what I said to Isabella in response; however, we did have a brief conversation about modesty. This innocent observation has stuck with me over the past couple of years.  I want to train my girls early on about…

Today I have the privilege of introducing you to Martha.  I ‘met’ Martha through Instagram when I instantly fell in love with her pictures/words that she shares in her feed.  I then discovered her blog, Everything He Gives,  and have enjoyed reading Martha’s writing over the past few months.  A little bit about Martha: Martha’s heart is split between the wild mountains of Colorado and the gentle hills of NC, but she makes her home for now in Asheville.  She’s been married to Brandon for almost 10 years, and she’s a momma to three little ones ages 4 and under who keep her busy full time.  She loves words, the wild, and coffee, but Jesus best of…

It’s taken me almost 34 years to figure out that I have limits. Surprising?  Maybe.  But perhaps all women struggle with this from time to time. In the spirit of being helpful or others-focused, we can quickly fill our schedules with all sorts of things and become overwhelmed. Sometimes we push our limits because we want to meet some sort of expectation or standard.  Most of the time?  We’re the one who has created this bar to achieve.  And if this is the case we’re disappointing no one but ourselves by not reaching it. I want my girls to understand their limits from an early age.  To know how to…

Today, I have the privilege of introducing you to my friend Heather.  She’s one of the first people I met at our church here in Virginia, and we instantly connected over mutual friends in South Carolina and our passion for writing/blogging/love for deep conversations.  Here’s a little about Heather:   Heather Davis Nelson (M.A.) is a writer, counselor, and speaker who is passionate about connecting the hope of the Redeemer with the broken places of life. She blogs regularly at hidden glory (heatherdavisnelson.com) about faith, creativity, shame, and grace in her life as a counselor/author/pastor’s wife/mom to twin daughters, and you can follow her on Twitter: @heatherd_nelson.  Her first book is Unashamed: Healing our Brokenness…

  “I thought today was going to be relaxing.” Mallory, my almost six year old, said this to me as she watched me scrubbing the three dozen eggs that had been cracked all over the kitchen floor yesterday. Five minutes of being unattended and my youngest two can find the most interesting ways to occupy their time.  Often this means a big mess. Then, later on in the day, while attempting to plunge the clogged downstairs toilet, instead of fixing the problem, the toilet filled up and began spilling water all over the bathroom floor.  It wouldn’t stop.  After completely sopping about 10 towels and trying to scoop out toilet water and…

The first time my girls saw someone with pink hair they couldn’t stop staring.  And it wasn’t very long after that encounter that both of them told me they wanted to dye their hair pink. Um, what? I guess I thought this might happen in the teenage years, but it wasn’t something I had expected from my then three and four year old girls. So, I gave them a vague reply about how maybe one day they could dye their hair pink, but not now.  Thankfully, that ended the conversation.  But I’m fairly confident this, and other questions about fashion and appearance, will arise as the years go by. How am…

This morning started off like most others.  The alarm went off, I hit snooze, and finally rolled out of bed.  I made the coffee and settled into my chair for my morning Bible reading and prayer time. About thirty seconds later Jennavieve stumbled down the steps, at 5:45, and greeted me with a grumpy face and a whiny voice.   Five minutes later, Mallory started coughing and she came down, wheezing and in need of a breathing treatment. And this, only three hours after Bradley left for a two week work assignment out of the country. Great.  Just great. Enter me struggling with patience and gentleness before 6AM. The morning continued to…

My Dearest Daughters, From the moment you were each born Daddy and I looked into your crying faces and thought you were beautiful.  Even with eyes that were barely open, matted down hair and wrinkly-pink skin, we were smitten. We will always find you beautiful. And we will tell you.  We will compliment your appearance.  We will encourage you to look your best.  We will try to help you know how to dress and wear fashionable clothes.  Eventually you’ll be allowed to wear makeup, if you want. As much as we might speak this truth to you, most likely you will not always feel beautiful. You will struggle with comparing yourselves to…

  Once upon a time I went to the Nester’s house and I didn’t get my picture taken with her. What was I thinking? Interestingly enough, the answer might be different than you’d expect: I was thinking about myself. That’s right.  Not in an arrogant way, mind you, but more in an ‘I’m so nervous and embarrassed about saying the wrong thing or being awkward or sounding like an idiot and why would she want to take her picture with little ol’ me?’ kind of way. Back in the spring I signed up for a course that Myquillin was offering called Cozy Minimalist.   As a conclusion to the course,…

I learned a lot from my Granddad Burgess, my Mom’s Dad.  His career was in Education, both as a teacher and then a principal, and he is one of the smartest people I’ve ever known.  Whether it was a scavenger hunt in the yard, a peanut scramble in his garden, word puzzles at the dinner table, or math games with dessert, he was always providing ways for his grandchildren to learn.  He challenged us to memorize one of his favorite poems “If” and when we could recite it to him, we earned $100. He and my Grandmother both have always been interested in my life, never failing to ask questions…