O Lord, No day of my life has passed that has not proved me guilty in thy sight. Prayers have been uttered from a prayerless heart; Praise has been often praiseless sound; My best services are filthy rags. Blessed Jesus, let me find a covert in thy appeasing wounds. Though my sins rise to heaven thy merits soar above them; Though unrighteousness weighs me down to hell, thy righteousness exalts me to thy throne. All things in me call for my rejection, All things in thee plead my acceptance. I appeal from the throne of perfect justice to thy throne of boundless grace. Grant me to hear thy voice assuring…

It happened again yesterday.  I was calmly getting dinner ready, excited because I was ahead of schedule and our meal would be prepared before lunchtime.  The two little ones were playing happily and all was well with the world. C R A S H. I turned my head and there sat Mason staring blankly at me from the living room recliner with my favorite (new) lamp lying broken on the hearth next to him.   Instantly I began to sob.  And as I carefully picked up the pieces of my precious lamp, my thoughts were all over the place. Why do kids have to do things like that?  Why do they keep…

When I was a little girl I had all kinds of dreams.  I would watch ice skaters on TV and hope that one day I’d be in the Olympics.  I’d sit through old musicals like The Sound of Music and South Pacific and hope to be a big name on Broadway.  Never mind the fact that I couldn’t dance–I wanted to live out a beautiful story on stage where I could break into song at any moment because I was supposed to, not because I was weird.  And I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it crossed my mind to meet a real-life Prince and become part of a royal family somewhere.…

Today I’m excited to introduce to you my sister, Sherri.  She gave birth to her first child, a daughter, just a little over four months ago.  Madeleine Ruth is just the sweetest baby and although I’ve only been able to spend time with her on one occasion so far, I love her and I love to watch my sister and brother-in-law interact with their little girl! I asked Sherri to write some lessons that she would want to teach her daughter and I love the list she compiled.  You can read more about Sherri’s life as a wife and Mom (insert:  fantastic recipes, book recommendations, home projects, just to name…

  “Mommy, who do you love more?” Isabella, my almost seven year old hesitantly asked me this question a couple months ago.  I was pretty sure she meant which of my children did I love more, so I probed for more information.   Sure enough, she was feeling a little bit insecure and wondering how it would be possible for me to love each of my children equally. The interesting part about this was that in our conversation she brought up the Bible. “But Mommy, there are people in the Bible who loved some of their children more than others.” “Oh, you mean like the way Jacob loved Joseph?”, I…

  Dear Girls, I cannot express to you how deeply precious God’s Word is to me and how much I want this for each of you.  I long for you to know God, believe in Him, love Him, obey Him and follow Him no matter what. So, I will do my best to teach you and guide you and point you to Him.  We will probably require you to read your Bible and memorize Scripture.  As your parents, that’s our job.  Sometimes you won’t want to; that’s okay. But, I will tell you that if you keep reading and opening yourself up to what God’s Word has to say, it will become a delight to your…

  Life will not happen in the ways that we always dream.  Suffering will come in various forms and when it does we have a choice. We can despair, even turn away from what we know to be true of God. Or, we can cling to God and His Word, believing He is who He says, He does what He says He will do, and He will forever be to us a shield and the giver of life. Oh, how I pray that my girls will always rest in Jesus alone.  And, as difficult as it is to pray, may God use whatever it might take to push them to…

Saturdays during this series are going to be devoted to some practical life skills that I want my daughters to know.  Up first, one of my loves:  cooking, baking and all things culinary. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ My Mom did a great job of incorporating me into her kitchen tasks.  No, I didn’t help with everything and she never forced me to help out.  But if I expressed interest in baking cookies, I was given a spot at the kitchen counter and offered an apron and spoon to lend a helping hand. We ate pretty basic foods growing up:  chicken breasts or ground beef were incorporated into most of our dinner meals; sandwiches…