I love Easter Eggs. I love the pretty colors, the happy messes, even the smell of vinegar from the dye. That’s probably an indication of how much I love Easter, because usually I hate the smell of vinegar. And I don’t normally get excited when my kids ask to make anything messy at the kitchen table. (True confession.) Easter is my favorite holiday. Really, I love all holidays, but Easter is the best. And not just because of deviled eggs. (Odd that we celebrate the day of heaven’s redemption with a snack named after the devil, but that’s a question for another day.) I love Easter for what it means…. Keep Reading
I Wasn’t Ready
“Wait! Can we try that again? I wasn’t ready.” These are the words I want engraved on my tombstone someday. I feel like they sum up my life more accurately, if less sentimentally, than “Loving wife and mother.” I’ve just returned home from dropping my oldest off at her first day of middle school, so hopefully the need for a tombstone is a long way off, but it seems as good a time as any to reflect back on my life thus far. My daughter is definitely ready for middle school. She’s spent the last few days organizing school supplies, filling her binder, and planning her first-day outfit and hairstyle…. Keep Reading
Surviving Creativity – Overcoming Doubt
Doubt is the enemy of creativity. Every new idea brings hard on its heels the haunting thought that it can’t really work after all. “I don’t know if this idea will matter to anyone.” “Maybe I can’t actually pull it off.” “Someone else more talented/experienced than me has probably already done this.” Maybe some people don’t suffer from doubt and self-questioning, but I believe that most creative people do. (Can I get an amen?) Somehow, doubt is as much a part of the creative process as the very seed of the idea itself. No series on creativity would be complete without dealing with the challenge of doubt. In fact, it’s such a… Keep Reading
Why I Want My Children to Fail…Sometimes
No one likes to fail. I would bet it ranks pretty high on the list of people’s worst fears in life. I know it’s one of mine. I hate to go out on that limb, try something new, and possibly not succeed at it. Which is why I have a hard time trying new things, especially in front of people. I don’t want that for my kids, and I have a feeling that the only way to help them get over that fear of failure is to let them experience it a few times, completely fall on their faces, and then pick up and keep going. Everything inside me screams… Keep Reading
You Can Make a Difference with Give Her Life
I’m so honored and excited to welcome a special guest today, who is working on a worldwide problem that is near and dear to my own heart. When I was a child, we lived in China for a year. Even at the age of 9, I could see how differently girls and boys were treated and was heartbroken to learn that many baby girls were never given a chance at life, based solely on their gender. Now that I have two daughters of my own, my heart breaks for those girls in a whole new way. However, the world is starting to take notice, through the work of people like… Keep Reading
Goodbye Gigi
…or The Day I had a Guinea Pig in my Freezer. This morning, while getting the kids ready for school, I noticed our guinea pig, Gigi, was having a rather long nap. She’s quite a perky little thing, always one to jump up and sniff at the slightest suggestion of a person casually strolling by her cage. She knows that people, especially the small female ones, often bring little tidbits of carrots and spinach, and on a really good day…cilantro. If you don’t stop to give her attention, she squeaks and oinks at you like a tiny, and very loud, piggy. (I can only assume that’s where the name guinea… Keep Reading
A Christmas Wish
As I prepare to take a few days off from the computer and spend time with my family, I just wanted to wish all my friends, family, and readers a blessed and very Merry Christmas! You know me though, and therefore know I’m a girl of many words, so I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to share some words with you that recently touched my heart. I saw this poem by Howard Thurman printed in the program of a musical event I attended at my parents church, and was really struck by these words. They remind me of the verse in the Bible where Jesus says, “For I was hungry and… Keep Reading
Create Your Own Authentic Success
Let me introduce you to my own personal life coach. What’s a life coach, you ask? A life coach is someone who helps you get your life together, not by telling you what to do, but by guiding you through an individualized process to discover for yourself what you should be doing next in life, business, relationships, or all of the above. In my case my life coach’s name is Anita Lee, but I call her mom. That’s not a term of endearment by the way, just her other title. It’s not easy growing up with a coach. It’s hard to get anything by her, and it’s really hard to… Keep Reading
Diet: The Other “D” Word
“Mom, are you going to go on a diet anytime soon?” Yesterday I was standing in the kitchen with my two daughters, making a snack, when my 7-year-old uttered these words. I immediately looked down at my thighs. Does she know something I don’t? Is she trying to break the news to me, not so gently? Plenty of answers, from smart retorts to preachy tirades on self-image came to mind, but I decided instead to just ask a question. I fought back a cascade of emotional self-doubt and condemnation, and asked in as neutral a tone as I could muster, “Why, honey?” (Because we all know that when you ask… Keep Reading
Stay Nine-and-a-Half Forever
“I wish I could stay nine-and-a-half forever.” This was the reply from my daughter the other day when I remarked (yet again) on how tall she’s getting. My immediate thought was, ‘Nine-and-a-half? Slow down, you just turned nine!’ Then I realized she was right. Her ninth birthday was already six months ago. Where did half a year go? In another two weeks she’ll be starting fourth grade. In another nine years she’ll be starting college. Life started flashing before my eyes. Not my life…hers. Instead of looking backwards, I got a quick and terrifying glimpse forwards. Things we haven’t even begun to think about started crowding my mind: pimples…bras…(gasp!) boys. Middle school,… Keep Reading