New Year’s Resolutions: Waist or Waste…?

NewYear

As I worked to clean the kitchen, I caught a glimpse of a poster eldest received at a special Girl Scout event a few weeks ago. For the 100th year celebration of Girl Scouts, Cowboy Stadium had hosted a big event, at which the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders were present and signed autographs. So, in our [...]

The Winter Blues Cure for Mom

Oak Trees In the Snow at Dawn

It was winter, a blizzard raged outside, but inside the cozy home despair was raging inside the heart of this young mom.  My son was a newborn and he was crying without ceasing.  My normally sweet spirited three year old was crying and clinging to me throughout the morning.  I reached the end of myself, [...]

How to Help Kids Tackle Challenging Social Skills

It was a family wedding. Everyone was exclaiming over the kids, reluctantly decked out in their ring bearer getup—or happily in a flower girl dress. Though my kids do great with the “please” and “thank you” and “excuse me” and even often “I’m sorry,” there is somehow a consistent manners meltdown when it comes to [...]

An Eggy Mess on Aisle 12

BrokenEggs

It was Christmas Eve and I had to make one last run to the grocery store before I could continue making more delicious things to eat and then regret later.   I had been to the store a few times that week already, so what was one more trip.  Plus, all I needed was a few [...]

My Mom Will Feed You!

ChristmasPresent2

I was reminded yesterday of one of my kids’ favorite lines:  “My mom will feed you!”  All I have to do is think about it, and I smile!  One particular set of memories comes flooding back, though, with this line. Back when my son was in high school, he had a part-time job near the [...]

Christmas is About Jesus

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Christmas is about Jesus. The Son, the only Son of God. The Word in the beginning. Creator of all things. The Lamb, the image of the invisible God. In Him all the fullness of deity dwells. In Him all things hold together. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. In all things made like [...]

Celebrating Extravagantly

Christmas

I’ve spent a lot of time down in my basement recently in an attempt to get rid of stuff.  I have a lot of stuff.  I have a lot of Christmas stuff.  I think I counted about 8 boxes and 3 shelves of Christmas paraphernalia.  That’s nuts!  At first I couldn’t help but think that [...]

Tim Tebow’s Christmas Lesson

Family Traditions - Christmas

I’ve never heard Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow talk about Christmas. But a few weeks back, as I was watching the controversy he sometimes attracts, I realized there was a reason for the controversy that I had never seen before. A reason that provides a powerful lesson for those of us who are trying to [...]

Simple or Sparkle?

Ornament Hanging from Decorated Christmas Tree

It’s a simple ornament made of thin cheap metal and it looks quite out of place on our CHRISTmas tree. But each year I lovingly and safely nestle it amongst its expensive and sparkly peers, without a care as to how unglamorous it appears. Many of our CHRISTmas ornaments have a story and an uncanny [...]

An Empty Nest Christmas

Christmas

“This Christmas is going to be so hard, really hard. I’m already dreading it.” I vividly remember this heartache of a few years ago. It was to be our first Christmas without any kids. Our twin daughters had both married the summer before, and now that all five of our kids were married, it meant we [...]