FamilySlice of Life

Tips for Homeschooling in a Pandemic…and Beyond

First things first... My friend Brenda Yoder graciously invited me to join her in a conversation about motherhood on her podcast Life Beyond the Picket Fence. In the first half, I mention homeschooling. You can listen to that segment here. The second half is now available and our conversation gets a little more in depth as we discuss parenting...

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Slice of LifeStoryWisdomWriting

A Birthday Request and a Gift for You

Birthdays sure have changed. As a little girl, I loved celebrating with my friends and taking treats to school to share with classmates (do kids still do that?). Then, for a very long season, I acted too cool to care and passed it off as just another year. These days, I'm not too proud to celebrate the fact I've made it another year and I'm...

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Faith

4 Steps Toward Shining Light in Dark Places

Through the winter months, I've looked forward to sitting in the early morning dark with my coffee, Bible, a journal and a stack of books I'm reading. This dawn encounter with God has become important to me. I kind of like that it takes place by candlelight, before the day unfolds and presses in, so I linger as long as my calendar and the...

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Let Your Light Shine
FaithSlice of Life

4 Ways Crafting Fuels Our Brain, Boosts Our Mood

It's February, the epicenter of the "holiday drought"  between New Years Day and Easter (Valentine's Day doesn't count). Not much is happening in this season of gray skies, dirty snowbanks and muddy trails. For those of us in the northern Midwest, summer is but wishful whimsy and for many, running off to sunnier climates isn't an option....

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FamilyGood BooksSlice of LifeStory

Life: Family Heritage in a Teacup

I usually drink my black tea in a mug, and always Brit-style with cream and sugar. Today, as I reached for my favorite mug, I changed course and uncovered my clay Brown Betty teapot to brew a full pot of tea. I slid open the china cabinet handed down to me by my stepmom and selected a cup and saucer, cream pitcher and sugar bowl from her Wild...

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Slice of LifeStory

The Greatest Accomplishment in Life

“The greatest accomplishment in life is to be what we are, which is God’s idea of what He wanted us to be when He brought us into being.” Thomas Keating, American Catholic monk   I sat in a room full of strangers last Thursday, eight of us around a table, each taking a minute to speak our names and tell a little about ourselves. They know...

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Detail of a portrait by Claude Monet

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