Standing Up My Turkish Date

This is it, the moment I’ve been excited about all day. Dinner is cleared away, homeschooling is in a lull, and my family is occupied. I’ve thought about him, talked about him, and glanced at him throughout the day, but our times were always brief. To set a relaxed tone, I boil water in my…

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When Spring and Life Falter

It’s not that they lied. It’s just that we see the calendar’s blatant announcement of spring and then step curiously outside to shiver in a chilly thirteen degrees. Snow flurries fly diagonally to the right, falling softly for hours. Crystal diadems stack an inch high. An hour later, the snow stops. Blue skies and sunshine…

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“You Only Need to Resist for a Little Bit”

Photo Credit: Slagheap, Creative Commons, cc   “You only need to resist for a little bit,” a friend said recently. “Delay, hold off. Resist the temptation for that instant gratification, and often that’s all it takes. The temptation dissipates.” He’s wise, and there was something battle-scarred and proven in that open declaration. It rang true…

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The Lie that Will Ruin Your Sex Life

Photo: Pedro Ribeiro Simoes, Creative Commons, cc license You’ve crept up to me quiet and said it in hushed voices. In conference hallways, outside workshop doors, or pulling me aside at retreats and MOPS groups, you’ve swiped hair back from your face, and bravely opened up. “I know the stereotype is that men want sex…

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What a Warrior in a Wine Cave Would Tell You

  It was easier last week. Easier when the screen displayed five or six options, to breathe in blithely and say that we were trusting God for our new home. It’s always easier to feel relaxed in trusting God when the cars in the driveway start, when the bank accounts have wider margins between the…

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Making Spring Break Work for Every Family, on Every Budget

Photo courtesy of Hasitha Tudagalle, Creative Commons, cc license From downstairs come the happy hum of voices and the tinkle of Legos being fingered and raked through. My college-age son is home on spring break and my younger two children are thrilled to see him. In between frequent outings with friends, he is nonetheless being…

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Do You Feel It Calling You?

Artist Thomas Rousing, Creative Commons, cc licensing Can you remember it? The first time someone pointed it out to you or the first-time you noticed that feeling in your chest? It might have been the way you caught that football pass while diving into the grass, or after they caught you belting out a song…

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