story-telling

How to Make Your Family More Resilient

In the 48 hours from our pre-wedding dinner with our families to arrival at the honeymoon destination, a series of unfortunate events that in my twenties I would have considered unmitigated disasters, were in my thirties great fodder for future family story-telling. As we went through the list with our kids over a wedding anniversary [...]

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Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

We went to see the kindest, most gentle Santa I’ve ever met yesterday. He looked entirely the part. Every detail of his suit as it should be. A real bushy white beard and bright ruddy complexion. But he also felt the part. His spirit emanated love and all that Father Christmas in his purest form [...]

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Tweens Praying Over the Spaghetti

I’m in the land of tweens and I have no idea what I’m doing. Mean girls are everywhere. There’s lots of signs I’m doing this all wrong (me, not her). But every now and then there is a moment, and it changes everything. You can mentally allow yourself to fast forward to a future global [...]

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Big Important Things I Am Grateful For, Including You

Possibly my very favorite thing about living in America is Thanksgiving. I may never understand sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows, but that aside, it’s a wonderful day. Now I know the politics of pilgrims and Native Americans aren’t straight forward and that part of what this day represents is anchored in history we don’t like [...]

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Of Miracles and Details

I am seeking a long list of miracles. My prayers are filled with pleas for friends and family members with severely ill children, marriages I deeply care about unraveling, rebellious kids making life-damaging decisions, parents aching with worry and grief, loved ones dealing with addiction, lost jobs and struggling businesses, mental illness and an abundance [...]

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When Mama Breaks the Rules

I come from a culture where motherhood is revered, and where the narrative of sacrifice, patience and perfection in one’s mothering is both inspirational and overwhelming. On days like Mother’s Day, the weight of all that mothers are supposed to be can feel like a blessing and a burden. The talks and sermons at church [...]

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Between Two Worlds

I have lived in America for twelve years. My Beloved is American. My children bleed stars and stripes. I love this country. She has been very, very good to me and to my family. But I am a foreigner. The majority of the time, I forget this. And then I hear an accent, a song. [...]

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What Following My Mother Through Graveyards Taught Me

My mother is a genealogist – she researches and writes family histories. I’ve tromped around graveyards since I was small and have learned they are not scary places. I feel peaceful and reverent as I let the markers reveal their stories. They are places of discovery, and yes, places of heartbreak. I have learned important [...]

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Mothering Like Mary

Over the Christmas season our family, as is common in our faith, has read, sang and shared the story of the Nativity on multiple occasions. One such activity led to a short conversation about Mary with my daughters. Both, out of the blue, expressed the desire to have been Jesus’ mother (and not just to act [...]

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