Delighted Motherhood

Advent, which officially begins this Sunday, December 3rd  is a tradition that has been celebrated by Christians since the 5th century. Advent, understood rightly, is a time for Christians to look back at God’s work in bringing the infant Savior into the world and look forward to when Christ will return as the glorious King to judge the living and dead and make all things new, right, and beautiful...

The Lord chose to reveal himself to us through a story --a story that actively shapes us the more we study and understand it.  But it's not only the gospel narratives that we see in scripture that can shape us --all stories have a profound ability to cast us in their image.  The question is, what kind of stories are we listening to? As moms, why should we be particularly thoughtful about the...

November is a time when many of us begin thinking more about service and giving. Our mailboxes begin to fill up with donation requests and full color gift catalogues and we often begin thinking about who we can bless others during the holiday season. To that end, how can we invite our kids into the process of giving and serving? In what ways might we provide our kids opportunities to practice serv...

Motherhood to little kids can be mentally and physically draining and sometimes it can feel like our husbands are the last people we feel like investing in. Or worse yet, we can use them as an outlet for our frustration.  But our words matter and they don’t just matter to our husbands. The words we speak to our husband will directly impact our kids. As counterintuitive as it may seem, if we want o...

October's Party by George Cooper describes a party, thrown by October herself, that everybody comes to and stays long after the party has officially ended. October is a time for parties --but the very best kind of parties are those that focus specifically on the people we love most, our own dear families. As the days get shorter and the nights get colder, many of us will start to gravitate in...

If you are like me, you grew during the Leadership Craze. I went to half a dozen “leadership” camps during high school and when I was applying to college it seemed that every university  was “training tomorrow's leaders.”  Even at the time, this seemed like a bit much. I mean, we can't all be president.  Plus, this self-absorbed leadership didn't seem all that biblical (not that the...

As a whole, we are a people obsessed with the Fall. We love all things pumpkins, spice and everything in between and sometimes it can seem silly. But is our wonder at the changing seasons silly? Or is it actually a gift from God? What eternal lessons might the Lord teach us through marveling in azure skies, observing brisk windy days, or baking brightly colored squash? Daniel 2:21 says: “He change...

The effects of PMS impact almost all of us. The National Institutes of Health report that 90% of women of reproductive age experience several premenstrual symptoms varying from mild to severe and 20-40 percent experience Premenstrual syndrome (PMS scientifically). These monthly hormonal changes can manifest in a variety of symptoms from mood shifts, headaches, body pains, depression, anxiety, bloa...

 As mothers, all day long we are surrounded by needy people and the majority of us get to the end of the day and feel exhausted. If you are a young mom like me, right now your primary calling is inside your home –to care for and nurture these adorable and exhausting small humans.  But, there are also lots of needy people outside of our homes. And our Savior, the one who captivates our hearts and o...

What does a daily family worship practice look like? Why is it important to gather together as a family daily? How can the consistency of time together in the word, prayer, and song impact our marriages? What does commitment to family worship communicate to us, to our kids, to our church family, and to the wider community?  Why is it important for fathers to lead? How can wives come alongside thei...

One in six women faces the heartache of infertility –and almost everyone is affected by infertility to some degree. Where can women turn for comfort while grieving their dreams and grappling with unfulfilled longing? And for those who aren’t battling infertility, how can we come alongside those who are?  Jenn Hesse and Kelley Ramsey, authors of Waiting in Hope, 31 Reflections for Walking with God...

How is our wonder at the natural world connected to our awe of the creator?  How can spending time outdoors strengthen the faith of our families? How can experiences in nature show our kids absolute truths in a society prone to relativism? How should we think biblically about climate change? What can we learn from invasive species? How do we manage the dirtiness of the outdoors? Listen in for a de...

Deep in our gut, we all want to be friends with our neighbors. We want to know and be known –to live in spaces that feel safe and welcoming. We want to be loved, served, and cared for and we want to love, serve and care for others. But society in the West has become deeply fragmented.  A new report by Harvard University researchers finds that 36 percent of Americans are experiencing “serious lonel...

Happy first official, unofficial day of summer!  For many of us, summertime is a blissful welcome. Schedules are relaxed, sports are mostly over and there’s a lot more free time. But sometimes that lack of structure can feel really daunting! “What exactly am I supposed to do these wild little humans?” But either way, none of us want to get to the end of August and feel like we just survived. We wa...

Every honest mom will tell you that she has battled anxiety related to motherhood. Whether it's anxiety over getting pregnant, staying pregnant, newborn challenges, struggles to learn to read, mean kids on the playground, health concerns, behavioral concerns, etc –the triggers for anxiety in motherhood are too numerous to number. But in light of a God who invites us to call Him Father, how sh...

Summer is coming and for many of us, this means air travel. Traveling with kids can be stressful and sometimes the idea of canceled flights can be enough to make my skin crawl. But there are some strategies we can employ for success. Today we are going to be talking with Caroline Craddock –a homeschool hybrid mom to four who has traveled to 27 countries with her kids. She'll share from her ex...

Spring is officially here which means it's planting time! And there are few things kids seem to enjoy more than getting completely and totally dirty. Listen in for a sweet conversation with Yetta Reid about the joy of gardening with little ones and cultivating a love of the Creator in the process. Books listed: Floret Farm’s A Year in Flowers: Designing Gorgeous Arrangements for Every Season...

In my motherhood journey, I have had some incredible relationships with other Christian sisters that have been lifegiving, transformative, and delightful.  Christians are to be marked by these kinds of intimate, tender, loving relationships. And in fact, our love for one another in a very real sense is how we express love for God. (Matthew 25:40) But also, Christians can be offensive, frustrating,...

Happy Holy Week 2023!   Holy Week, in the Christian church, is the week between Palm Sunday, when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, and Resurrection Sunday or Easter. It’s a time that has been observed by Christians across the world for centuries. In the Greek and Roman liturgical books, it is called the Great Week because great deeds were done by God during this week. Listen in for dozens o...

For me, having a baby has never been a magical glowing experience. The days and weeks following delivery I’m exhausted and elated at the same time. I’m over the moon in love with my babies, but I feel like a choo-choo train has just come out of my body and I seem near the point of tears day and night.  Postpartum is objectively very difficult.   How do we think Biblically about seasons of limitedn...

St. Patrick's Day is Friday, March 17th, 2023.  But what is the holiday anyway? Is it just a random day in March to wear green? Who was “Saint Patrick”? How can his story encourage us as moms? What's with the snakes?  Listen in for a conversation with Joanna Walters, mom to five and blogger, about St. Patrick's Day. We'll discuss the man St. Patrick, his mom, myths surrounding...

Before I had kids, movement, and exercise was a huge part of my life and a way that God blessed me physically, mentally, and emotionally. Would that all go away after having kids?  As any mom will tell you, life changes a lot after having children. And not everyone is even still physically capable of exercise after having children or due to another injury. But for me, although fitness looks very d...

Music has the sweetest ability to bring life, peace, and joy to cranky, grumbly moments. Sometimes I’ll feel like I can’t sit down to play piano, or I can’t sing a hymn with the kids because there’s so much pandemonium. And although our sinful attitudes don’t evaporate when we start engaging in music –song has a very calming effect on me and on my kids.  The word sing appears in the Bible over 400...

When life is busy Bible study is often the first thing to go. But it is precisely when we feel out of control that we need to be reminded that God is in control.  I need to remember that I am a child of God and a mother called to holiness. I am loved, provided for, and called by the Ancient of Days.   The Lord seems to expect that we are going to need to be reminded daily of these truths and so He...

We all know in our gut that family meals are important. Numerous studies have linked family meals with all sorts of positive outcomes for children, from better academics to general success. My favorite statistic comes from Don Everts and the Barna Group in their study of Christian households that found that families who were considered “spiritually vibrant” were homes that regularly had loud table...