Life with Sally

We can all move forward from where we are--with great hope, because of Him. So, I give you a part of my heart and how I have kept from staying in the mire of guilt and disappointment with myself over the years.

When a child learns to wait on his mama and on circumstances, he is practicing learning to wait on God--and that is just the person God uses--the one who looks to God and waits expectantly on Him.

We no longer live for ourselves, but for the glory of Jesus, who bought us with a price, that we might live for Him every moment, every day. I am "the mama," the one who helps right the wrongs, listens to hearts, prays, laughs, gives all of myself, even on a "stormy day" or "stormy season," because it is part of my learned role--to care for those in my charge as Jesus did--even in the midst of the...

And then it dawned on me as. I was thinking about this. I would love to share in your disappointments. Tell me (in a comment, on Facebook, on Instagram messages) about what disappointment you have had this month. What was cancelled, how are your children disappointed, how have you born the loneliness.

All of the little and big ways you are giving of yourself during this time are gifts of worship of loving God, by being His hands, His words, His time, His love to those around you. Sarah wrote a poem about love given in her own life to her sweet ones, as a sacrifice of her love to them. I know it will touch you as it did me. And of course, we recorded a podcast together I hope you will enjoy.

Integrity comes from years of practicing living with godly character. Integrity is a lifelong fruit of determining to live faithfully. Christ is the model for what it looks like to have perfect integrity. But integrity brings the reward of living well into your life and watching God faithfully produce eternal fruit through the pages of your story.

Just when all appears dead and there are no signs of life in the world, daffodils pop up, as if out of nowhere, to proclaim there just may be surprise and life ahead.

There is no one right way to live life in a home. No one size of routine or rules or order fits all. Homes with young children will be quite different from a single-adult home. Elderly adults will order their lives by different life rituals than will single adults, young marrieds, or university students. But the more carefully we plan our days, the better our homes will provide us with freedom and...

Today, Lanier and I talked about the process of living by faith in times of chaos. Moving to a place of restoring is a walk of perseverance and we have both learned this through many seasons of our lives. Chaos often invades our lives when least expect it. The Covid Virus has turned all of our worlds upside down. Yet, having lived through many a heart-breaking disappointment or even just a cancell...

In this episode, Sally and  Kristen  discuss how to impart a love of community and friendship to our children. They encourage moms to model how to serve in friendship themselves, as the first model their families will see, and explain what it looks like to serve in friendship through  trust, loyalty, empathy and encouragement.  They share how to become an invitation to others in everyday life, and...

Nathan has always been larger than life and had on his heart the desire to be a hero. We saw Nathan's spirit early on and even while struggling with learning disabilities and an out-of-the-box personality we encouraged Nathan into the story God had for him to tell. We wanted to instill in each of our children the the values of a loving and good God and the belief that they had a work on the world...

One of the most profoundly important gifts we can give to our children is a life of faith, a life of believing God in the small moments of life, the large challenges, a life given to believing in His reality. Without faith, we cannot please God. No works, performance, giving will cover over a lack of faith and faith living.

Joy is one of my favorite people in the world. Today, we took time to record many of the rhythms, food, practices that we have both been practicing in our home to make it through these challenging days. I hope you will love it as much as Joy and I enjoyed being together across the miles in a FaceTime recording. You can find all things Joy @ Joyclarkson.com and you would be so entertained and inspi...

In the busyness of our activity-oriented world, it is tempting for us to measure the value of lives by accomplishment or position. Yet, in this time of the covid virus, we are all re-evaluating our priorities. As I look back on the years with my precious children, I found myself seeking to understand how important it was to lay heart foundations, an imagination for living for God, an understanding...

Perspective is something I have had to learn about the last many years of my life. In the workaday world, busyness can take over and often I have the illusion that I can control my life. The Corona Virus has taken all of us by surprise and has shaken up our expectations of life. Finances are at stake for many of us, illness, disappointment, confusion. But, I have learned that my God is stable, sec...

On my podcast today, my friends and I came up with countless ideas of the ways we have created and nurtured life-giving memories with our own. I hope our ideas will inspire you.

We wanted to share with all of you what we filled our hearts and minds this weekend and to give some history and encouragement about how such deep friendships are developed over time. Actually, we talked about lots of important things on the podcast and I hope you will find life and encouragement from our time together that might be a light in the midst of a crazy week.

Fear, weariness, concern, cynicism, frustration seems to define the mood and emotions of many today. We hear of war and violence, corona virus, financial crisis, devastating storms and tornadoes, moral collapse amongst youth, a loss of faith for many young adults, and we are tempted to tremble in our boots, or to be filled with despair. Yet, scripture speaks to us over and over again about God's d...

Young children are watching, imitating, learning from us every moment of their early life. The attitude we have when we change diapers, the way we talk to our friends, neighbors, husbands, becomes their models for how to speak to others, whether or not we value other human beings.

Motherhood was designed by God to be a role of honor, sacred, to help keep His purposes alive in the world. We must remember that to be a mother who serves God is not simply a choice but a mandate.

There are times that we all just have to take a break! On our sober club nights, we always do something that we want to do that is just for us--sometimes we even ask friends to join us--go to dinner, a movie, a walk in the mountains, take a drive to see the city lights--music blaring, windows down--just cruising and trying to relax. We do something different--go away from the stress, from the kids...

Psalm 4:3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself; The Lord hears when I call to Him.

"A woman who reads is a woman who knows she must act: in courage, in creativity, in kindness, and often in defiance of the darkness around her. She understands that life itself is a story and that she has the power to shape her corner of the drama."  ―  Sarah Clarkson,  Book Girl: A Journey Through the Treasures and Transforming Power of a Reading Life

Never under-estimate the power of kindness to help someone make it through. A vase of flowers, an email, a cup of tea or coffee, a candle, a short visit, a cleaned house, all of these can shift the mood and place of emotional havoc to one of "I think I can make it." I hope you enjoy our chat today and prepare a place and a time of kindness for yourself or someone you love. You can find my wonderfu...

Kristen was on her way for a weekend trip with her husband, but we raced to Joy's apartment and quickly recorded some thoughts we had all been sharing. Her desire to help women live a healthy life-style, to live strong is contagious. She is in the process of putting together all sorts of inspiration that I know will encourage you, so be sure to follow her at for more to come. https://www.emmerande...