Purposeful Living
Creative ideas for enjoying your family in all seasons of the year, including spending time in nature, creative ways to celebrate holidays, and ways to teach your children the art of hospitality.
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How God Uses Brokenness in Your Life to Touch Others
The sun rises salmon over a row of spindly pines, and I stare out the window with an ache in my abdomen. We’ve walked through our fair share of challenges throughout the past months, and I feel a little too weak – a little too broken – to do anything other than sit in this silence and ponder it all. I’m thinking about how God uses brokenness to shape us to the image of Christ when a message appears on my phone. A new friend who lives on the other side of town wants to get together for coffee. She tells me she doesn’t know much about God and that…
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How to be Brave when God Calls You to Follow
Some conversations remain imprinted on our minds in the precise location where they took place. Hard conversations with friends. Phone calls that change everything in the blink of an eye. Faith-filled conversations that shift paradigms in our minds and call us to learn how to be brave in new ways. As last summer drew to a humid close, I remember precisely where we were walking when a close friend asked how I felt about an impending season of immense difficulty. Our family was on the brink of change, and it wasn’t going to be change that came softly and easily. It was a change that was going to require me to…
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How to Stay Connected to God When Life Is Full
The house quiets as the school bus rolls away, and I take a moment to pause and review the past few months. I try to do this a few times each year as a way of assessing my rhythms. It’s my way of stepping back to consider how to stay connected to God when life is full. Golden beams of sunlight pierce the windowpane, and I consider the ways God has been moving in my life. I see the calling to be more disciplined in my thought life. I’ve been learning to see what’s right and stop focusing on what’s wrong in my days. I’ve been learning to be more…
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How to Pray Powerful Prayers for Your Inner Circle
I watch our baby boy sleep on the other side of the room while rain streams down the sliding glass door. His eyelids flutter as he dreams, and I ask God to lead me as I aim to pray powerful prayers for this little one’s life. I’ve been juggling lately. I’ve been juggling my writing career, my friendships, my relationship with God, my family, and more. We each have our own kinds of juggling. We juggle careers, relationships, and self-care. Our quiet and hidden work often feels more humble than our public service. Meanwhile, the hidden service is often the most important work. And a vital part of this hidden…
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Start Praying for Your Children With This Life-Changing Prayer
The new school year always prompts me to be more intentional about praying for my kids as I send them into the world. If you can relate—if you want to be more consistent when it comes to praying for your children—this is for you today. I’ve been praying for my little ones for over a decade now. Over the years, I’ve discovered one powerful prayer that has changed the way I parent and the way I encourage my kids. Start Praying for Your Children Like This . . . Before I share the prayer I pray for my kids every single day, let me invite you into the evening God…
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4 Ways to Have More Purpose and Passion in Life
I stroll down our country road as ribbons of fading daylight twirl through a canopy of maples. These lingering daylight hours offer ample time to step away and reflect on how to cultivate purpose and passion in life. Life has been full and blessed lately. Summer feels like the season of abundance. The house is filled with the noise of children. Beagles howl in the backyard. We are surrounded by blessings. These days with the kids also offer very little downtime. If I’m not preparing a meal for someone, I’m cleaning up or scooping food into a little mouth. If I’m not wiping sticky fingers, I’m cleaning apple juice off…
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When You’re Struggling to Cherish Life
Last week, a friend asked what life’s like with three kids. I told her I hadn’t slept more than one consecutive hour since the newest addition to our family arrived on the scene. I was honest about the chaos and the constantness of this lovely little life we’ve created for ourselves. She smiled and said something about how I should cherish life in this season. She had good intentions. It just felt like she wasn’t hearing me. A day later, standing by the sliding glass door as the lemon-hued petals flutter to the deck, all I can see is a mess that will need to be swept from the muddy…
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7 Replenishing Bible Verses for Tired Parents
Ribbons of sunlight dance through the treetops and a dozen shades of green mingle with the dawn. I gaze out the window with a newborn in my arms. He sleeps soundly for the first time in hours, and I open my Bible in search of encouraging Bible verses for tired parents. 7 Bible Verses for Tired Parents Our third child burst into our lives this week, and it feels like we just stepped from one season to another. The change of trajectory has been stark, to say the least. We have leaped into new routines with a new normal that is full and blessed. Nevertheless, we are tired. As I…
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Welcome Aiden James Pardoe!
We’re thrilled to welcome little Aiden James to our family! Thank you to everyone who prayed us through this very long journey that has carried us to the sweetest kind of blessing!
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3 Ways to Let Go of Regret and Overcome Guilt
Thelma and I became friends when she was 94. I showed up at the nursing home one December evening with framed photos of angels and gave them to the elderly residents for Christmas. It was a quiet act of kindness, and I had no way of knowing that it would lead me to one day learn how to let go of regret in the face of heartache. Thelma’s mind was sharp, and she was dressed like she was going to church the first night we met. Her white hair was perfectly styled, her lipstick was bursting with color against her pale skin, and she wore nylons, heels, a skirt, and…
