Twirling in a sunny square of  morning light with a black kitty in her arms, my little girl looks up at her daddy with a smile.  “Daddy, did you know that Nomi shines in the light?” I smile and vow to see more myself this day:  New month, with spring three short weeks away....
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Today I’m happy to be giving away a new CD by Josh Wilson called See You. I really enjoyed hearing him in concert with Matthew West earlier this week and I wanted to pass on the fun in CD form. I’ll be choosing the winner Monday.  You can enter the drawing by telling me...
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Kelli from Generation Cedar wrote about gratitude no matter what, and inspired me to work on that virtue myself, and with my children.  One great way to be more grateful for what we have is to notice what others don’t have. I’ve read enough from my friend Carrien to know she is my soul...
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To-Do list scrawled in a spiral notebook on a Sunday night, long enough to wrap around the block.  Monday, it says.  Looking with the eye of reality, I add a dash, and then the word Wednesday.  Monday-Wednesday.   It is grace I am giving myself, permission to not complete the whole kaboodle in a day....
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This evening I was feeling out of sorts for a huge variety of reasons. My sister just left for Ethiopia. Friends of ours are moving away on Tuesday. My summer seems to be slipping away at shocking speed. My hubby and I have barely had a minute to look each other in the eye...
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For Today… Outside my window… a wild and lively assortment of perennial flowers I am thinking… that parenting older kids takes much more wisdom than parenting babies I am watching… kids using pattern blocks to construct forts and then stage mock wars I am thankful for… my husband’s job, and the many other ways...
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For years my husband had Mondays off, which made Mondays seem less Monday-ish to me.   We could ease back into the school week with him nearby to flip pancakes, check math, or bring the 4 year old to ‘work’ outside with him while I read with older kids.  Recently John started working Mondays, and...
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(Breaking news: Look what’s IN STOCK on amazon.com!!) ———– My youngest daughter turned 4 in November. She’s a sweet little girl, but she isn’t above using her status as ‘baby’ (and my related softheartedness towards her) to conveniently ‘forget’ work, or to do small disobedient things. I’ve had the nagging realization for awhile that...
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Public service announcement:  Waking up at 4:48 AM and calculating that you have approximate 3 more 45-minute sleep cycles to sleep is a less effective way to ensure wake up than, say, setting an alarm clock. A doorbell ringing, on the other hand, is a particularly galvanizing wake up call.    If you take too...
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For years our family has done small bits of Bible memory on a sporadic basis.   But last summer when a pastor visited our church and spoke ALL of Ephesians from memory, we decided to raise the bar. We began with Ephesians 6:10-20.  I printed out the words on cards for each person and laminated...
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