Recently, I was at a special church service where the bishop was presiding when suddenly I looked at my friend with horror and said, “I just remembered right this very moment that we were supposed to dress up!” I had shown up in jeans and a nice shirt, but as I looked around, I […]
Category: Help with Relationships
How I Listen to My Intercessory Twinges and Why You Should Too
Have you ever had a twinge to pray for someone only to find out later that at that very moment they needed your prayers desperately? My friend Alison is always doing this. I will call or text asking for prayers, and she will tell me she’s already been praying. It’s uncanny, but yet so comforting […]
Whatever Happened to Being Who You Are?
Are there times in your life when you feel someone has touched your very soul? Last summer, I was speaking on the phone to the owner of a construction company. As we concluded the business portion of our conversation, he said to me, “I speak to the Lord about your child.” The simple statement caught […]
Do You Need to Be A Better Mom?
Recently, I went on a school field trip with my second grade son’s class. We had so much fun visiting a dinosaur dig, picnicking beside a lake, and feeding the fish at a trout farm. There was no school bus to ride. Instead, the teacher assigned two parents per vehicle to drive a load of […]
Flaming Veils and a Quest for Love
“Be really careful with the candles girls, because those veils will go up in flames before you know it!” The second graders looked back at their religious education teacher with wide eyes. They were practicing for their First Communion Mass, and they’d all walked into the church full of joy and excitement — finally […]
Why I Stopped Trying to Explain Democracy to My Kids
I love picking up the kids from school. There is always so much fresh excitement, and they are so chatty and happy to see me. One day, when my son Cooper was in morning preschool, I picked him up around noon, and we happily headed home to have lunch together. Stopping at the 4-way stop sign, I counted […]
I’m Sorry I Spilled My Pepsi in Your Mouth
Oh my goodness, you guys, so I have to tell you this story. Last month when we went to Omaha for Cooper’s cancer treatment, we decided to make a weekend out of it. So the day after treatment, we took the kids to the Henry Doorly Zoo. It’s an awesome place, and we’ve visited […]
Confessions of a Spiritually Sick Person
Last month I yelled at a lady. I didn’t mean to, but I was so frustrated! We had arranged our entire weekend so we could get back for an appointment. When we walked in the door, the secretary said, “Um, we don’t have you down for today.” What?! And on top of that, they didn’t […]
How to Let Jesus into Your Sadness
Sometimes the hard hits me. Most of the time I’m okay. I think, “We can get through this.” And I pray through the tough parts. But sometimes the hard hits me. I start thinking about that baby we were trying to have when Cooper was diagnosed or the house we were dreaming of building. […]
In This World You Will Have Trouble
Where do you turn when you start to question the truths of your faith? One morning my 8-year-old son turned to me. With his toothbrush in hand, he said, “Mom, I don’t think God is really with us all the time. I think maybe He just kinda watches over us from heaven, because I don’t […]