On today's episode: "I have dreams, sure, but if I’m not careful, the pursuit of something that seems to be a priority will quickly steal my joy and make me a grump. Here’s the thing. This house, this family, these “obligations”, represent the multitude of blessings I prayed for many times. I don’t have to clean. I get to."

On today's episode: "This is where the hope of the Gospel can make way to take a breath. I don’t have any good answers as to why suffering exists in the world, but I feel this incredible sense of simple, yet profound joy spring up when I think about how God loves us so much that He sent His Son to live and die. He made a way for true reconciliation. For us to return back to Him. So we can look beyond all of this to a day when He will wipe away every tear."

On today's episode: "What does it look like when we show up in our lives and try to make the day an opportunity to serve as many people as we can? In my experience, that’s a win every time."

On today's episode: "If my children asked me those questions, I think I might fall apart. Simply, there is nothing that my children could ever do to make me stop loving them. My love for them is not contingent upon them behaving in any which way. It’s a bonus, and the days they do listen to me are really good days, but I don’t ever use the really bad days when they seem set against me from the sunrise, as a measure of how much I love them."

On today's episode: "The biggest lie we tell ourselves is that we’ll remember, but we rarely do. When my boys are grown, I’m nervous that the only thing my three sons will remember is all the yelling and instruction giving. “Mom sure did tell us to put pants on a lot.” Our perception of a situation can oftentimes be shaded by how we felt at the time or what we assumed others felt. So, it’s important to me that I give my kids a good look at the behind the scenes. Maybe then, they’ll also have a fair share of “Oh yeah! I remember that.” Or “I had no idea Mom felt that way.”"

On today's episode: "Soon enough, Mother’s Day arrived and that white-blonde haired boy came stomping into my room, shouting “Happy Mother’s Day!”, and practically bounded onto the bed, gift in hand. The day had come. I carefully unwrapped and uncovered a precious treasure clearly selected by him."

On today's episode: "Last year, he’d literally be pulling his hair out as we sat to complete frustrating homework assignments. The shortest of blonde hairs collecting on the seat and floor beneath as he pulled them out handfuls at a time. The year before that? We could barely sit long enough to do anything. Years before that, when I wanted nothing more than to just sit and read to him, it was impossible for all the screaming and thrashing on his part. I prayed for this. I can’t count the number of silent prayers or all the times I whispered “Jesus” through tears because I couldn’t even think of the words to begin to tell God about it."

On today's episode: "That purpose you’re looking for? That fulfillment? Satisfaction? Happiness? You can keep searching for it in things, relationships, activities, accolades, and achievements, but you will always come back to empty. Nothing in this world will give you what you’re looking for like He can."

On today's episode: "There’s a different heart stance when we simply show up and look for all of the ways we can help and serve. We stop keeping a tally of the things we’ve done for others in hopes they might one day pay us back. We get excited about outdoing one another in honor (Romans 12:10) and we begin to actually become this manifestation of love."

On today's episode: "So I decided to read my Bible. Every day. Old Testament to New Testament. Cover to cover. Chapters at a time. More than a daily verse. I’d put the whole thing in context. Everyday, I committed to reading and through that small act of discipline, everything changed. People keep asking me what happened. Am I a new Believer? Well, honestly, there’s never really been a time that I’ve not known the Lord. He’s always been there. But this change? I committed to learning as much about who He is instead of just learning a bunch of stuff to keep in my head so I could say the right things."