The story of how The Mother Letters came about is best told by Amber and Seth Haines themselves. You can read Seth's explanation if you click on the "Look Inside" option over at the Amazon listing. Once the "Look Inside" window opens, scroll slowly past the Table of Contents to the Preface, where Seth tells how he curated letters from Amber's friends and … [Read more...]
Book Response – Cracking Up: A Postpartum Faith Crisis
As an editor and writing coach, I quite happily end up with a lot of books. I'm going to introduce you to some of them. These won't exactly be reviews, however. I'd say these posts will read more like a response to each book. Today, I'm offering my personal response to Cracking Up: A Postpartum Faith Crisis by Kimberlee Conway Ireton. __________________________ One … [Read more...]
A Thousand Goodbyes: Watching My Baby Grow Up So Fast
Watching my baby grow up so fast, I face a thousand goodbyes. Every day, my baby leaves behind a trail of change. Those changes morph into memories that I scramble to save and savor. I light candles on birthday cakes and snap pictures, laughing at my child's delight—all the while swallowing back a lump in my throat forming at the thought of the thousand little … [Read more...]
Curiosity Journal: November 9, 2011
Each Wednesday I’m recording a Curiosity Journal to recap the past week. Tag words are: reading, playing, learning, reacting and writing. ::: Some of you have mentioned that you’re keeping a Curiosity Journal, as well. Leave your link in the comments so that we can visit and enjoy your weekly review. Reading I started up Sophie's World again, which I had abandoned … [Read more...]
A Better Way
My son offered to sweep the kitchen floor. Though tall enough to hold a full-sized broom normally, he instead gripped it as if he were planning to whack a mouse and then slid the bristles across the vinyl tiles, managing to collect a few dog hairs and bread crumbs with each slow, inefficient motion. While wiping the counters, I watched him, debating whether or not to … [Read more...]
Tuning In and Out
Yesterday at High Calling Blogs, Michelle of Graceful posted a story about how she was caught fake-listening to her son. As the content editor for this article, I worked with Michelle on the piece and enjoyed a sneak preview. Her topic has caused me to monitor my listening skills (or lack thereof) for a few days now.I've also been particularly honest and respectful in … [Read more...]
When "Watch Me, Mama" Gives Way to Individuation
My 14-year-old daughter had a friend over to spend the night last weekend. Due to scheduling conflicts, the girl, a kindred spirit, is rarely available to get together, so it was a treat to have her with us. She came to the soccer game, excitedly cheering for the team.In an extraordinary and unexpected turn of events, my daughter, who usually plays defense, scored a goal! … [Read more...]
Learning to Pray Like a Child
As steam wafted from the bowl of macaroni and cheese, our son would pray.Quite young at the time, maybe four or five, he always requested to pray at mealtime.These prayers lasted a while. Rather than cut him short, I learned to bring lids to the table, cover the food, bow my head, and give him all the time he needed, because who wants to stop an outpouring of … [Read more...]
Time for Yes
Throughout spring, my kids would come to me with requests to join their friends on outings such as sleepovers, birthday parties, and a production of “The Three Musketeers,” but I had to say no to almost everything. Something was already scheduled 97 percent of the time. With spring winding down, however, our schedule is opening up. The kids and I recently reviewed the … [Read more...]
Ten Random Things I Haven't Mentioned
Sometimes my posts don't reflect my daily life.It's not that I'm hiding anything; it's just that I sometimes don't take time to write about what's happening while it's happening. Instead, I might write about something I've been thinking about or something I've learned. … [Read more...]
Boy Meets Bag
A couple of years ago the kids and I were looking through the purses and bags at Goodwill, and our son announced that he, too, wanted a purse. I suppose he would have been about six years old at the time.A bag of his own could contain his wallet, ChapStick, a notepad and pen, his Nintendo DS—such a practical solution for easy transport! … [Read more...]
Food on Fridays: Mother's Day Make-Ahead Breakfast Sausage Casserole
(smaller button below)Here at the Food on Fridays carnival, any post remotely related to food is welcome—it doesn’t have to be a recipe. If you just want to make up a recipe for dog food (I did that when I was about six years old), that’ll do just fine. … [Read more...]
Celebrating My Writer-Mom
My mom worked as the editor of our local newspaper, covering news all over the county. If a reporter couldn't make it to an event, Mom would grab her camera, reporter's pad, and pen—and quite often her daughter—to capture the news herself. This meant that whether I wanted to or not, I visited sporting events, live nativity scenes, church bazaars, festivals, fairs, horse … [Read more...]
Imperfect Conditions
"If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done." (Ecclesiastes 11:4, New Living Translation) If I waited for the perfect conditions to develop my writing life, I'd still be waiting. Back in the early 1990s, I did manage to explore writing as my work, as a way of life. I wrote and submitted a few magazine articles and met with … [Read more...]
Disney Survivor
We waited 16 years to take the plunge.We put it off mostly because it's the opposite of everything I would ask for in a vacation destination. And, to be honest, I wasn't sure this slow-craving, introvertive mom could survive it. But it occurred to us one cold winter evening that we only have a few more trips with our almost-16-year-old daughter before she heads off to … [Read more...]
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