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The Hidden Trap of Motherhood (and More)
Each Friday I post at Not Alone Mom with Kristin Nelson as part of her ministry team. This week’s post is a personal one I processed as a woman with insecurities - The Hidden Trap of Motherhood....
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God Made a Farmer
I married a farmer. Though I’m a mental health professional, I’ve learned answers to life’s problems can be solved in lessons of farm life. On Superbowl Sunday, a commercial aired titled “God Made a...
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Grace
I’m also posting today at She Stands and Encourage 24/7. “I struggle with it,” he said. Judgment is what he was struggling with. He is also wrestling with grace. I’ve wrestled with judgment and grace....
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Running Away, Giving Up and the Benefits of Being Caught
This week, I’ll be speaking in Western Michigan for two women’s groups on Hope Beyond the Picket Fence. I’ll be sharing what I call “my angry mom story.” It’s the hope and truth our family has lived...
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Balancing Priorities: Weekly Post
Every Friday I post at Not Alone Mom, a ministry of encouragement for mothers. This month we are focusing on “Spring Cleaning” – rest and renewal. Visit my post here about the age old struggle women...
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The Resurrection:Real Victory for Real Life
A similar article was first published in The Purpose Magazine in March, 2013 The life-giving power of God’s word became real to me at seventeen. As a young girl with an eating disorder, I felt...
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How to Fight A Lion and Other Principalities
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly...
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Parenting Series: The Curse of The Supermom
It’s a privilege to have blogger Amanda Hostetler from Raspberry Beige as a guest writer for the Wednesday parenting series. Thank you, Amanda, for sharing this! No, I am not writing a comic book...
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Winter’s Here, But Spring is Coming
Like other parts of the Midwest, Spring is coming late this year on the Back Forty. As I write, the calendar says Spring has arrived, but snow is pelting the window. I’m a whiner about March anyway,...
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What It Takes To Bloom and Thrive
Today I put my hands in the ground for the first time. I pulled away dead stems, branches and leaves from plants and flowers that haven’t bloomed since Fall. Underneath the ugly brown foliage was...
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Why The Breakfast Club is Still Relevant Today
When I taught high school Sociology, we studied stereotypes and social groups via the movie “The Breakfast Club.” As I’m watching it at home tonight, I realize the movie’s content may be even more...
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Friday Chat: What’s Your Measuring Tool?
I’m posting today at Not Alone Mom for moms. Who do you measure yourself against? Read about it here. I posted about rest this week at Parents Space – you can read it here. It’s been a busy week as …...
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I’m A Fighter. Why Fighting For What’s Important Is Worth It All
Thank you to those who read Kaylee’s inspiring story, “Loving the Kids“. Her words were a gift because we’ve seen the depth of her journey. Like her dad, she’s not one to put herself out there. I...
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Forty-five. Why Mid-life Is Not What I Feared
Today I’m forty-five. Not forty, not fifty, but halfway in between. Half of my life is completed, if I live until ninety, by the grace of God. For to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain. Philippians...
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The Power of Hope and Compassion: Let’s Git-R-Done
This week has been crazy. We’re getting ready for graduation and open house next weekend. The second time around isn’t so bad, but it’s a great reason to get things done around the house that need to...
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Parenting Series: Raising Kids is Not So Easy
Raising kids is not so easy. Teaching kids to respect each other is a lifelong process. How siblings treat each other is crucial to the health of a family and a child’s individual development. It’s...
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Facing Insecurities: Why I Don’t Look In The Mirror
It’s summer time here on the Back Forty. With summertime comes natural beauty, fresh fruits and veggies from our garden. With the changing of the seasons come the changing of life’s seasons, too. Years...
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What You’re Born To Do: Lesson From a Killer Dog
I learned a lesson from a killer dog. This spring our Boston Terrier was killed by another family pet, an English Shepherd. Both were outdoor dogs along with our German Shepherd. The kinship reminded...
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If Heaven Were A Place and Why I Stay Away
He stands in an empty room. It’s quite and still, but his heart speaks to memories the he holds. I couldn’t stand in that room, so I stay away. There are moments when the pain of what is gone is …...
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Friday Chat
I’m sitting in a hotel room with my family trying to quietly type. I don’t think it’s working. There are lots of things happening in the ministry of Life Beyond the Picket Fence. Parenting: First, I’m...
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