This morning I was born. My mother struggled with birth until dawn. I went home in her arms. I cried. I slept. My eyes focused on her beautiful, ephemeral face, familiar somehow though I had never seen it before. While she was getting pancakes on the table, I bounced on my sister’s knee. I listened…
Tag: large family
The Birth Story of Haven McCabe
Our baby’s due date came and went without the first sign of nearing labor. Each following day could have been the perfect beginning of a birth story. The day Randy discovered the song of the wood thrush and absorbed himself in writing a piece of music using the intervals of the bird’s song. There was…
Beauty in the Midst of Darkness
There is so much darkness in this world. It presses in against us. In the middle of the night, it enters into our minds in the quiet spaces and works to leave a shadow that lingers even when the morning comes. We wake to light, but its brilliance is dimmed by the memory of those…
Becoming Brave: Thoughts About Birth at 4 a.m. (Podcast #13)
You can also listen and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. Just a few weeks away from my ninth delivery, I am thinking of the profound influence that birth has had on my life. How it has caused me to lean on the perfect strength of God over and over again and made…
The Story of a Miracle
On November 22, I got a random message from someone I barely knew. Hi!! Weird question… are you home? I thought it was odd, but odd things often happen to me, and I said, “Haha. Yes, what’s up?” The next text came: Wondering if I could stop by real quick? I know…so random… Just trusting…
The Story of a Miracle (Podcast Episode 11)
You can also listen and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. Our family is living the in middle of an incredible miracle right now, and in this episode, I want to tell you the truly remarkable story of God’s faithfulness, his tenderness, his attention to the deepest details and desires of our hearts….
Questions to My Future Self (A Mother Wants to Know How It All Turns Out)
This morning I am checking in with my future self. I have to gently wake her, because it is 4:30 a.m., and she is no longer in the habit of waking with babies all through the night. When she sees me standing there over her bed in the dark, she doesn’t mind. She treats me…
Surrendering to a Season (Thoughts at the Beginning of My Ninth Pregnancy)
This morning I drank a cup of tea for the first time in six weeks. Rich Assam with a swirl of cream. The taste of it brought tears to my eyes. It is October, and nothing complements the first of the crimsons and golds like a steaming mug of fragrant tea. I am just rounding…
Early Morning Read Alouds
Have you heard about my newest project? It’s called Early Morning Read Alouds. In these daily Facebook Live videos, I sit at my kitchen table (after just rolling out of bed around 4:30 a.m.) and share my heart and writing. I love doing this! And I am honestly a little surprised that I have been…
Wake Up and Make Things
It is early morning. I stole away from the nursing baby and am sitting in my little quiet corner of the world, on my back-deck, surrounded by potted plants and birdsong. I am writing and contemplating my messy life. I am a homeschooling mother of seven children. My husband and I have a home business…
Motherhood and Creative Fire, Keeping the Flame Alive
I am the mother of seven children. This weekend, I hit publish on a dream come true. I’ve spent the last 11 weeks in a state of creative flow that I have not experienced since I became a Mama twelve and a half years ago. Looking back, I remember the shock my body went through…
Faith and Miracles (How Do You Feed Them, Answered)
One of the first questions people ask me when I tell them we have seven children is, “How do you feed them?” It’s posed as a joke, and even though I’ve been asked this dozens of times, I still scramble for a good response. I know people don’t only mean how do we pay for…