Birth, Motherhood, and Wholehearted Surrender (Podcast #32)

I have written a lot about birth on this blog. God has used it like nothing else in my life as a metaphor for wholehearted surrender. In today’s podcast, I share a bit about birth, about surrendering hopes, surrendering regrets, surrendering fears, and ultimately surrendering our whole hearts to God. I hope this is an…

Motherhood When It’s All Too Much (Podcast #31)

Have you ever found yourself wondering what you were thinking when you believed you were capable of raising children into adulthood? Or have you ever been overwhelmed by a season in your family when it just all seemed too much? Sometimes, this happens to me. (Ok, it happens to me a lot…) I realize that…

The Great Value of a Hidden Life (Podcast #26)

Sometimes motherhood can make me feel very small. I have such ideas and plans and ambitions and so little time to devote to anything but what seems like the most basic of needs. God has been impressing on my heart the beauty and great value of the hidden life, here in this house, raising my…

New Video Series: One-Minute Read-Alouds

Dear Friends, I have begun a new video series called One-Minute Read-Alouds on my Instagram page. Sending out words of hope and inspiration for 30 days through this project, and I hope they are encouragement to you! Even if you don’t have an Instagram account, you can click on the picture above to see them….

Choosing a Life of Celebration (Podcast #20)

The choice is always before us: A life of desperation or a life of celebration. In today’s podcast, I invite you to celebrate your life and to celebrate with me as I look back over this incredible last year. I am truly overflowing with gratitude as I remember the love and faithfulness of God in…

Embracing Every Season of Motherhood (Podcast #17)

Sharing Pitter Patter, a song that I wrote when my first babies were small, as well as thoughts about becoming a woman who embraces motherhood at every stage. This photo is my breathtakingly beautiful mother, age 43, holding me, her ninth child. I learned so much from her example. Talking about finding gratitude, praying for…

The Birth Story to Come: Impressions of a Life Yet Unseen

I love to have conversations about birth. No matter how many times I find myself here, in the “any day now” space between pregnancy and delivery, I am struck by the sheer power of the experience of bringing a baby into this world. There is nothing routine about it. No matter how many times you…

My Beautiful Dying Mother, A Birth Story

Mama had nine children.  I am the youngest, and I have often felt a deep sense of gratitude that she surrendered her life to this process so many times.  I see it as no small miracle that I even exist in the world.  And that my seven children exist. Mama was always the first person…