Podcasts

Writer George Eliot, also known as Mary Ann Evans once said, “I would not creep along the coast but steer out in mid-sea, by guidance of the stars.” Have you ever played it safe along the shoreline? Eliot didn’t, In a time when women wrote only romance novels, she gave herself a pseudonym and went ahead with her dreams of becoming a published author whose writing was taken seriously. She didn’t play it safe in other areas either. She isn’t exactly role model material in the morality department, but she didn’t hide that she was a mistress, not a married […]

Phil and I have been married for 22 years and it took us a few years to figure out that certain holidays were more stressful than they were enjoyable. Valentine’s Day used to be one of those. We learned that expectations could cause a lot of conflict, thus overruling the whole point of the holiday. It became nothing more than him trying to figure out what I wanted, and me expecting him to just know what I wanted. What we learned from too many years of expectations and let-downs is that gift-giving out of obligation dictated by the calendar isn’t […]

Today, I’m adding a new feature to the blog. I thought I’d tackle a hot topic (or maybe it’s more of a hot-button issue) to get you thinking. I’ll be bringing up some topics for thought on Thursdays in the future too. I hear the phrase “God is in control” often, but sometimes, it seems as though we use it to cover up our own lack of prayer and planning. For example, let’s say I procrastinate a project that’s as big as Mount Rushmore, and then the night before it’s due, I sit down and try to extract an idea […]

If you’re looking for something cute and creative, but you’re fresh out of ideas, How Does She has some really fun printable projects. Just subscribe to the newsletter (see the pink box at the bottom of her blog page) and you’ll receive the password for the downloads. At the top of the list, you’ll find some back to school printables. If you’re like me, you take pictures on the first day of school. Just print the appropriate sign for your child’s grade and have him or her hold it in the picture. Here is an example from How Does She: […]

We have one more graduation party to attend today, so I thought I’d share with you the thoughts I posted in my monthly column in Wisconsin Christian News last month:  My oldest son graduates this year and right now, our house is all graduation talk. Photos. Invitations. Parties. Cleaning for our open house. He’s trying to decide what to say in his speech. I’m trying to decide if we should have punch or lemonade. It’s a big event in his life and also my own. In each of his firsts, I’ve experienced my own first. Now, for the first time, […]