Marriage & Family

Somewhere, between diapers and sippys and Bluey and Elmo, between baseball and ballet and preschool and music lessons and Bible[...]

I had what felt like a major mom-fail yesterday. It was smushed in the middle of a day filled with[...]

Stuff I didn’t do this Christmas, and why: Christmas cards (one child still refuses to look at the camera so[...]

You guys. Mary knew. She knew exactly who Jesus was and what he was sent to do. The angel was[...]

A peek behind our curtain, shared with permission: One day not so long ago we were almost divorced, each wondering[...]

Whether you’re bursting with grateful praise, or finding it hard to even feel thankful for the breath in your lungs,[...]

I was a total party pooper to my 11-year-old son yesterday. He said, intentionally, thoughtfully, and a little sadly: I[...]

Sometimes the veil between heaven and earth feels paper thin. It’s been a beautiful day to remember our firstborn, making[...]

It was just a peanut butter sandwich. I lost my damn mind and was rude to my daughter over a[...]

I was livid at God for cheating me – for taking my baby, for wrecking my body, for smashing my[...]

I’m up… again. Maybe I’m up *still?*. It’s been a week and the days just kind of blur together. This[...]

He’s 13 today. The boy who made me a mom. And he’s not here to celebrate. Most of the time[...]

I may have my hands on the wheel, but we all know who’s *really* driving this crazy rig. (Still wondering[...]

Truths I Don’t Like #748: I am the villain in someone else’s story. Probably lots of someones, actually. A lifetime[...]

Well, we made it.  Made it through October, I mean.  I know the month's not officially over yet, but we[...]

Yesterday was our daughter’s birthday, which always brings me some extra thoughts and a little grateful overwhelm.  Being entrusted with[...]

Can something as small as a silly joke or as simple as a word of encouragement speak straight to the[...]

I have a present for you!  Well, presents, plural.  PRESENCE, actually. 31 little gifts of presence for the Advent season.[...]

Forgiveness can bring us peace and a path forward.  So why does it feel so impossible sometimes? I'll answer that[...]

When hope feels impossible... How do you forgive the unforgivable? How do you trust the untrustable? How do you love[...]

Giving feels hard right now. We’re all maxed out.  Stressed out.  Worried out.  Zoomed out.  News-ed out.  Social media-d out.[...]

I have been trying my whole adult life to make sure other people “don't mistake my kindness for weakness." It's[...]

We had absolutely no idea what we were doing.  Our ceremony was so short we actually panicked at the end[...]

Mothers Day is messy for me, a different kind of wonderful-hard-precious-messy every year. We've all got issues and I know[...]

The stress of parenting on marriage is insane.  Luckily, a good marriage will bear a lot of weight.  Its trunk[...]

There’s this thing I think I’m supposed to write but I don’t want to do it.  I DON’T WANNA. But[...]

We've had a typical morning for us... coffee club a few minutes before the kids wake up, car line in[...]

Marriage is hard.  Did you know that? So is life.  So is parenting.  Adulting is hard all on its own[...]

Surviving the holidays seems impossible when your life is falling apart.  (Spoiler alert: you can do it.  Keep reading and[...]

There are so many things I wish I did better when it comes to how to handle relationship fights.  Particularly[...]

It’s Texas, and it’s still 100 degrees out, with no end in sight.  I love summer, and pool weather, and[...]

1. Your spouse is going to drive you crazy. All those things you thought were super cute about your spouse[...]

If only there were an Easy Button to help us say this, not that. When it comes to arguments in[...]

We took a trip several years ago in October.  If our marriage was in rough shape before we left, it[...]

Waiting for new growth is a gamble sometimes.  At what point do you call it quits on something (or someone)[...]

Making time for your marriage in the summertime is hard because it can feel like there’s no time for us.[...]

All I ever wanted was to be a mom. Now as an adult, I realize that there are so many[...]

Most days I just toss whole (soft) fruit and veggies on his tray for him to pick up and feed[...]

When G was 5, we had her in gymnastics.  A favorite treat after class was playing at the nearby park[...]

It’s hard to say the right thing. It's so hard to say the right thing sometimes that my default is[...]

I don’t panic much anymore – life experience has taught me that it’s not much use.  But I panicked this[...]

I know I’m supposed to love you but I hate you right now. I wish I could tell you I’ve[...]

The best gifts really are free!  Well, almost free - they just take a little bit of time and effort. [...]

How can I get my kids to do chores?  This is actually the follow up question to my standing Monday[...]

I'm going to preface this by saying that for some people (me) it can feel really hard to say what[...]

Coffee club is one of my favorite happy places. Long before we had coffee club in our marriage, I hosted[...]

I just wanted a nacho.     Grannie treated G to a tray of nachos at the ball game and they[...]

I hope you're loving this series - it's been really fun to put together. (Check out Part 1 on Faith[...]

We're in the middle of an interview I did with my husband, Jack. If you missed Part 1 on Faith,[...]

It's not what you think. I mean, it's a lot of the stuff we assume they're thinking, for sure. And[...]

I posted of my favorite graphics earlier today on social media.  I cannot even remember where I saw this a[...]

It’s dumb.  Really.   We've all been bamboozled into believing we need to spend billions (with a b, seriously) on roses[...]

If you're aiming for nothing, you'll hit it - every time. We set goals for our work, our weight, our[...]

How's this for a little pep talk for your morning?! Yep, we're gonna talk about it - fear. Specifically our[...]

God isn’t messing around when he says “Hop in, let’s go.” He said it to Noah. He said it to[...]

This post originally appeared as "Nine Years of Grace" on Heartfully Present in January 2019. I promised I would be[...]

Happy New Year!  By this point you have likely created – and possibly abandoned – some great resolutions for 2019. [...]

So I posted a little teaser awhile back, a picture of our home-grown production studio in the front room of[...]

I’m back. Well, I never really left, but life got a little wild. We’re all here and we’re all doing[...]

They were just BLTs for goodness’ sake. I talked them up all day to my little people. And they were[...]

Originally posted June 2018, revised June 2019 Late through the night before our 12th anniversary, we stood hunched over our[...]

What do I really want to teach my children? One of the kids’ favorite morning cartoons tossed out the phrase[...]

Revised June 2019 We're coming up on Fathers Day, which is my favorite time of year to reflect on the[...]

For most of us, Memorial Day has become an occasion for sleeping in, gathering with family and friends to eat,[...]

Summer is HERE! Can you feel it?  8 days of school left here for our littles and they are all[...]

A tough topic hit our home over the past couple days, one on which we go round and round the[...]

We’ve known each other more than half my lifetime.  We've tackled most of our life challenges together but we still[...]

I love to cook a great meal. Good, hearty, from-scratch, real-ingredients, no-skimp food. I love to eat it too, with[...]

The most ridiculous miscommunication (read: fight) we ever had was over a failed recipe. Well, it started over a failed[...]

We entered Team Sports World last year in our little guy’s introduction to tee-ball. Jack was on cloud nine –[...]

The moment I walked in the door of our home after four days away, the smell knocked me back. I[...]

November is National Adoption Month, and I'm a little embarrassed I literally had no idea until this year.  Maybe I've[...]

 Based on a recent poll on social media, this particular topic on bucket filling in our family was the winning[...]