When Problems Seem Big…

Check out this picture. It’s a famous composite photograph, titled “The Pale Blue Dot,” taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft. The speck of dust in the beam of light is the Earth. We are tinier than specks of dust. (Click here to read more or leave a comment on When Problems Seem Big…)  Read More

Learning to Receive

I introduced one of my husband’s younger sisters a week or so ago. We don’t know how long she’ll stay with us, but we’re glad for whatever time we have. One time, shortly after she came, she said, “Debbie, I don’t know how you handle all these little kids without help.” I don’t know, either. She’s really good with our kids,... Read More

Old Scrapbook Layouts

I’ve been clearing space on my computer, which means I’ve run across a lot of old scrapbook layouts. “Old” is a relative term. These were from two or three years ago, when I was getting into digital scrapbooking, experimenting with free trial downloads of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. This was the first layout I put on the blog: (Click here to read more... Read More

Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

The smell of whole wheat bread, just out of the oven, is one of my favorite childhood memories. Our family never bought bread from the store. Mom always baked it. I was embarrassed to take the odd, thick slices to school as a sack lunch sandwich, but I was plenty happy to eat it straight out of the oven at home! Warm and smothered with butter and honey, it is a glorious piece of... Read More

The Planning Habit

Yesterday was a busy day. My resolve to post every day in January took a back seat to other things. They were good things, but I’ve discovered that, while it’s easy enough to write a post a day, it’s hard to write something worthwhile every day. Shouldn’t my entire life be about something worthwhile, every day? Since we moved last summer, I’ve felt... Read More

From Mom: Psalm 46 Revisited

Mom sent me this by email, and it was so encouraging that I asked her if I could post it. It’s a helpful meditation when things seem out of control and I’m tempted to scramble frantically. Thanks, Mom! A (Very) Loose Paraphrase of Psalm 46 We can depend on God to be real close when we’re having trouble. Even if the physical earth seems like it’s out of... Read More

On My Mind Today

I was surrounded by young kids (all mine, of course) a couple days ago. They were climbing on me, crowding me, asking me repeated questions, with one request piling on another before I had a chance to respond even to the first one. This wasn’t how I imagined parenting to be. Some days I’m a walking sermon on child spacing. In the middle of this, my husband called. He... Read More

Self Control

I started my New Year’s diet by finishing off a jumbo pack of peanut M&Ms. I needed to have them out of the house, so I ate them! Sigh. I’m taping this to the back of my hand: For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7 Today is a new day and a fresh start. Happy Sunday!  Read More

Infertility Post 7: Considering Adoption

In the second year of our marriage, my husband and I took a foster care training class together. First we planned to take foster children in need of temporary homes. Later, after our biological children were older, we hoped everything would fall into place to adopt a child. We didn’t go into this plan entirely uninformed. My husband is the oldest of five siblings. When he... Read More

"Favorite Things" Salad

Today marks Day One of a race with family to see who can lose ten pounds first! I’ve been pulling salad ideas out of the recipe box. For Christmas Eve dinner on my side of the family (where we made bets on who could lose the weight first) we ate a salad that was full of my favorite things. I went home and created my own version: (Click here to read more or leave a comment... Read More