He is Greater.....John 3:30 says He must become greater, I must become less"

Early this week, Precious asked me if we could schedule a "girls night" together.  I asked what she had in mind.  She said, " well we never get to spend time alone together just the 2 of us..."  I asked her what she wanted to do so that I would know how to make a plan.  Sweet girl wanted the following:  1.  get our nails done together.  2.  Eat at Culvers.  3.  Go to Walmart and shop for dresses and other clothes.  4.  Watch Hairspray together at home.  When you child requests one on one time with you as a parent never say no.  Ever.  It won't happen often.  Roger was willing to help with our girls night and make a plan for Josiah and any other boys around tonight.  Having a spouse who also values quality time is such a gift.  I picked Precious up from school and we went to get nails done at Nails by Julie here in town.  We went to Culvers at 5pm and ate together in a booth just big enough ...

I am feeling compelled to write a response to the recent news about the adjusted abortion law for New York.  It makes me physically ill to think about this happening.  It is not well with my soul at all.   Every day I read more thoughts and commentary on this issue, and the terms pro-life and pro-choice.  Every day I find myself in conversations about it with others and most of those conversations are with other women.  Women definitely have an investment in this topic.....and men should too.    Where should I even start?  Maybe I will start by looking at a couple of my own children in the other room.....children who society may have considered unplanned by their birth moms.  Children who could have been aborted fetuses.....one whose mama was in the abortion clinic at one point......I praise God they were not in New York that day.  I believe that God heard the cries of my heart in those seasons, where I knew w...

Today I happened to pass by someone who has been one of my prayer partners.  We don't spend time together on a regular basis.....except in prayer.  I could hug her every time I see her because her faithful prayers have sustained me in some of my darkest and most lonely moments.  Another friend texted me a voice message recently.  She knew I was struggling and feeling very overwhelmed and she prayed for me.  She prayed scripture out loud to me......and it was life-giving.  I have some seriously intense and powerful prayer partners in this world.  I am humbled and grateful to do life with them.  I need my prayer life as much as I need water, rest and food.  I don't think I could make it through many of my days without the power of prayer.  Praying for others whenever God brings them to mind is part of my daily activities.  I live a prayerful life.  I go over the list in my mind of people I know who are struggling, or waiti...

I highly recommend going on vacation after Christmas.  It was so wonderful to celebrate the Christmas season....and then get on a plane and fly away for a week and a half.  Many of you tolerated the photos I posted daily....which were a request from the grandparents left back home in Iowa.  They did help us get there.....so they deserved to be in on the travel-log.  While I was away my sweet friend Jen came back into our house and finished our entry way remodel project....and painted 2 more rooms and updated my furniture and walls and many, many other details....so I came home to a fresh and clean home.  I also highly recommend having really good friends....and a mom who will help them.  The unfortunate thing about going on vacation after Christmas is that you do lots of fun things and spend money.....and then, if you are 3 people out of 100,000 you might be lifting your carry- on into the overhead cabin of the airplane on the way home at 10am in Ar...

Tonight we returned home from an epic family vacation.  We were gone about 11 days.  I posted lots of photos on Facebook in order to chronicle the trip, and to share with our family and loved ones back home.  We don't take vacations regularly.  Vacation is expensive and time-consuming.  This one was motivated by the Anniversary party for my parents-in-law.  Their 65th.  65th.  yes.  65 years married this year!  I didn't take my computer on vacation.  I rarely used my phone except to take pictures and I took a lot of pictures.  Every single day I was amazed that all of my family was together all day long.  That does not happen at home.  Claire is at college and doesn't live here.  Isaac and Jeremiah are in high school and busy with sports and school and friends.  The little kids are around but usually not doing anything I want to capture on camera....and Roger and I work a lot.  And cook.  And...

We have a stack of Christmas story books.  Every year when Thanksgiving day ends, we switch gears to Christmas holiday season.  We go get our tree from the tree farm.  I haul out all the decorations and Christmas music CDs and we start making our Christmas lists.  We enter in to the season of Advent and purpose ourselves to focus on the birth of Christ more than the commercial holiday....but you guys....it's just so hard.  It is hard to not get sucked in to the buying and decorating and hoping and excessiveness.....it is hard to not want to give and spend and give and splurge and give some more....I get swept up in the wave of it all.  The Christmas books are sweet and simple and many of them remind me to focus on what really matters.  Sitting beside my beautiful tree with twinkly lights summons me to sit and feel peace......the nativity scenes I set around the house remind me that it is about Jesus.....so why do I still want to spend and compare an...

Last year at this time I was beginning to dread the end of life with Claire living at home.  We were talking about college and celebrating and grieving the last home football game, the last dance competition, etc.  Not gonna lie....it was heart-breaking.  I have figured out how to add birdies to my nest but Claire was the first one to teach me how to let them leave the nest.  Her senior year of high school was as bittersweet as it gets.  Dark chocolate mixed with Himalayan sea salt......ice cream topped with cantaloupe.....you get the picture.  good and bad, sweet and not, mixed feelings.  I cried many tears trying to wrap my brain around her not being here every day.  I didn't want her to stay forever.  I wanted her to spread her wings and fly.  I wanted to see what she could do with what we had given her.  But I really, really didn't want her....to go.  She did go.  She didn't go far but she did go.  She is mostl...