Little Bird

My initial goal when I received Rad Women Worldwide  was to read through it and then shelve it until the kids were older and ready to integrate it into their history lessons. But as soon as Rad Women Worldwide  came in the door my kids adopted it as their book. I have found my 3-year-old all over the house this week with the book in her lap, silently flipping through pages and enjoying the illustrations. And my 5-year-old son has brought it to me and asked me to read a page or two that caught his interest. I even found my daughter sitting on the bed I just stripped with the book in hand this morning! Since I am planning on teaching my kids in a classical style I can't wait to use this book to highlight relatively unknown historical figures when we are focusing on certain time periods and geographical zones. Of course we are a few years out from that, but I am so excited about homeschool and jumping in and learning with my kids. I love history, but there were still

It has been a week . Thursday morning I was writing a LONG blog post about how Bennett has been having a series of allergic reactions, but hopefully the next two days would be calm, when he had another reaction. Here's the really fun (sarcasm) news: We're not sure what exactly he is reacting to. His doctor is fairly certain Bennett is having a massive immune response to something: either the initial food we thought caused the reaction, or a virus. Right now Bennett is on a very limited diet for 10 days - meat, vegetables, fruit - and then we'll start to reintroduce foods slowly. Because without being on a limited diet this happened: Bennett had a breakout - hives all over - Tuesday morning, followed by a flare up in the afternoon and evening. We thought we knew what the trigger was, but immediately after breakfast on Wednesday morning he broke out again. And this time it was worse . On Thursday I once again thought I knew what the trigger was, but in the middle

A Mile Wide: Trading a Shallow Religion for a Deeper Faith  by Brandon Hatmaker is a challenging book. I am glad there were discussion questions at the end of every chapter, but I need someone to read it with me now! Hatmaker writes honestly and truthfully about faith and how to create a deep spiritual life at a time when the church is awash in confusion. It's easy to get lost in living a Christian life, in doing the perceived right thing, and following the crowd, but Hatmaker consistently points out what the Bible actually says about discipleship, the church, justice, missions, and living a Jesus focused life. I've been reading a lot about community and living well with others. A Mile Wide reminded me to continue seeking out those who don't necessarily fit into my everyday life, and to continue building on the idea of creating relationships outside the church. And in a season when I feel like my faith is rapidly developing and changing this book encouraged me t

It's been six years since Charlotte died. Six and a half if we're splitting hairs. It's been 5 years since our B came into the world; 3 since we met our Ainsleigh girl. If you think that being six years out from loss with two healthy, thriving children growing before my eyes is easy, in some ways you would be right. I am speechlessly grateful we were able to have two healthy children, and I am immeasurably thankful we were gifted with two children to raise in our home, but that doesn't mean I don't struggle with anxiety and fear. This afternoon I reached that Mama boiling point where the kids' rooms had  to be cleaned, and I was the only one who could do it properly. I usually have them do it, because it's not my job to clean up their things, but today I wanted it Mama clean. The kids were outside playing, which is what they do most days, rain or shine, while I cleaned Ainsleigh's room. As I picked up and sorted toys I wrestled with whether or not I

Love, Henri  is a collection of letters written years ago, but it is a refreshing, reassuring read for the politically uncertain, chaotic world we live in. If we lose sight of our faith and focus on what is transpiring in our world it is straight up scary out there isn't it, friends? But books like Love, Henri  remind us that the world has always  been a frightening place with upheaval, wars, and dissension. In  1981 Henri Nouwen was asked in a letter if he thought humanity would survive the century. Here is part of his answer. "But important for me is not if our civilization will survive or not but if we can continue to live with hope, and I really think we can because our Lord has given us His promise that He will stay with us at all times. He is the God of th e living, He has overcome evil and death and His love is stronger than any form of death and destruction. That is why I feel that we should continually avoid the temptation of despair and deepen our awaren