hospitality principles and tips, by an amateur

Admittedly, I’m no expert on hospitality.  But, even being the novice that I am, I’ve gleaned some insights over the years that may be helpful for some.
Plus, if hospitality is something you’ve neglected, the holiday season is a great time to dive in and make practicing hospitality a regular occurrence in every season.
And, if nothing [...]

sin produces death through what is good

Paul says a lot of wonderful and nuanced things in Romans 7.
For instance, he says, “if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin.”  So the law is not sin-producing, but rather, sin-alerting.  And sin, being very sneaky and conniving, seizes “an opportunity through the commandment” to produce all kinds [...]

all of life is waiting

Isn’t it true?
I’m hard-pressed to think of a time when I’m not waiting for something.
Some things take a long time to wait for, other things are short waits.  And there are even things we wait for that never happen.  Sometimes we wait for things and we don’t know what they are.
We wait for vacation time, [...]

grace on difficult days

Everybody has rough days.  Hard days.  Painful days.  Difficult days.
It’s one of the things every human has in common, isn’t it?  It’s easy to become myopic on these days.
Lately I’ve been trying to recognize what God’s grace looks like in my life on these difficult days.  Intellectually I know that God’s grace may very well [...]

a great vacation and lots of pics

We recently vacationed for three nights and four days up at MN’s beautiful North Shore!  We stayed in Lutsen and had the best time!  (Doing my best not to sound like a travel brochure and failing miserably..)
Our first stop on the four hour drive North was in Duluth at the Amazing Grace Cafe.  It was [...]

a provocative reality for parents

Apart from their own sin nature, it’s almost certain that I will be the single biggest influence of sin in my children’s lives.
What do you think?  Do you own that?
Here’s why I own that and continue parenting with boldness(instead of throwing in the towel in hopelessness): Christ and His work on the Cross makes all [...]

the lynchpin of deep, lasting friendship: commitment.

Think of your closest and oldest friend.
How is that you are still friends with that person after years and years of life changes, moves, babies, marriages, conflicts, sin, and intrusions?  Or maybe a better question is: do you have a friend with which you’ve experienced a range of life and disagreements and have still maintained [...]

note to self: be a drop-out.

I sporadically participate in a competitive world of comparisons.
Note to self: drop out.
This is a plague for moms of every stripe.  Especially young moms with young kids (I think anyway, but who knows maybe it infects the moms with older kids too).
It’s as simple as seeing another child do well at something and, instead of [...]

what have I gotten myself into?!!

Well, as most of you know, I’m now an “official” homeschool mom.

Whoa.
Even though I’m very familiar with homeschooling and know lots and lots (and lots!) of people who do it, I still feel very intimidated by the task and frequently question our decision to homeschool.

And, if you know me at all, you know that [...]

it’s the old old story

I never grow tired of the Gospel. Not only has it forever changed my life and transformed who I am, it continues to be a balm in every circumstance.
This is what true Christians believe, and yes, it is foolishness, but to those of us who believe it is the power of God and the [...]