Coffee CubBuster

If you examine things too closely, you become a "picker," scraping at any and all impurities while seeking to eradicate filth from your sight. Yet, if your gaze is too farsighted, you begin to assume others have everything buttoned up neatly, viewing only their captions of comedy and cuteness. So what's a gal to do? Take away sight all together? Yes, because we have chosen to " live by faith NOT by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). Wouldn't a legally blind individual object to such living if given the choice? Well, if he/she has ever lived by faith alone, I think he/she would agree: sight can be very misleading . Our vision can greatly hinder us from stretching our faith muscle, because by definition, Faith is "being certain of things we cannot see" (Hebrews 11:1). We can only see "clearly" when we are stripped of our vision. Looking at pictures below, one might think we have such a happy idyllic family these days, but after great success...

Some parents love DIY crafts. Some have a knack for homemade costumes or perfectly balanced healthy meals. Other moms and dads are great team captains or school committee leaders. Still others just love cooking or cleaning. However, I have yet to meet a mother or father who actually had every area of parenting naturally and sincerely mastered. None of us was built to be perfect, but I believe we all have aspects of our calling woven into our natural fabric. When we stop trying to be what we think we should or what we believe others think we should, and when we embrace our natural God-given gifts and let go of those areas we struggle to fulfill, joy envelopes within our current calling and state of being. I may not be crafty, and I have tried and tried but failed and failed at sewing, but I do love to cook, organize, and write. Writing may not be in the tagline or job description for mothering, but God has given me an outlet to document a diary, so to speak, of the past and present fo...

BC Many believe it, as I do, to mark a significant calendar point in history: Before Christ . Some associate the abbreviation to mean Before Common Era, adding an E in order to escape any religious associations. You may quickly think of Boston College or the Breakfast Club. I now have my own favorite:   Before Children. Before Children, I used to be the world's fastest eater. I'm not sure where I gathered this skill set, but I know that a meal didn't take me more than five minutes to consume. For some reason I did not pass along this Olympic medal speed to my eldest child. Like other three and four year-olds, Silas eats at snail speed. He also dresses, brushes his teeth and does a myriad of other common tasks painstakingly slow. Besides pulling out all our arm hair to get through these activities, we have found that a little friendly competition helps move him right along. Unfortunately, I think he has now associated "winning" and "speed" as the m...

As any momma will tell you at any age... "I cannot believe my baby is ____."  Well with Levi, it's always a little extra special to watch him hit new milestones and new seasons. He welcomed his second birthday with many milestones finally struck, including wearing overalls! Since we haven't used the G-tube in 3 weeks, little man can wear those cute straps without having to take them off and on all day. He's still taking down his 7 syringes by mouth, and even though he threw up from some mucus this week, he's learning to handle colds and coughs a little better! He also decided to act like a "typical" two-year old the day before he actually turned two. While not enjoyable, I was thankful to watch him act "normally" with meltdown after meltdown for no apparent reason. In watching our little ones grow, I began to notice some of the sentiments that other people expressed towards my current season. "Those are the lost years." ...

By March, most Americans have forgotten or given up on their New Year's resolutions. For this and other reasons, I don't think I've ever been resolute about anything on January first, but this year I did decide to try and laugh every single day in 2017. I can tell you that I've already failed at this endeavor. Like many resolutions though, I think mine was a bit unrealistic. Rather, I should have resolved that someone in my household would laugh ever day. With sweet little ones, this goal is actually within our reach. We do not all have to laugh together, but one man's laugh certainly brings on another's. At deeper glance, I realized one of my major opponents at joy-killing --  illness. I have yet to fully let go of the anxiety I feel when I know one of my babies is getting sick. With dirty boys, I have strayed far from the label of germaphobe, but history has hurt my optimism. When Roman is sick, I am up all night; when Levi is sick, I am cleaning up throw...