Waiting. One of the most dreaded words in our vocabulary. We’re not usually patient people. We drive fast, pop meals into microwaves…

“It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.” —Ann Landers

I ask one question every year that gives me so much power as a mom. I wonder what it could do for you…

As we began the process of creating Arise Single Moms twenty-two years ago, it involved many facets—from completing tons of paperwork, to forming a board of directors, to hours…

Can I tell you one of my favorite things about the Bible? It’s how Jesus responds to people who have failed. I remember as a kid I was…

Sometimes we’re experts at getting all up in other people’s business. We believe we know better, or that our advice is what they need. Everything from how to…

We all have a story. Our stories consist of joy, sorrow, success, failure, hope, disappointment, and probably anything else we can think of. I’m grateful…

Change is hard. My personality type demands routine. I’m happy when life stays the same without unexpected surprises. When standards in my life fluctuate, I feel all kinds…

Aging is usually considered negative, and most people fear it or try to avoid it. It’s not something you look forward to or embrace. But there are so…

“Which choice do you think you’ll make?” I asked a friend while sitting down for coffee. My heart broke as I watched her doubt herself over and over…

I was sitting in a Bible study recently and we were talking about all the different types of suffering we might encounter. Immediately, major life events were brought up: losing a job, losing a spouse, divorce, children struggling, and health issues. But a sweet friend of mine slowly raised her hand and boldly shared about a pain that many single moms experience: the pain of being falsely accused. How do we even begin to cope when this happens?

We all have different experiences in life, and those experiences have shaped us into who we are today. There have been good times in our lives when we were riding cloud nine, and we felt like life was going smoothly. And there have been times when we’ve felt like we were at the end of our rope and stuck in a valley. 

I am a Sound of Music nerd. I admit I might have a problem because I love the movie so much. Ever since the age of seven when I was introduced to Maria and the Von Trapp children, I’ve dreamed of traveling to Salzburg, Austria. I’m not sure if it was the scenery, the emotions evoked by the film, or that I wanted to dance around the city singing “Do Re Mi,” “My Favorite Things,” or “I Have Confidence.”

I recently heard a speaker at a safety event we hosted say one phrase that really stuck with me: Keep. Your. Eyes. Up.

Wouldn’t you love to have that same ability to focus…but on the right things?

I have a rowdy boy who is always playing some sport, even if he makes it up. He’s tossing, hitting, or kicking a ball at any given moment, in any place—even the middle of my living room.

I could tell by the way he walked from the bus to my house that the weight of the world was on my son’s shoulders. We had been navigating some pretty heavy things during this season. Just the stride of his walk set off alarms in my head that it was time to talk, really talk.

This afternoon I found myself glued to the television watching the film Saving Mr. Banks. I had originally viewed the movie the day it released in theaters in 2013. I’ll be honest. I’m a Mary Poppins fanatic. The television remote control will always find it, the movie album is perched on my closet shelf, and I’ve seen the Broadway play four times. I even own a Mary Poppins snow globe. Why?

Isn’t it interesting how over time we can start to think that sin isn’t really a big deal? It makes sense… spend 10 seconds online and you’ll find article after article not only celebrating sin but also those who applaud it. It’s becoming easier and easier to fall into the lie that since it isn’t really hurting anyone, sin must not be a big deal.

Middle school students are a different creature. It’s like they hatched from an alien planet. Your sweet, relatively normal child has morphed into a hormone-filled teenager who can be surly, cranky, full of attitude, and downright crazy.