20 Mar

“It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from...

16:19 / Featured / Heart Things
18 Mar

We have had the blessing and privilege to have gotten to know Kelly and her family in the 4 years we lived in the St. Louis area. They are the real deal - if you need help, they are the first ones to extend their hands. They love Jesus, they love people, and they have a huge heart for children in foster care. They have adopted a child through the foster care system, and Kelly is the director of Royal Family Kids Camp Columbia, an annual sleepaway camp specifically for young children in foster care. Even if you don't have any...

12:57 / Featured / Heart Things / Instagram / Stewardship
10 Mar

My boys and I are in love with this beautifully illustrated collection by Julia Rothman featuring Farm, Food & Nature Anatomy. Not only does it come with three thick books filled page to page with gorgeous illustrations, but also 10 prints on heavy cardstock that are ready to be framed. The Julia Rothman Collection makes for a perfect gift for a curious, nature loving child. As I'm writing this, it is currently on sale on Amazon for $30.17 for the entire set! Here's the Amazon link to purchase Julia Rothman's Collection (if you use this link to purchase, I do get...

16:53 / Featured / Instagram / Parenting
10 Mar

Before this season of our lives, friends have asked me if I’d ever consider homeschooling. I‘d always laughed and emphatically responded, “no way, I’d be terrible at it!!”  Well, God sure has a funny way of stretching us to do things we’d never thought we were capable of doing. With all the transition of moving with only a couple months to go in the school year, as well as not knowing exactly where we’ll be living long term, and recognizing that the rural mountain towns we may eventually end up in will possibly not have great schools, all these things have made...

16:30 / Featured / Parenting / Stewardship
25 Feb

It always amazes me how people all around us carry stories of miracles, and oftentimes we never even have the chance to hear them. When Lauren shared briefly on Facebook about how God healed her son Izak, I knew I wanted to hear more. The stories God writes in our lives are meant to be shared - to encourage and ignite hope. Not everyone's story is the same, and we can't pretend to know how God will work in each situation, but I'm thankful that through the witness In each others' lives, God continually shows himself faithful. I'm honored Lauren...

10:18 / Featured / Healing / Heart Things / Instagram
23 Feb

Let’s start with a fact. I am better at folding laundry than my children. In fact, I’m better at folding laundry than anyone in my household, and my husband will happily attest to that. I actually enjoy folding laundry under the right circumstances, I think it’s from my days working retail in college. There’s something therapeutic about seeing neat piles of clothes sorted by type and person. Now, let’s go to a confession. Some days, when my 4 year old asks to help me fold laundry, I honestly can’t be bothered. I give him an excuse, shrug him off, and say “it’s ok honey, you’re so...

13:11 / Featured / Heart Things / Instagram / Parenting / Stewardship
10 Feb

This is a guest post written by my beautiful and talented friend, Jess. You can find her at Oil & Splendor. Anger is easy. I’m sitting on my couch, very pregnant, and very annoyed. Why? Because I’m impatient. I’m 37 weeks , and I think I should be finished, and that this little guy should come out…NOW! My other pregnancies were not like this. Graeme was born on his due date, and Scout was five days early. I was ready, but I don’t remember feeling this need to go early, or this extreme discomfort. A disclaimer…I have had a relatively easy pregnancy, but these past few...

14:00 / Heart Things / Instagram
02 Feb

I never knew I had an issue with ungodly anger until I had kids and became a stay at home mom. There’s something that stirs up when, day after day of not being able to control my environment, trying in vain to respond rationally to an irrational person, and trying to prove my worth in a role that is generally unappreciated and undervalued, that brings out the ugly things inside of me. For many years I struggled to manage my anger outbursts, which were mainly geared toward my kids, a few times toward my husband. I read articles, blogs, listened to podcasts, searched through...

03:46 / Featured / Healing / Heart Things
01 Feb

I used to think I didn’t have any problems with my cultural identity. Clearly, I was just white, but looked a little Asian. I joke, but you know what they say about jokes! In case you didn't know, I was born in Taipei, Taiwan. When I was five years old, my mother, brother & I moved to a small beautiful town in New Jersey. There wasn’t much diversity, and I grew up for most of my school life feeling different and secretly wishing I was the same as everyone else. I wished our family was like all my friends’ families. I wished...

03:31 / Featured / Healing / Heart Things / Instagram