I drove down my old street where I used to live, and it made me sad. My street was more decrepit than I remembered. Awkwardly perched between the solidarity of winter and the freshness of spring, the trees and yards lay cold and bare and brown. Without their summer shroud of greenery, the houses stood …
Tag: mothering
Expressing negative emotions
I'm a sensitive person in more ways than one. Perhaps my deafness has made me more aware of my physical environment than most. My brain is a constant tumble of observations, thoughts, feelings, and intuitions. If I'm not careful, I can quickly collapse under the weight of what I perceive in my environment, in myself, …
I’m back
I'm sitting in our local coffee shop, sipping a creamy latte out of a blue ceramic cup and forking down the most delicious crepes. "Overwhelming" is a mild word to state what life has been for me this summer. Navigating a pandemic, finalizing an adoption, mothering five children, working part-time, starting a ranch, and facing …
The great grocery guilt monster
Have you ever noticed how women often talk about their grocery shopping and food preparation? Lady A is an expert at couponing, and tells glowing stories about getting a cart full of groceries and six bottles of Tide detergent for two dollars. Lady B talks about eating nothing but rice and beans and whatever she …
A Short Post for Young Mothers
"Parenting is overwhelming," many young mothers have told me, uncertainty in their eyes and fatigue lining their faces. I get it. Our world has changed from the gentle parenting passed down from generations, where grandmothers and mothers worked together in the big job of raising little people. Now with the advent of social media and …
From my window
From my chair at the desk, I can see the neighbor man working on one of his decrepit vehicles. J is wearing a billcap on backward, a black, sleeveless t-shirt, and saggy jeans. He looks sad as he works among the weeds. A cigarette droops from his mouth. After a while, J drops his tools …
To Save His People
Last night I dreamed I was at one of our loud and happy Miller family gatherings. As the end of our weekend crept up, my cousins decided to put together a scrapbook for my grandparents. (My grandparents are long gone, but this was the dream.) We used a regular ruled notebook, and filled it with …
The waste of love
I wake up with a dark hole of emptiness eating through my chest, and it takes me a second to realize why. My little girl is gone. The child that I loved from the minute I set eyes on her is gone. I still remember how she felt sleeping heavily in my arms that first …
1:15 a.m.
After my extended silence (has it really been that close to a month?!) I feel the need to check in and give a brief update about what is happening in my life right now. I want to write and write and write, about things like a Christian's rights and responsibilities and women in the church …
Peter Rabbit
"The Peter Rabbit movie you returned was two months overdue," the librarian announces. "When we finally got the movie, it no longer worked," she says, "so you will need to pay for a new one. In the future, please do not keep movies so long. We had a list of people waiting for Peter Rabbit …