Purpose
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To the Mom Shopping with Her Daughter
Houston, summer has landed, and as temps rise, clothes shrink. That means moms and teen daughters everywhere are facing off over short-shorts, sundresses, and bathing suits. I was just at Academy commiserating with another mom as we picked through swimwear, hoping to find something that complemented our girls’ changing shapes but didn’t get them dress-coded…
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The Ultimate End-of-School Mom Survival Guide
I swear I wake up in some weird, mom-style Choose Your Own Adventure story every day during the last month of school. I check my calendar and think I’ve got plans under control, but still, it feels an awful lot like this: “You’ve wandered into a school gym full of parents. Are you A) There…
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3 Ways to Amp Your Joy
Cruising into week three of a Joy30–a month of meditating on God’s truth about joy, and one truth stands out: some days you just have to choose gladness. As in, “This is the day the Lord has made. I WILL rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps 118:24). I’m not advocating that we fake happy…
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When You Face Tough Truth, Let Joy Make You Strong
“You need to put your armor on. You’re going out there spiritually naked.” Ouch. Spiritually naked? Me? I had just confided to a ministry veteran that I was battling terrible doubts and anxiety every time I shared my writing online. Tottering out there on my “social media platform,” I had perpetual stage fright magnified…
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Let Joy Find You!
I remember the first time Caroline ate blueberry pancakes. Sitting in a high chair at the grandparents, she grabbed fistfuls and shoveled them in. With gusto. Then, she caught me watching (camera in hand) and broke into full-on squeals of delight in the midst of a purply mess. Joy snuck up on us, turning breakfast…
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Love that Covers in a World that’s Showing Its Backside
I have GOT to get some new jeans. As I was throwing mine in the wash, I realized all but one pair are sagging in the knees or worse, coming apart at the seams in some highly critical regions. We are not talking a level of trendy distressing here. We are talking potential wardrobe malfunction…
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3 ways to transform “thoughts and prayers” into substance
Since last week’s shooting, I’ve vacillated between grief and anger like pretty much everybody I know. I’ve fist-pumped at impactful posts only to despair at online arguments that are more about blame-shifting than truth-seeking. One trending idea that’s caught my attention is that politicians will once again offer only “thoughts and prayers” but no real…
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Dear Younger Me, Here’s What They Don’t Tell You about Parenting
Dear Younger Me, One day you’ll hear yourself yell in frustration, “If you‘re going to stand on the kitchen table, at least sit down.” With that nonsense echoing in your ears, you’ll suddenly awake from a parenting stupor. You’ll wonder when exactly you surrendered your home and sanity to a couple of pint-sized preschoolers. And…
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dear younger me, do less. be more.
Dear Younger Me, Slow down. Soak up life’s richness, physically and spiritually. Your existence is worth more than a mad scramble for stuff and success. Be still. Know God. XXOO, Older Me Next to relationship advice, that’s been the second biggest theme for what many of you would love to to tell your twenty-year-old selves…
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dear younger me, stop stressing out your marriage
Dear Younger Me, You pulled off that dream wedding! Just wanted you to know the next 22 years will be an adventure like nothing you can imagine from those church steps. Yes, you’re going to learn some things the hard way, but oh, they are going to make the later years of marriage so much…