Tales from a Mid-Lifer

Category: 40-Something

  • Will Increased Thanks = More Joy?

    That is the question I look forward to researching myself over the next several months. I have recently returned from a 12-day spring break vacation/college touring experience with my family, and during that time, I read One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I know I’m late getting to the party,…

  • The Boston Marathon Bombing

    As today marks the anniversary of last year’s tragedy in Boston, I am re-posting what I wrote last year in response. After contemplating the horror of what happened, my youngest daughter came to the frightening realization that everyone is capable of evil. Boston. Last year on September 11th, my 14-year old daughter…

  • The Storm Inside

    The Storm Inside: Trade the Chaos of How You Feel for the Truth of Who You Are by Sheila Walsh was a pleasant surprise. I made the wrong assumption that this would be another “self-help-sort-of-book” with a Christian base, but it was sincerely so very much more. The book is…

  • I Didn’t Want to Leave Church on Sunday

    I especially didn’t want worship to end. As is often true for believers, sometimes the hardest weeks end in the most intimate worship.  It is something inexplicable to those who don’t know Christ. Praising an invisible God despite disturbing news and years of seemingly unanswered prayers. Those kinds of hard…

  • I Can’t Be All Things To My Kids

    Gulp. I said it. Once upon a time, I really believed I was all things to my kids.  That is probably normal for young Moms with small children. Or, maybe I was just an egomaniac, but I’m going with the fact that I was young and inexperienced. I hadn’t yet…

  • Normal Is Good

    After a fitful sleep last Thursday night, I stumbled into the bathroom half-awake on Friday morning. Going through my regular routine, I held a cotton ball in my hand, ready to use toner on my face. Just before I dunked the cotton ball, my eyes caught sight of the label:…

  • Is It Really All “Small” Stuff?

    In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s when the “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: And It’s All Small Stuff” books were at the height of their popularity, I would read the title and wonder, “What about the Mom of twins who just found out that she has stage 4 cancer?…

  • Shhh…I’ve Been Doing “Nothing”!

    My husband and I are both “A-” personalities. I know a few true type A’s, and while I admire their daily sanitized and shining kitchen floors, that’s not happening in my house! Therefore, I’m an A- to a B+ on most days. I share this to illustrate the truth that…

  • The (Un) Enthusiastic Mom

    Ten years ago I had a quote on my cork board in my home office. It read: “Be the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.” One of my friends spotted it one day and laughed, “That’s you alright.” At the time, I was also reading the book, The Power…

  • I’m Going to Read the Entire Bible – This Week!

    I have days when I’m disappointed with the amount of time I’m spending on worldly routine vs. the time I’m spending connecting with God. About six times a year, I resolve to “get better” with my spiritual disciplines. These (often unrealistic) resolutions usually go something like this:  Get out of…

  • The Ducks Will Follow

    Walking through my favorite local park, I stopped to watch a Mama duck cross my path with her four offspring. The waddling brood weren’t babies and they weren’t fully grown, so I immediately identified them as “teenage” ducks. Three of them followed the Mama in a perfectly straight line, stopping…

  • Paying for Other’s Bad Behavior Is Making Me a Little Cranky

    Now in my mid 40’s, I’ve officially experienced enough of life where paying (in time or money) for other people’s bad behavior, no-show tendencies, and last-minute procrastination is making me cranky. Over my adult life, when I or my kids have received unfair treatment, I’ve definitely handled it firmly, but…