“Miss. Daddy. Miss. Miss.” Her one-word sentences threaded together with long pauses and much emphasis on “miss” melt her daddy’s heart. We all try to give him a warm welcome when he comes home. Sometimes, I can’t get up from nursing or holding a sleeping babe, but he comes over and leans down to kiss…
Home is four walls he built with his two hands. Home is a little pink house that has grown bigger through the years and isn’t even pink any more. Home is where the chickens cackle to let me know they’ve laid another egg and I better race out to get it before they do. Home…
Backwards sixteen years. My almost-twelve-year-old world had changed overnight: I had a brand new baby sister. Positively adorable, positively perfect. A real live baby doll to dress and photograph. When she was little, I helped with a lot of the cooking and cleaning—I helped be a mommy. And I told that little person I’d expect…
Every day, this mother’s heart walks around outside her body she learns a whole new definition of trust. Every day, I think of the words of the mommy who described in aching detail the emotions of losing her son to SIDS. Every day, I think of the 4-year-old boy who just died in a farming…
Dearest, Sometimes, I awake in the middle of the night from dreaming of you. I think to myself, I haven’t written Merritt in forever—or called him, or anything! I miss him! And then I remember—I’m married to you! You are sleeping right next to me! It washes over me anew then, as I snuggle up…
Seasons change. Siblings grow up. People get married. School and jobs and marriage take siblings all around the country. Not too long ago he was my baby brother who I took delight in dressing in different outfits and taking pictures of and having as my personal baby Jesus in the Christmas plays. Now he’s a…
The door closes behind my husband, off to work. I take a deep breath. The day is ahead of me. Along with a table full of breakfast dishes and un-eaten food, an overflowing laundry basket, and a desk covered with unpaid bills and unwritten thank you notes. But before I can attend to them, there’s…
Motherhood should come with an hourglass. Today was the day I thought I was due with my third little one. But as of last night, he is already three weeks old. Where did the time go? How can he already be so big—even developing a double chin—when he hadn’t yet figured out how to nurse…
If you met me, you’d find a girl with dark red hair who still feels closer to 20 than to 30 (even though it’s not true) and is taller than most of her friends (but not her brothers). You’d see two little girls bouncing around me, and a swollen stomach indicating another little one on…
When I look in my mirror, I see a momma tired, eyes on the verge of overflowing with tears of exhaustion. When I look in my mirror, I see hair that’s not as curly as it used to be. when I look in my mirror, I see a face and figure swelled many times its…
Five years ago I couldn’t stop staring at the antique engagement ring on my finger and marveling at how God had provided it. Five years ago I couldn’t stop smiling, even as the emotions of engagement and wedding planning overwhelmed me. Five years ago I was trying on wedding dresses and discovered that the shop…
When I was younger, my friends were the people I talked to all the time. On the phone, in person, via hand-written letters or super-long emails. Sharing my most sacred thoughts and deepest secrets. When I was younger, my friends and I had lots of time—time for making new friends, for staying in touch with…
The End.
The End.