*Affiliate links included. I met Jan through homeschool co-op. Together with another mom, we were scheduled to teach a year-long class on life skills. Jan with her organizational skills quickly brought our lesson planning meetings into focus and helped to make the class a reality. During …
MY CONFESSION: As thankful as I am for the new life (we will welcome our third child this summer) that’s been given to our family, I have been overwhelmed. Very. Overwhelmed. I have struggled the last couple days with thinking ahead. I feel incapable to …
*Affiliate links included. In 1 Tim 4:12-13:…be an example to the believers with your words, your actions, your love, your faith, and your pure life…continue to read the Scriptures to the people, strengthen them, and teach them. This year, 2016, will mark our fourth year to …
Years ago I had a friend who, if I asked too many personal questions, would ask, “What? Are you writing a book?” I learned not to become offended and just to respond, “Yes, and this is the chapter about you.” It can seem intrusive if …
* Affiliate links included. Last year we started our very own book club at Mentoring Moments. It made this book lover’s heart sing. During 2015 our small Facebook group read 6 fiction and 6 non-fiction for a toal of 12 books in 2015. Our formula was …
Somewhere between the darkness and the light. That is where we are as Christians. And not just at Advent time, but at all times. Somewhere between the fact of darkness and the hope of light. That is who we are. Frederick Buechner, The Clown in …
Recently my friend wrote me, “After much prayer, I finally finished decorating our home. It’s much different than it has ever been.” She continued, “We are no longer celebrating the birth of a baby, we are celebrating the soon coming of the King. The One …
*Affiliate links included. In the church Christmas pageant I wrote, “The Nativity Alive,” the children carol at the home of a reclusive man who has a Nativity set displayed in his front yard. A few of the rowdy kids actually steal the baby Jesus from …
Some families enjoy reading the whole Christmas story on Christmas Day or in parts throughout Advent. Others appreciate acting it out in a family play. Here is the Christmas story from the four Gospels, in chronological order, minus the genealogies, divided into five days and followed …
Bethlehem was a small village with a population of 300. When Mary and Joseph arrived, it was packed with visitors paying their taxes. And so, how is it that the only guests at Jesus’ birth are a bedraggled group of shepherds? How many people missed …
