Parenting an introvert is awkward. For example: For years, I hosted a number of annual neighborhood gatherings. If they were “supposed”...

I'm going to tell you one practical way I cultivate gratitude and enjoy December. I buy my own stocking stuffers.

My husband and I like to say that we broke in two sets of grandparents. Jeff and I are the firstborns in both our families. We got...

In, Anne of Windy Poplars written by L.M. Montgomery in 1936, a character I’ll simply call Old Lady, said, “This is a degenerate age,...

I’ve been reading the Martha and Mary story in the gospel of Luke wrong for decades. Or perhaps, more accurately, I haven’t perceived...

This weekend Sophia, my eldest, and I are going to L.A. to tour two colleges that are on her application list. We have agreed to...

Welcome to Part 3 of a three-part series about how to engage with culture as a Christian. We started with "Don’t “be different.” In it I...

Let’s start with one of my top five verses in the Bible, shall we? Romans 12: in three versions. Do not conform to the pattern of this...

When my husband and I were in our 20s, our friend Darren went to work in an outreach ministry to homeless youth in San Francisco. In...

Today, my husband is having a bad hair day. That is, it's a bad day for him because I'm getting a haircut. My hair has long been a source...

This blog originally appeared on my first website www.scrapsofsoul.blogspot.com, in August of 2010, when I was a passionate mommy...

Last week, I sold a large lot of doll clothes on Craigslist. I met the buyer outside in our guest parking, a beautiful young mama, who...

Throwback Friday! I wrote this blog Father's Day Weekend, 2012, and everything I said about my husband holds pretty true today. I believe...

About 10 years ago, I was in a summer Bible study with a group of moms. We were going through Beth Moore's series on the fruits of the...

Dear House, After 18 years of living in you, you are finally all I have ever hoped you could be. Every space is functional. Every cabinet...

I was sitting with a dozen women’s Bible study leaders around a table recently, in our quarterly meeting where we plan and problem-solve...

Dear Teenage Daughters, In just 11 days, your mother will be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. And so I have a message I'd like to...

This week, I'm doing a Throw-Back Friday post. A decade ago, I had a blog called Scraps of Soul, chronicling my life as a young mother...

This morning I chuckled when I found a bookmark my friend Jill had given me for my birthday last year. It says, “I looked hot yesterday....

Last week, our family was playing a game called “Couples Quiz,” which is supposed to be for two married couples to see how well they know...