Light a Match
After seeing the news on Facebook about the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, I sank into my living room chair, phone glued to my hand as I scrolled for more information about what had happened and why. My shoulders began to shake under the weight of what had been lost; tears fell as I succumbed to the darkness that seemed to be enveloping our world. This has become a pattern for me lately: feel shattered by a current event, express my outrage and lament over the state of the world, build up a sense of normalcy in the aftermath, watch as that ...
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3 Things
Under the radar, barely breathing. Shallow movements undetected. My life has been that of a worker bee buzzing in the opposite direction of revolution. I am the peacemaker; calm and even, slow, compliant. Rebellion implies ...
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The Rebellion of Opting Out
Modern family life can feel a lot like a hamster wheel — a constant race you’re never winning. We overschedule our kids and ourselves, wedging some must-do activity into every waking moment of the day, ...
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Lockdown 4-1-1
I got a call from one of the moms in my 4-year-old’s class while driving home. “Did you hear? The school is on lockdown.” I had just picked my boys up from school but the ...
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Debunking the Old Martha
For years I believed there was something wrong with the way I was wired. As a go-getter, recovering perfectionist, and ultra-responsible person, I prided myself on meeting and exceeding expectations (as a wife, mom, friend, ...
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The Brave Art of Motherhood
Excerpted from The Brave Art of Motherhood: Fight Fear, Gain Confidence, and Find Yourself Again. Copyright © 2018 by Rachel Marie Martin. Used by permission of WaterBrook, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Over the ...
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How to Surrender “What Could Have Been” so You Can Enjoy “What Is”
A few years ago, cancer came into our family’s story and greedily tried to take the life of our 9-year-old daughter through leukemia. And although thankfully our daughter is now in remission, we learned first-hand ...
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The Three Elements to Transformation
If you know anything about building a fire, you know it takes three elements for a fire to burn: a fuel source (e.g. wood, gasoline, plastic, etc.), heat (like a spark from a lighter), and
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Second Grade Dreams
Some kids dream about growing up to become athletes, singers or doctors. Me? I dreamt about college. I recall with great detail the day when my second grade teacher talked to our class about what ...
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The Greatest Connection
If you say you want to connect with others but never ask questions, then you don’t really understand connection. The greatest connection often comes from just being willing to ask the question and may have ...
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Scales and Arpeggios
Growing up, I took several years of piano lessons and my least favorite part was practicing my scales. It seemed so tedious. Did it really have a purpose? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txx9D-8ubdg Turns out there was a purpose ...
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Slingshot Fun
"We have to reinvent fun back into our American society or we are going to serious ourselves to death." - Alice Cooper https://vimeo.com/271905836 The MOPS International staff taking a much-needed fun break from the work ...
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The First Move Advantage
There is a well-known theory in chess called the first move advantage that suggests the player who goes first is statistically positioned for the best outcome. When I first heard this, I went and found ...
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Light a Match
After seeing the news on Facebook about the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, I sank into my living room chair, phone glued to my hand as I scrolled for more information about what had happened and why ...
» READ MORE
» READ MORE
3 Things
Under the radar, barely breathing. Shallow movements undetected. My life has been that of a worker bee buzzing in the opposite direction of revolution. I am the peacemaker; calm and even, slow, compliant. Rebellion implies ...
» READ MORE
» READ MORE
The Rebellion of Opting Out
Modern family life can feel a lot like a hamster wheel — a constant race you’re never winning. We overschedule our kids and ourselves, wedging some must-do activity into every waking moment of the day, ...
» READ MORE
» READ MORE
When His Promises Are Plenty Good Enough for Our Disappointment
My sweet girl. Sat on the sidewalk and wept. The ground supported her weight but not her disappointment. Some friends, a little older, had left her behind. As they rode away on their bikes, she ...
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A New Season to Hold Loosely
I just dropped our three-year-old off at her first day of preschool and have now entered a new season of parenting. One in which I have two mornings a week to myself. I have big ...
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The Gift of Surrender
My strategy for finishing a puzzle is a three-pronged approach: I find the corners, build the frame, and fill in the middle until it’s done. My daughter on the other hand has an entirely different ...
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