When it comes to packing for vacations, my daughter Molly is planner. She makes multiple lists and checks them twice (sometimes more). She plans for every eventuality. If the other members of the family forget something, we automatically turn to her because we know she probably has exactly what we …

I never read a novel from front to back. I usually skim the ending first, and then, as I’m going along in the book, I often flip to later chapters so I can see how the situation I’m currently reading about is going to turn out. This drives my loved …

On Thanksgiving Day, I sat on the loveseat in my sun-soaked living room and read the final pages of Ann Voskamp’s book, The Broken Way. As I wrote here, God used Ann’s words to change my heart about my relationship with my mom, wiping away 46 years of expectations and …

My mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2016 (although in retrospect, we can see she had likely been on that path for at least a couple of years). That summer, she broke her wrist very badly, which really accelerated her decline. Then last June, a bad fall in the shower …

For the last decade or so, I’ve helped organize my church’s annual Christmas Tea. I’m involved with ticket sales, table decorating and other logistical details, but one of my favorite responsibilities has always been finding someone to give the morning devotional. Past speakers include a woman whose first husband died …