Everybody says it. Not very many of us believe it while we’re actually in the trenches. But it’s true. The years go by way too fast! Make the years, the days, the minutes count. You can’t go back and do it again. (Photography by Sweet Life Photography, Portland, Oregon) More pictures to come! 🙂
Read More →Category: Raising daughters
Previews of What’s to Come
One of my prize possessions sits on a dresser in our bedroom. It’s one of the first things I would grab if the house was on fire. It’s nothing fancy — just a little pitcher from an antique store — but inside it are several folded pieces of paper. Those are what I would want to save. They’re letters — letters from my children on the eve of their wedding […]
Read More →Dates with Daddy
It’s usually a spontaneous decision. When dinner is over, I’ll tell one of my girls (age 2 and 4) to hop in the car with me for a quick “daddy date.” This proposal is usually met with much excited bouncing, looking for shoes, and deciding which dress to wear before we set off on our adventure (which usually involves searching for ice cream in some form :-). In the car, […]
Read More →Gifts from My Father
Last night my husband and I made the trek once again to my daddy’s property to work, along with three strapping young men, on preparing it for Susannah’s way-too-fast-approaching wedding day. She and Peter want their reception there. So we’re working hard — along with a mob of amazing covenant brothers and sisters — to make it happen. I’m quite sure more than a few people think we’re a bit […]
Read More →Courtship, Part 4: Courtship Pitfalls
I had to laugh when someone shared this typically snarky quote from Doug Wilson with me. “Since I wrote ‘Her Hand in Marriage’, I have heard more than one courtship horror story. And more than once I have consequently said that the courtship model means that we have six idiots involved instead of two.” Maybe this is why any post about courtship is usually met with at least a few […]
Read More →Make Some Lists!
I’ve spent the last few weeks with a lot of lists. I’ve been making lists, referring to lists, and checking off lists. We have a wedding in just 23 days (!), and lists are what keep me on track (most of the time). I have lists for food, lists for flowers, lists for purchases, lists for music. I have lists I am faithfully checking off in my well-used copy of […]
Read More →Courtship, Part 3: Some Thoughts on Courtship
Courtship is a topic that’s dear to me because I believe in it. It’s also a topic that’s fresh on my mind. We have six children. Four are married. Another is engaged and will be married in a month. (Oh, my goodness! What am I doing writing blog posts?! ) This will be our fifth wedding in a little more than six years! We can say that we’ve seen courtship […]
Read More →He’s Faithful.
“But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.” (2 Thess. 3:3) OK . . . I had different post almost finished before I left this afternoon for my daughter’s first bridal shower. But instead, at 12:04 a.m., I’m going to start over. I spent a lovely evening celebrating the upcoming marriage of our youngest, and I spent it with ladies from the extended family of […]
Read More →How NOT to Discipline with Scripture
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…” …but we can misuse it. Don’t use God’s Word to discipline your children without a real love for God and His Word. Children are experts in detecting hypocrisy. They will see right through you, and be provoked to anger. They will be tempted to reject you or what you are trying to teach them. When […]
Read More →The Importance of Community: Courtship, Part 2
I am basking in the joy of our church’s annual family camp this week. This is the 25th year we have attended camp with this group of fellow-believers! Some of our babies weren’t even born when we started coming to this camp. Now most of them are married, and some are chasing their own little ones around the campground! In between the great singing and eating, learning and sharing, and […]
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