“The older women…are to teach what is good…” (Titus 2:3) Two “older women” have greatly influenced my life over the past forty-something years. One is Elisabeth Elliot. The other is Edith Schaeffer. It’s too bad we’re all done having children 🙂 , because we really should have named some girls after these two godly ladies who have so deeply influenced my life. Edith Schaeffer, at age 98, finally met her […]
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The Power of a Promise
I gave the devotional at the bridal shower of a long-time family friend (and former Doorposts employee) this past weekend. I thought I’d share it, slightly modified, as today’s post. That will leave me more time to work on posts for our upcoming “31-Days-in-Psalm-37-for-Busy-Busy-Mamas” that we’ll be sharing in March. Stay tuned! 🙂 Forty-one days from today, Juli,  you will celebrate one of the most important days of your […]
Read More →Another Great Christmas Book — and a Giveaway!
We found it. We found our children’s Christmas book for the year. The highlight of our annual Christmas shopping downtown was Powell’s Books (and the falafel pocket sandwich at the Saturday Market). John and I headed to the children’s section (with many detours along the way), gathered an armload of promising-looking Christmas books from the shelves, and settled onto two pint-sized chairs next to a tiny table. We were looking […]
Read More →Favorite Christmas Books
Ruby and I had our first sleep-over last night. She has spent the night along with her sister before, but this time it was just Ruby all by herself. Wow! One grandchild at a time is a lot different than seven all at once — just like when our kids were all little. Back then , I started taking just one child out at a time, all by himself, for […]
Read More →Raising Real Men Boot Camp 9-12
From the authors of Raising Real Men, Christian Small Publishers 2011 Book of the Year When our children were all little and Melanie was feeling overwhelmed, most people responded, “You just wait ’til they’re teenagers! You think it’s hard now?” Well, thank you, that’s very encouraging. Does it have to be that way? Does life with a teen have to be more difficult than life with an untrained toddler with […]
Read More →Homeschool Superheroes
When Kerry Beck asked if she and her daughters could include me in their Homeschool Superheroes interviews, I was quite certain that I do not qualify as a “super-hero,” (and I certainly don’t look like the superhero ladies in her graphics!) But I agreed to join in on the interviews because I do serve a God who is stronger than any superhero, and His love and grace are the reasons […]
Read More →Memorizing Scripture through Song
Not long ago, I was washing dishes with fiddle music playing in the background, when I overheard a small voice start singing in the other room. I listened, and my three-year-old was singing another song that I’d played a few times earlier that week. As I listened, I was surprised to discover that she knew the whole song! What a wake-up call. I realized if she could memorize things that […]
Read More →Raising Real Men – Review and Giveaway
I’m glad to have discovered Raising Real Men by Hal and Melanie Young, especially now that Katelyn and I have our own little man to raise. This book is a treasure-trove of biblical wisdom, seasoned advice, and good-natured humor. The Youngs (parents of six boys) aren’t sharing theories; this is advice from the trenches. The best thing about Raising Real Men is that it helps clarify the difference between outright […]
Read More →The Older Woman on My Bookshelf – A Review (and Giveaway) of “The Hidden Art of Homemaking”
I don’t read very many books more than once. My “to-read” list is way too long to use up time reading a book I’ve already read. But over the last few days I’ve been reading The Hidden Art of Homemaking for the fourth time. Every time I read this book I come away refreshed and inspired. And every time I read it, I’m in a different season of life and […]
Read More →Finishing What God Has Given Me to Do
I think I know what I would like carved into my gravestone someday. (How’s that for a morbid thought on Valentine’s Day? 🙂 ) Here it is: “I have finished the work which You have given me to do.” Jesus prayed these words before Judas betrayed Him. It would only be a few hours before He went to the cross (John 17:4b). Elisabeth Elliot, in her insightful (and highly recommended) […]
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