I can’t remember the exact circumstance that led up to Audrey to delivering the one-liner that will stick with our family for years to come. It may have been my exclamation of dismay when, once again, I’d done all the things to make the house clean and inviting only to have my people twirl through,…
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Find Your People (again)!
Do you know what’s fun? Trying to make friends in your early-mid-late forties. About fifteen years ago I was blessed with the most beautiful circle of women. We met at a thriving little church and before too much longer, we were basically family. Girls’ Night In every Tuesday at one of our homes where we…
I Am Who I Am…Or Am I?
One of the dumber things I do on a regular basis is decide to make a recipe I’ve never made before for a large group of people. I am, apparently, blessed with both an unshakable and unfounded confidence in my own cooking ability. Does it ever turn out well? No. Do I convince myself that…
The (Mis)Adventures of the Matthews Family: Summer Edition
Picture it..Philadelphia: 2026. A middle-aged woman and her family sit immobilized in their truck, swarmed on all sides by an undulating sea of yellow. Unable to progress even an inch, frustrated and effectively paralyzed, there seems no way forward until the woman bravely flings open the door, jumps headlong into the surge and puts on…
What Are You Building?
I heard a quote recently from Krista Bontrager that caught my attention: “Christianity will survive without America, but America won’t survive without Christianity. I think she’s one thousand percent correct. Last week I had the privilege of teaching in our Tuesday morning Bible study at church. We are going through the Psalms of Ascent, historically…
Always Something
I pause at the threshold, the open doors of the thatch-roofed cabana giving way to an enthralling expanse of turquoise water and brilliant blue sky. My sheer cotton cover-up ruffles pleasantly as a sweet, paradise-scented breeze passes by. After two solid minutes of just breathing it in, I make my way, barefoot, across pale sand…
Making Life Beautiful
It’s a quiet, perfect morning here on the screened-in porch. Or, it was until someone started vacuuming their driveway. I don’t know if that’s what they’re doing but it sounds like an industrial Dust Buster. It’s fine. I wasn’t enjoying the birdsong or anything. And now he’s apparently clapping giant erasers together. Sigh. The day…
Finding a Good Church
Church hunting in 2023 has been quite the eye-opening endeavor. Let me start by saying there is no such thing as a perfect church, because churches are made up of imperfect people! Additionally, we all have our preferences: different people prefer different music, preaching styles, location, church size, etc. The problem, we discovered while scouring…
The Real Deal
I’ve been questioning God for a while now. It just seems so unfair. Why would he set things up this way? It’s cruel, really. I’m sure most of you will agree. Why do all things delicious have to be bad for your health? Why does nutritious food taste like actual dirt (looking at you, beets!)?…
Be Encouraged
This is for the Christian who sees the world running gleefully-blindly-as fast as they can into the outstretched arms of the enemy of their souls. It’s for the Christian who is not taken in by the snake-charmers’ song: the deceptive, twisted, soothing tune sung over a generation of somnambulists: so seduced by a dream world…
