Category: Faith

In the novel, Les Miserables, the bishop of Digne is faced with the decision of how to treat men who were despised in the community because of their past behavior.  Those of you familiar with the story will likely remember the mercy and empathy he demonstrated to the main character and former convict, Jean Valjean, even after he has betrayed the …

Wouldn’t it be great if we could see into the future and live today with the added benefit of our experience a few years down the line?  
It would be so much easier to teach our families if we had the foresight to know what would work. It’s hard not to get bogged down by the daily “stuff.” Wondering if this …

Life was good in March of 2003.  We finally got to bring our preemie baby girl home from the hospital to meet her brother and two sisters.  I was ready to leave the hospital behind and more than ready to get back to the normalcy of a stay at home mom with “littles.”  My baby was going to be OK, …

On an unusually warm February morning, I walked hand in hand with my husband, Chris, toward our 20-week ultrasound appointment for our third child. As we entered the doctor’s office, I had a startling impression everything would not be okay. I immediately wished we had prayed together before leaving the house, and offered a silent prayer for strength to handle …

Two years ago I had this sweet boy, and this photo was taken just a moment after his birth. I cherish this picture and have never felt like sharing it because it’s almost a sacred photo for me. I remember exactly what I was thinking and feeling when it was taken. Now as I look at it two years later, …

“Faith means that we trust not only in God’s wisdom but that we trust also in His love."

We spent the first five years of our marriage in the typical transient state of many young couples — moving from one rental to the next for a little more space, graduate school, an internship. I eagerly looked forward to the day we could “put down roots” so to speak.  Everything from building lasting relationships to buying the perfect laundry …

Some years ago, my in-laws generously took their entire family to the island of Oahu for a family vacation.  We enjoyed an incredible week of snorkeling, parasailing, hiking, sea kayaking, and making amazing memories together.  On the final day of our trip, we spent the morning packing our things. We were busy cleaning up the massive home that we had all …

  Life was lovely in Colorado.  My husband and I enjoyed four beautiful children, good neighbors, and fulfilling friendships.  We’d lived there for eight years, longer than either of us had lived anywhere.  Our older children didn’t remember living any place else — the younger hadn’t lived anywhere else. And yet, somehow, it felt so right to leave our home …

Sometimes tender mercies aren’t the first thing we notice when life seems to be going terribly wrong. I had just gotten home from an appointment when I received a terrifying phone call from the local Hospital. A nurse on the other end said, “We have your husband here. He was out for a jog this afternoon, and we are doing …

Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be a mom. I wanted the fairytale — sealed in the temple to the man of my dreams. Two or three kids and a dog.  Somewhere along the way, I got lost. I was 20 and loving life in college. As a division 1 athlete, I was playing the sport …

Communication is a huge part of the way we operate as humans. We have evolved from the face to face conversations to texts, IM’s, and DM’s.  Communication is a way for us to feel connected and while we were in Europe my daughter felt the void of not being able to connect with me.   It was not for the …