Category: Faith

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 …

“Please!  Listen to this audiobook!” chirped my mom, “I know it could help as you try to make friends!”  With my usual teenage flair, I rolled my eyes and acted disinterested.  My mom had begged me for weeks to read Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People.  We just moved to a new city, and my mom was convinced …

Rolling over to the bedside table I grabbed my phone and yanked it off the charger. Squinting, I started my morning routine. I checked my texts, Instagram, Facebook, the whole nine yards (there’s no denying I’m a millennial) but as I swiped down to refresh my email something unexpected popped up, it was the final decision from EFY. I had …

Change and my faith have been two constants in the last decade and a half of my life. I think somewhere around our fifth move I felt good at applying the principle “bloom where you’re planted.” At the time, a lot had just wrapped up including an extended work assignment overseas separating my husband from our first baby and me …

Many years ago my family went on a trip to Arizona. Before leaving our small farming community in Idaho, my dad stopped at the Chevron station to fill the car with gas and check the oil and tire pressure before setting off for our vacation of fun in the sun. My sister, Natalie, and I hung out for a few …

Infertility has been an experience that has unfolded not only the tragedies but also the miracles that happen in life.

Are we sensitive enough to notice when one drop of poison might be destroying our attitude, fostering frustration, or giving way to ingratitude?It is being able to perceive the small changes and choosing how we will let it affect us.