Some mornings when I wake up I can’t see straight. This doesn’t have anything to do with my glasses or contact lens.

I yawn, stretch, and shuffle into the kitchen for some coffee. By the time my bare feet hit the cold tiles I am fully awake and I can’t see straight.

Alas! Today is… Today. How am I going to make it through Today?

A flood of thoughts stir in my mind and then my emotions chime in with their contributions of a sundry mix of feelings. A fog of unbelief and doubt descends to cloud the acuity of my spiritual retinas.

Elisha’s servant woke up like this one morning, too. Early one morning the young man got up and went out of his tent, rubbed the sand out of his bleary eyes, and l…

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When I was pregnant with our first child it seemed like all of my related worries were shrouded in the mystery of the unknown. And now with our fourth child on the way, even in the midst of exuberant joy and thankfulness for this new life, worries creep into my imagination like looming, stone statues.

I can recall the physical challenge of carrying a baby while caring for my young children and serving my husband who struggles with chronic pain. I’m reminded of what labor feels like when I support women as a birth doula. I can remember what it’s like to feel bone-weary and emotionally spent at the end of the day knowing a long night was ahead.

If you called me on the phone right now to ca…

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“I believe wives should be submissive to their husbands. And so do you. See? We’re the same.”

My neighbor was mistaken.

Her argument is quite common. Living overseas, we often hear people drawing the same conclusion when they compare the traditionally conservative values of world religions. “See? We’re the same.”

Early on in our time here in Dubai, I was confronted with this question: How can I help my neighbor see a difference in the hope that I have if my submission to my husband seems to her as “the same”?

Instead of agreeing that all of our virtues and conservative values are signposts on different roads going up the same mountain, I see an opportunity to give a defense of my …

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A leadership guru aired his podcast online on how to increase productivity in your work.

He said that one of the keys to productivity is to know when to stop working. He said that if you’re working more than 55 hours per week then you’re probably losing effectiveness. After this point of working past maximum effectiveness, your work will start to unravel. The demands of a long workweek can even devolve into chaos!

Being a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) is far more than a long workweek. It’s life; we can’t just clock out after 55 hours of work.

Every husband should know that stay-at-home moms wage epic battles against chaos.

Epic battles against chaos can come in the form of sibling squabble…

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One of my kids picks her nose. I don’t want to write her name here because I don’t want this information to live on the Internet forever and ruin her chances of getting into a good university.

I have another child who eats crayons. “No, little buddy,” I remind him. “We eat food, not crayons.” He spits out the colorful chunks of wax and cries.

One morning while I was reminding my daughter of what she should and shouldn’t eat, I realized something.

We’re not too different from kids who eat things that aren’t food.

Out of habit we feed our souls with seemingly harmless stuff. Most of the time it’s mindless; we don’t even realize we’re doing it until someone mercifully points it out.

“…

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If you are a pregnant mom, perhaps with your first baby, you may be reading these articles about Mommy Wars and shaking your head. As if you didn’t have enough on your mind already!

In the chaos of battles over things like bottle feeding, co-sleeping, and baby wearing, Carolyn has pointed out how the real Mommy Wars are primarily spiritual battles. The real battles are not against other moms who have different mothering preferences, but against our adversary the devil who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

God has provided protection for the pregnant woman against the schemes of the devil.

The armor of God comes in maternity sizes.

For the nex…

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This parable* was told to some mothers who engaged in Mommy Wars and trusted in themselves that they figured it all out, and treated others with contempt:

Two mothers woke up and opened their Bibles to pray, one a perfect mother and the other a not-so-perfect mother.

The perfect mother prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am Mom enough, not like other mothers who have no clue what they’re doing, or even like those whose children disobey and don’t achieve as much as mine do.

But the not-so-perfect mother prayed, ‘God, help me, a grace-dependent mother whose faith is so small but whose God is so great!’

Christian and non-Christian mothers alike decry the issue of mother-to-mother …

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I live in a culture that admires a man’s earning power, and his fertility, and his ability to rule his domain with an iron fist.

While Scripture certainly calls for a Christ-like masculinity that provides for and protects his family, the Bible takes a wrecking ball to the culture-based ideals of masculinity that are celebrated around the world.

By God’s grace, I enjoy the fruits of living with a man who demonstrates biblical masculinity. This is the kind of masculinity that emerges from the gospel, points back to the gospel, and celebrates the gospel in my home.

Unashamed

The masculinity I appreciate as a wife is of far greater value than wealth-earning power. It’s a masculinity that…

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“She’s eating her baby!” my 5-year-old shrieked as we were watching an episode on Animal Planet. The narrator coolly explained that when threatened, the mothers in this species of the animal kingdom eat their young.

I comforted my daughter. “Don’t worry, Sweet Pea. I would never eat you. If I felt threatened then I would turn to Jesus instead of chewing on you. Even though your little toes look just so tasty . . .”

More shrieking ensued as I pretended to eat her toes.

You may have felt like a “mother bear” at times when protecting or defending your children, but your instinctive motherhood is different than that of a brute animal.

Richard Baxter described how God created the maternal…

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“You know better.”

Sometimes I say this when my kids do something totally bizarre. “What are you doing coloring your earlobes with a marker? You know better.”

Sometimes I say this when I rebuke them. “We don’t snatch toys from each other. You know better.”

This phrase is instructive; I want to remind my children to exhibit the maturity that I know they’ve learned.

But sadly, more often than not, my tone is condescending and these words are accompanied by a groan of exasperation. If I wrote down the things I’ve said in those moments then the text would be punctuated by angry emoticons.

In those frustration-filled moments what I really mean when I say, “You know better” is that at th…

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