Hello friends, can I speak to you as friends? Because today I am not sure if I know how to write an article or how to form an essay. I can only speak – and feel I am being invited to speak to you directly. So I imagine myself sitting with you – you are […]
What Postpartum Depression Looks Like {S...
While preparing for the external version of our breach son, a delivery nurse went through all the check-in procedures. While going through my medical history, I answered yes to a history of depression. She looked up from the computer into my eyes, her forehead creased with worry. I assured her I knew what depression looked […]
When the Breath Won’t Come
It’s Friday and I’m happy to be once again joining the Five Minute Friday community in writing for 5 minutes on the weekly word prompt. This week’s word: Breathe. It is one of those moments. Tragedy threatens to strike, but seems to linger. There is nothing that I can do, nothing to be done, except […]
It’s Time to Talk Postpartum Depression
Last week I traveled to Colorado and had the opportunity to see good friends, explore my old neighborhood, and speak at a local MOPS group. The topic was Postpartum Depression. What is it? What are the symptoms? What causes it? How can we prevent it? etc. I have been pretty candid with friends and family […]
Grateful 2016 is over? I understand.
Last weekend, Shutterfly offered 50% off hardcover photo-books and, since that is the only way we ever have physical copies of our pictures, I spent most of Saturday and Sunday creating a “yearbook” of 2015. (I’m obviously a little behind. Let’s not even talk about the fact that I have nothing printed from 2010-2013…) Going […]
Removing Christ before Christmas {Wait f...
One of my favorite book series is The Mitford Series by Jan Karon which follows the life of Father Tim, an aging Episcopal priest who pastors a small town of folks. His charming encounters with over-sized dogs, a next door neighbor with great legs, overzealous congregants, and runaway children – not to mention his own struggles […]
Day 16 :: Ecclesiastes {Does Life Have M...
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2) You might hear me cry these words as I toil over a sudsy sink of pots, pans, and floating food bits <shudder>. At the beginning of most days I try to empty the dishwasher so the kitchen won’t be a complete disaster by the […]
Day 11 :: Ezra & Nehemiah {Restoration}
I struggle to take days off. My problem is that I feel that if I’m not being productive then the day is not worth it. Without having something to show for myself, I feel that I am somehow failing or that life is meaningless. This makes for a very weary woman. But work and striving […]
Day 7 :: Ruth {Hope for the Depressed}
For the majority of my adult life, I have struggled with depression. I’ve gone to counseling, been on medications, switched medications, and generally sought healing as best as I have known how. But there are days and weeks when nothing seems to be working. I’ve been stuck in several of those days in a row […]
Don’t Worry: On Birds, Grass, and the Ag
I have sat down to write this post about 15 times. Sometimes on paper, others in my head. Each attempt to document the changes and uncertainties of our life, I find myself tongue tied. Paralyzed. Unable to describe where we are. Where I am. We have been in Minnesota for 9 weeks now. We have seriously considered […]