I texted him at 9pm “This time 17 years ago you were 45 minutes old Love you so much!” How does seventeen years go by in the blink of an eye? How do you put the brakes on this growing up and becoming a man thing that is happening before your eyes? How do you look up… Continue Reading
Category Archives: motherhood
Sometimes there’s just not a Mother’s Day card that fits
Maybe you stand in the greeting card aisle, putting cards back one by one because you can’t find one that says what you need it to. There isn’t a Hallmark card that says “it’s okay. You did the best you could and I turned out just fine”, now is there? Maybe it’s not that you… Continue Reading
Loosening My Grip
Sometimes, when I am quiet in this space, it becomes increasingly intimidating to return. Is anyone reading here still? And the haunting question always lurking in this writers mind– do I have anything important to say? But God, sweet friends! He just doesn’t give up on this pen to paper call He has placed in… Continue Reading
For your desperate mama moments
Three kids six and under and a mama all with the chicken pox. It is NOT my fondest mama memory. Oatmeal baths and whining {mostly from me} and calamine lotion and whining and scratching and reminding not to scratch. The worst was being cooped up in the house for a week. There was a knock… Continue Reading
2012 in Review
Wow! 2012 was one for the record books for the Smallwood family. In terms of milestones, this year was chock full of ‘em. Shayla graduated with her certified nursing assistant license in March and started her nursing career. Attended her first college classes. Got married. Moved into their first place {and out of ours} and turned… Continue Reading
What You Learn From a Quiet House
My house is quiet. Y’all, that never happens! With four kids, a two year old grandbaby, two dogs and a husband- it just never happens. Normally I beg for quiet. Sweet Pea even says “hush”, echoing what she hears from my lips so often. The clang, the chatter, the chaos of a busy home can seem… Continue Reading
What We Can Learn from Tragedy
I have been quiet in this space. A week ago Friday, the landscape of our country changed. Good versus evil collided in a way that none could have imagined and it has left us shaken, sad and questioning. It did not feel right to write anything that wasn’t related to what is on everyone’s mind… Continue Reading
Parenting boys…not for the faint of heart
Parenting boys is not for the faint of heart. I have weathered many ER trips, wrestling matches gone wrong, bloody noses, scraped knees and broken bones. {I have three rough and tumble boys, excluding my husband}. And, as I sat in the ER with my boy, I am ashamed to admit that my thoughts were… Continue Reading
A reminder to Be Still
Life can rush by at a crazy pace, especially if we take our eyes off eternity. Lisa Chan, wife of one of my favorite authors, Frances Chan, has just released a short inspirational film aptly entitled, Be Still. Sometimes, when I allow myself to get caught up in the busyness of life- the Mom taxi,… Continue Reading
God’s best laid plans
They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. ~Revelation 12:11 Shayla shared part of her story with our local newspaper for an article about the teen mom ministry I volunteer with {and that… Continue Reading