restful productivity to live deliberately & avoid overwhelm 

Practical Tips for a Hard Season

Practical Tips for a Hard Season

Life is hard. Sometimes it just sucks. I’m sorry to be blunt but it’s true. I have had some hard seasons lately that have rocked me and stopped me in my tracks. But, I have learned beautiful things in the midst of hard circumstances too. Today I want to be extra practical for those of…

Navigating Friendship – the Key to Finding Connection

Navigating Friendship – the Key to Finding Connection

Okay, you did it. You got past the schedules, you found a place, and found some people. Awesome! You are headed toward a new goal of creating friendships. You showed up and talked with people. You made some connections. You have a few class members and acquaintances that you want to get to know better.…

Navigating Friendship – 4 Ideas for Where to Start

Navigating Friendship – 4 Ideas for Where to Start

We all long to be deeply understood and known. That is truly the heart cry of humans. It’s why kids spill out long stories and complicated details when they feel comfortable. It is why movies with deep friendships move us and cause us to feel something. Wouldn’t it be great to jump into a TV…

Teaching My Teen to Leave Gracefully

Teaching My Teen to Leave Gracefully

I am in the midst of teaching my teen how to navigate this world and deal with big decisions. The saying goes that you learn how to do things best when you teach them. I am finding this to be very true. Recently we have learned what it looks like to leave a commitment (and…

Easy Family Routines: The Monday Meeting

Easy Family Routines: The Monday Meeting

It’s a Monday morning.  We are all moving slow.  The kids would rather play computer games and I would love to sit on the couch with a good book. The weekend was very busy with household tasks, catching up on laundry, activities with cousins, farm chores, shopping, and church. Now we must move into our…

The Climb

The Climb

This weekend I climbed a mountain. This was very significant for me for a lot of reasons, but first I want to mention that it has been a long time since I’ve been able to climb a mountain. When you become a parent your limitations and the things that you can do are often determined…

20 Things I Have Learned from 20 Years of Marriage

20 Things I Have Learned from 20 Years of Marriage

In the last 20 years, we have had some great moments and hard ones. We have had seasons of closeness and times when we each did our own thing.   This is my list from my experience of what I have learned in the last 20 years of marriage and married life. #1 – acknowledge a bid…

How to Be Kind to my Future Self

How to Be Kind to my Future Self

What can I do today that will help me tomorrow? How can we be kind to the future version of ourselves who is tired and worn out? How can we do the thinking right now so that we do not have to do that later? The difficult part of tasks is often the thinking and…