Awkward Christian
People keep asking me how our family’s six months in Argentina were. I have a hard time answering. There’s the sexy part: I prayed in an Ecuadorian church, rode horses in the Argentine countryside, and once carried 10,000 pesos stashed in my boot. But I also washed dishes, tried to find palatable soy milk, and fretted …
People ask me how Argentina was. I have a hard time answering.Read More
Originally published at The Happiest Home. It would happen almost every month. “I wish I were someone else,” I’d cry. I wanted to squeeze small enough in my skin that I could be free of being me altogether. My husband would hand me tissues while I explained how I’d never get anywhere, being who I …
During his year abroad, my friend Terence was descending stairs in one of the busiest subway stations in Japan. He stumbled and fell. He told me he tumbled like you’d imagine a cartoon character falling down stairs: spinning and bouncing down two long flights before he reached bottom. He lay like a tangled marionette there, …
This post originally appeared on The Happiest Home. I’ll happily cook a three-course chicken dinner. I’ll willingly gather laundry and drop it in the wash. But for a long time, washing dishes, especially by hand, was my least favorite chore. But moving to a house without a dishwasher changed that. I’m spending more time up …
All I know about creativity I learned from washing dishesRead More
At least once a day, one of my daughters will come to me and ask for help buttoning a , tying a shoe, or putting a ribbon into their hair. Almost every time they do, they will turn and stand several feet from me, far out of my reach. “I can’t help you unless you …
One thing I notice about being abroad is the powerful pull American culture has around the world. People know the names of our states (quick! name a province in Argentina! Or more than one in Canada!) they know our movie actors, our television shows. They buy our technology, they translate our books, they learn our …
Welcome to the Book of Common Prayer! We’re so glad you’re here. We know you feel a little self-conscious breaking open a book of liturgy for a church you’ve never actually attended. But don’t worry! We’re here to help. Remember: you’re alone. No one can see you make a fool of yourself except God, and …
I know this will shock you. Sometimes people disappoint me. I know, I know, obvious. But if it’s so obvious, why is it so hard to deal with? One of my biggest Achilles heels is an abundance of high expectations. Not just with myself, but with those around me. And sometimes, when others don’t meet my …
As a kid, I imagined a black belt meant that you were a martial-arts expert. So I was surprised to learn later that it signals a mastery of the fundamentals. The basic vocabulary. At the time, I felt oddly depressed by this bit of information. I was just out of college, and realizing that my years of …
My daughter lost one of the keys to our apartment. Thankfully, it was not the key that opens the front door or the back door. Instead, she lost the key to the bathroom. Yes, the bathroom. She liked playing with it when she was bored, moving the thin deadbolt back and forth, a tongue slipping in and …
We had a week. A week of being stuck inside from rain. A week of fevers, of bad tempers–mine included. A week of cancelling play dates. A week of homesickness hitting. A week of stir-crazy. A week. I’ll be honest with you: I would rather write a post where everything in my parenting life is …
It’s called Plaza de Bolivia, a wedge-shaped expanse of green with two fenced playgrounds, a carousel, and plenty of sunbathing city-dwellers. It’s sandwiched in-between a busy train track and Avenida del Libertador, an eight-lane boulevard filled with taxis and buses. The high-rises along the Avenida are a mountain blocking the sun. And in the middle of it all, …
When people learn I can speak Spanish, their first question is, “Are you fluent?” And for a long time, my answer was no. I speak Spanish well, I reasoned, but I was hardly fluent. If I have to tell a story about my hopes, dreams, fears in the past, I get tangled in the verb …
When my husband and I got married, we bought a house. Along one side of the house was a covered area where you could have a table in the shade. Only the covering was infested with termites, so the owners removed it before we finalized the sale. Just the covering, not the poles and beams. The …
I love a good list. Even if the task is unpleasant, I grit my teeth and don’t procrastinate. This might sound like a good thing. But when it comes to connecting to Jesus, my type A personality has often robbed me of joy. Since I became a Christian, I’ve known that daily connection to God …
It is hard for me to say this out loud, but I’m always afraid of losing my faith. I imagine it slipping it out of my fingers and being gone forever. But a recent incident made me realize how backwards I have this narrative. And I found freedom realizing who, exactly, is in control of …
Losing my wallet, my keys and (sometimes) my religionRead More
I’m amazed at the astonishing affect friendship has on grammar. When I’m surrounded by people I know here, people with whom I have shared history, years of relationship, and hours and hours of great anecdotes, I feel confident and eloquent in Spanish. I can make jokes, understand stories, and say complex things. When, on the …
I felt pretty proud of myself the first time Lori Pickert favorited one of my tweets. Lori is the author of Project-Based Homeschooling, a book that continues to influence how I approach my two kids’ education. Her blog is always inspiring me to not only educate my kids with more passion, freedom, and intention, but …
My family and I spent six months in Argentina in 2013. Here’s a vintage post about what we can learn from countries off the beaten (first world) path. Why bother going to the third world? If a country isn’t famous for anything but revolutionaries or poverty, is it worth the trip? Before I answer this question, …
This post originally appeared on The Happiest Home in 2013. Two months ago, we said goodbye to a house our whole family loved. As we packed, I ached: I knew I’d miss the brilliant natural light in the master bedroom, the wide-open space of the downstairs, the snug backyard where my daughters set fairy tables. …
A while ago, I commiserated with a friend about how fearful we both were, growing up. Like me, the friend took years (or never attempted) to do all the “fun” kid stuff like riding a bike, swimming, watching horror movies, or going roller-skating. I bemoan this about myself on a regular basis. Like a lot …
Steve Martin was once a beginner. You might be thinking, “well, duh.” But wait a minute. Imagine Martin–the same Steve Martin that won Grammys, hosted SNL, wrote books and screenplays and starred in movies–as a wobbly kid biking into Disneyland to get his first job. A messed-up teenager copying others’ jokes. A failing comedian thinking …
About a year after I got married, my husband saw a book on freelance writing in a bookstore. He bought it for me. Which was a lovely gesture. Then I got it home, read it, got inspired, and decided to give it a shot. I would send out pitches to magazines! I would get published! …
Why my first stab at “success” looked like, well, a stabbing.Read More
With my first kid, it happened without me wanting it to. With my second, it was planned. I’m not talking about the pregnancies. I’m talking about writing. Or, more accurately, not writing. I stopped writing from after each kid was born for about a year. With my first kid, I did not plan to stop. It …
