Writing

What joy it is to partner with She Reads Truth, (in)courage, Family Christian, The Joyful Life Magazine and so many more wonderful publications. Click here to read writings published in online communities and magazines.

Here you'll find a collection of "reader fave" blog posts and encouraging posts for the mamas who are raising boys.

Reader fave blog posts

On Preparing Soil and Launching Children

By Marnie Hammar We’re moving our firstborn to Ohio State and I vacillate between lingering in the depths of despair and hyper-fixating...

Three Ways to Prepare Your Heart for Thanksgiving

It’s closing in, isn’t it? Our lists are growing: Buy the turkey, look up and pretend to understand words like “brine,” stock up on and...

Where We Are Doesn't Have to be Where We Stay

I have a thing for barns. Most weekends, back roads are our choice for getting to soccer, and if I’m lucky enough to be a passenger...

On Picking Up Our Broken Pieces

Whether he likes or not (he doesn’t), my middle son unloads the dishwasher every day. Last week, as he was stretching to put a serving...

On Chasing Light and Turning from Vultures

The sun reached forward, adorning the tops of trees and tips of houses in gold. I needed to be out in it, to feel on my face and my...

On Forgiveness: A Fight for the Promise of More?

The afternoon sun reached through the window, shining on my morning coffee. The day had passed without me. I pretended to not think about...

An Awkward Lesson in Love from Junior High Pickup

Really, it doesn't matter whether she was right or wrong. What matters is who I was in response.

From Hearing to Healing: How God Spoke Into My Pain

It wasn’t necessarily a deception, but it felt like it. We’d been led to believe something that would change our family forever —...

What I Learned from Being the Liar on the Playground

My mom took my brother and I to a park in a neighboring town that was much bigger than our little burg. I remember how its decorative,...

What You Need to Know About Superhero Capes

When my middle son was in preschool, one of the moms made a superhero cape and matching mask for each preschooler in the class. Every...

Lessons from an Ivy League Library

Once upon a time, I worked for an Ivy League university near Boston, where my job was to interview and write about students and faculty...

When God Shows Up in the Grocery Store Parking Lot

I saw her, but I didn’t really see her. I was loading my groceries into the back of my car, hurrying. It was almost dinner time and I...

Discerning the Voice of God: A Journey of Discovering that He Speaks

Photos by Pam Scott, @pjscott6 It’s a Thursday morning in August, 2006. I finish vacuuming, because when you’re selling a house, you...

We Can't Welcome Spring Without the Soil

It never fails. When spring offers its long-awaited warmer temps and my boys burst outside, slopping through the softening gunk and mud,...

New Year's Goal: Embrace Growth and Grace

Let’s talk about what just happened. Remember December? We taught our kids about Jesus' birth, we did the advent calendar, we bought the...

Confessions from Soccer Carpool

I’m nearly damaging my steering wheel with my anxious gripping, waiting for the red light to turn. My middle son is lacing his soccer...

I am not your Happy Maker

Summer closes on my 13th year as a mama. After I see my three boys off to school, and I’m left with my first moments of quiet since May...

Raising Boys

What a joy and adventure to raise a son...complete with stink and dirt. If you're a boy mama, here's your soft landing place.

Raising Expectations for Boys: What if ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ Was a Good Thing?

[Featured on The Joyful Life Magazine blog.] He grabbed the rungs on the ladder for the big slide when another boy started to pull on...

46 Mom and Son Date Ideas: Fostering Connection Between You and Your Boy

[Featured on The Joyful Life Magazine] We’re bumping over the railroad tracks, heading to his soccer game, when my almost 11-year-old...

Raising Teen Boys and the Ministry of Food (as Told by a Reluctant Meal Planner)

[Featured on The Joyful Life Magazine blog] My oldest thunked his soccer bag down on the counter, opened the fridge, and let out a...

Riding the Waves of Raising Boys: How to Stop Being Controlling as a Mom

[Featured on The Joyful Life Magazine blog] I was sitting on my hospital bed, still wearing those blue hospital socks with the grippy...