Letters to a Young Matron, Part 2
Communication is vital to a well-managed household. It is also fraught with dangers, confusion, and sin. It grows and changes. Learning to respectfully communicate is one of your greatest skills as a homemaker. You will screw this up. You will have to confess a disrespectful heart, mind, and words. Learn from these failures and follow his instructions on respecting him and managing his household.
Letters to a Young Matron, Part 1
Right now your whole world is tainted by the intoxicating emotions of romance, and the oddly amazing and indescribable sense of this man being “the one.” Take what I’m about to say and squirrel it away. Right now the very idea that you may ever have to labor (blood, sweat, and tears) to love this man isn’t to be believed. But being a matron in your home is first and foremost about loving your husband.
Doers of the Unspectacular
Clear lines help us do our work correctly, not raising it too high as if we are redeeming the world, and not pushing it too low, as if nothing here matters because it is temporary. Understanding what falls under the Noahic covenant and what falls under the Covenant of Grace is vital to doing our work right and well.
This is Being a Pastor's Wife
No one notices she must keep loving the very ones who rip her husband to shreds. That she must smile and hug and not defend. That she must urge him yet again over the wall of the trench and into friendly fire without losing her love of the shooters.
On the Reef
His buddy’s blood clouded the waves, turning the razor-blade reef slick.
Battle Prints
I have for years had a love/hate relationship with the “Footprints” poem. There is a part of me that saw a lot of beauty in it, but a part of me that also found it so trite.
War Movies (Part 2)
This is why I watch war movies. I want to hold the truth in my head when the world tells me violence is never the answer and always evil. It’s not. Good men armed are a blessing and needed. War movies remind me of that. War movies help me understand that violence is awful, bloody, and breaking, but also necessary if I want to live safely in my home and nurture little things. I can’t grow flowers if I don’t have a defender.
A Pastor’s Wife
Being a pastor’s wife is a beautiful gift. I have the privilege of serving one of Christ’s ministers every moment of every day. I’m honored to be trusted with the care of the pastor. But, it’s also a great burden. It has taken years off our lives. It is largely unseen, rarely acknowledged, and often painfully lonely to be a pastor’s wife.
War Movies (Part 1)
War movies help me not take for granted my quiet life. They help me to see how good I really have it. They remind me of the duality of life, and they help me be thankful for all that I have. They help me see everyday beauty by contrast instead of by exaggeration like fantasy.