Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about comparison and the overwhelming emotions that often accompany the comparison trap. I’ve reflected on how I compare my life with the lives of others, as well as how I compare what I think my life should look like to what my life actually looks like. As this season …
Category: Author: Wendi
Cheers to All Sides of Parenting
As we celebrated moms yesterday, and anticipate celebrating dads next month, I reflected on my own journey of parenting and how my expectations and anticipations have been thrown off course. There is a lot to love about being a parent, and a lot of awesomeness that comes from kids. However, there are sides to parenting …
Theological Musings
Sometimes when I observe my kids, I wonder if God ever muses over us in a similar manner as parents watching their children. For example, kids can be incredibly trusting even in the most precarious situations. My daughter is quite daring and fearless. Last summer at the playground, she wanted to follow her brother onto …
“Both.”
My son has a funny habit of replying with vague and unconventional answers when responding to various questions. For example, when asked to choose between two options, with hardly a second’s pause to deliberate, he’ll immediately answer, “Both.” Or, when asked about a particular experience, he’ll respond, “It was a little bit good and a …
Five Minutes at a Time
As we continue to navigate the abnormal season accompanying COVID-19, I have been trying to keep in mind that we all process the daily life changes and news updates in very different ways. Our unique reactions are understandable given the rapidly changing nature of the current situation and our differences in temperaments, perspectives, and circumstances. …
Vocation: What’s in a Calling?
Vocation, such an empowering, yet overwhelming, slightly idealistic word. Merriam-Webster provides the definition as “a summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action.” From the Latin root vocare, to call, vocation is often used as a beautiful encouragement to pursue jobs that utilize specific gifts and skills to meet a need …
The Birthday of Unexpecteds
Another round of birthdays is currently in full swing at my house. As I prepared gifts, cakes, and decorations to celebrate my kids’ birthdays and make their days special, I reflected on my own birthday and how the past few have been filled with unexpecteds. I don’t usually make a big deal out of my …
Finding Compromise Together
Disagreements are a part of life. Even when we feel like we essentially share everything in common with someone, we ultimately still disagree on something. Sometimes, disagreements turn into frustration over the conflict, disgust with the opposing viewpoint, or apathy and avoidance if the difference feels insurmountable. Sometimes, disagreements provide an opportunity to listen, communicate, …
My Break from Facebook
Facebook and I recently took a long break from each other. To clarify, I’m not a Facebook hater. I maintain the same account I opened over ten years ago when my alma mater joined the community. I used to enjoy posting updates and photos. It was exciting to see the number of “likes” increase and …
Making a Difference through Love
We are fully immersed in the winter season here in Minnesota, complete with dangerous windchill that discourages outside exposure longer than five minutes. Through these frigid months, I’ve been searching for beauty. Something to bring joy in this cold reality. Somewhere in this search I started thinking about the similarities between weather and people. Specifically, …
the unexpected ever afters 