I struggled off and on with bouts of depression as a young woman, so when the blues hit me three months after Scott and I got married, it wasn’t a new experience. I decided to ask for prayer at church. We had recently joined a small start-up fellowship which numbered perhaps twenty and met in a tiny, rented building. Most of us were in our twenties or thirties. What we lacked in wisdom and experience, we made up for with zeal. When I asked for prayer about my depression, more than one individual chimed in with a prophetic word. I was told the depression happened because I was Continue Reading

Judah stretched and yawned, absently fondling the soft ears of the sheep lying nearest him. Shepherd’s Field was quiet at night, as usual. The tiny town of Bethlehem lay just down the road. Not much going on there tonight, either. Judah didn’t mind. He was a thoughtful lad, an animal-loving daydreamer. The older shepherds often teased him about his wandering imagination. “The boy’s mind must be in the heavenlies again!” Zebediah would say, causing the others to chuckle and shake their heads. Despite the teasing, Judah enjoyed his apprenticeship as a Levitical shepherd. It Continue Reading

As a change of pace this week, you get to watch a video instead of reading a blog post! Pastor Nathan Breithaupt of The Refuge Church in Walla Walla, Washington interviewed me last month on "Parenting during a Pandemic." Click this link to view the video on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com It's 35 minutes long, so check out a few points of interest at these minute marks: 4:25 – A little about my story and how God’s plans for us and our families are bigger than our little dreams. 8:00  – Who is responsible for your child’s intellectual formation –their teachers, or Continue Reading

Five-year-old Jamé was excited.  This was going to be her first show-and-tell.  Although not outgoing by nature, she looked forward to showing off her indigenous heritage to her classmates. On the big day, Jamé proudly put on the pink jingle dress her aunt had made for her. She wore moccasins and put a feather in her braided hair. To show the other children what powwow music sounded like, Jamé brought a little CD player. Too shy to dance, she simply played the music and then explained to her classmates what she understood about Native American traditions. This should have been a Continue Reading