Last year, our oldest daughter brought home a cabbage to grow for a school project. To help us understand, she pulled up an image of the world’s largest cabbage and matter-of-factly told us that all cabbages look like this one, and her plant would get that big too. She was sorely disappointed. We clearly saw […]
Grace
When I talk about grace
God’s Valentine’s love letter to you
We all have a past. We all have memories, both beautiful and painful, that have molded us into who we are today. While I do not presume to be God, I do know that His Word is clear on shame, guilt, and His never-running-out love for us. This is a letter written to you from […]
A try-hard girl gives common-sense grace: Rebekah Lyons
Here’s a try-hard girl sharing some common-sense grace! I knew that Rebekah was a kindred spirit when I read her book You Are Free. Here’s what caught my attention: “I’ve run the hamster wheel of achievement and acceptance; a headstrong, Type-A control freak, looking for love.” Religion, responsibility, popularity, approval and achievement reigned in her […]
Why losing weight will never make you feel “enough”
Never in my life has my weight been a simple series of digits. It’s been about identity and self-worth, a point of pride and deflation. My weight has never been just a number. Friends, something is going on in our hearts when we’ve become this obsessed with losing weight. Why are we obsessed with losing […]
Common-sense grace from author Michele Cushatt
Here’s a try-hard girl dishing out common-sense grace! Interwoven in her story is divorce, cancer, parenting teens, blending families, and fostering children while working outside the home. I love Michele because she’s funny, down-to-earth, and loves Jesus a crazy amount. How did you move away from performing for your worth and toward receiving grace? The […]
Six things we miss when we’re too busy being perfect
I thought that I’d left Perfectionist Jill behind and that her ways didn’t affect me anymore, but I was wrong. Perfectionist Jill recently made an appearance during a visit to Board+Brush, a place where you make your own wooden decor. My friends and I were to paint stencils on our signs, which sounds simple until […]
5 things I really don’t want you to know about me
Ummm… Jill. If you really don’t want us to know this stuff, then why are you sharing it on the Internet? This is your choice, sister. Yes, that’s true. But I view you as a friend, and I’d prefer no secrets between us. It’s important to me that you know that you’re not alone and that […]
How to stop beating yourself up after you make a mistake
After I bought Groupon tickets for our family to see Odd Squad Live, trouble set in. The tickets were for the right show, but they were in the wrong city… a city five hours away. This was a costly mistake. I panicked. My stomach turned into knots. I called Groupon for a refund, but they […]
Another Achiever Goes Rogue: Mary DeMuth
Another Achiever Goes Rogue! Here’s the story of author and fellow Texan Mary DeMuth. She’s a wife and mom of three, author of over 30 books, triathlon-completer, and lover of Christ. Her writing focuses on being restored and being “re-storied,” meaning allowing Christ to take your old and make it new. How did you move […]
How God made art from my mess
“I felt as if I were walking with destiny and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial… I was sure I should not fail.” – Winston Churchill Sometimes I wonder what God is up to. His timing is never mine. His methods—suffering, waiting, and heartache—are […]