I've lost count of how many times I've heard a woman refer to herself as "just a mom." Those words grieve me. It hurts my heart that as a culture, we rarely recognize motherhood (and fatherhood as well), for their importance. Not only does it create an often unspoken struggle of how to prioritize what is not deemed as important, but it completely the dilutes the significance of God's intentional, purposeful and personal assignments He gives in the home. Continue reading on Tiny Theologians blog...

The weight of the world is real. It's heavy and wearisome. We've been there. It's a load Jesus never intended for us to carry, but it's so easy to pick up anyway. We never want to go back, but we also never want to forget. That's ultimately why we wanted to share our stories at the very beginning of the SWHW book. "Achievement was important to me. I told myself all of it would eventually glorify God and that's how I justified my pace, my mindset and my striving. I even called my work ministry, because as a believer, that's what I was taught to call it. But I didn't work as though work was my ministry; I worked like my work was my identity. And with work as my identity, I was empty. Emotionally, physically and spiritually empty." - Somer "I was always an approval junkie. Approval was the root of my four-year eating disorder. Approval was why I was frequently changing myself to act like whoever I was around. Approval is still the reason why, without the appropriate boundaries and accountability, I have a natural bend toward being a workaholic. Approval wasn't just something I liked though. [...]

Confession: I don't read fiction often, but when I do, I read the last chapter first. I enjoy reading fiction - I really do! But because I don't get to read it as often in this season, if I don't like the ending, I don't waste my time with whole book. I've heard all of the reasons why I shouldn't: "That's cheating!" "That ruins the reading experience and the mystery of having to figure it out later!" But I personally find that I really enjoy paying attention to, appreciating and even looking for details that would be easy to miss if I didn't understand the significance of them. I'll show you what I mean. Look at the end of the recorded story of Paul's relationship with the leaders at Ephesus: "And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship." - Acts 20:37-38 Picture it. It's the grown men version of the same thing your kids did as toddlers when they grabbed on to your leg [...]