It was one of those nights when I felt I had failed as a mother. I tore into my kids because their messy floor was the drop in the bucket that sent my temper gushing over the side and out of my mouth and flailing arms. A few books and a pair of pants, some stuffed animals and a toy house strewn about on their bedroom floor had me threatening to donate everything they own to, “Someone who will take care of it and not leave it on the floor!” Tears were in my six-year-old’s eyes as I went on...

“Sandwich! Sandwich! I said make a Stella sandwich! You’re the bread and she’s the meat!!!!” I huffed and yelled after them while trying to run with my youngest in the running stroller behind my other three girls on their bikes. Gone are the days of telling them to keep up on their scooters. Now I’m begging them to slow down so I can keep up. (To be clear, I did not get slower. They just got bigger and faster.) My girls came up with the sandwich analogy. When they ride bikes, my...

It’s so easy to get swept up in ourselves. It’s also completely natural and expected! We have Adam, Eve and that sneaky serpent to thank for our tendency toward sin. The serpent enticed them by offering them something that was too good to be true (because it was). That snake said God was keeping the fruit of the tree of knowledge from them because if they ate of it they would be like God themselves. Lies! The truth is that God was protecting His children and when they fell for the...