2014
I had a chance to read an advanced reader copy of Jeannie Cunnion's new book, Parenting the Wholehearted Child: Captivating Your Child's Heart with God's Extravagant Grace, and I not only learned from her story but I also immediately applied some of her advice. Every ...
Eight years ago, when my three children were still very young, we traveled to Omaha for an Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) Foundation conference. Both I and my oldest daughter have OI, a genetic collagen disorder that causes brittle bones, short stature, and other symptoms. ...
I should begin with two caveats: One, I'm not all grown up yet. Maybe I never will be. Two, many of my peers who aren't parents are just as grown up as I am. But for me, having kids is what it took for me to begin to grow up, and as Mother's Day approaches, I'm ...
Do you ever have a day that captures the simple goodness within your life? For me, it doesn't happen often. I have lots of grumpy days--when the kids are whining and I'm tired and there's a voice in the back of my head telling me to pay more attention to the good ...
I have always been an overachiever and a perfectionist. It might be because I'm a girl, or because I'm the firstborn of four, or because my parents are type-A personalities or just because. But either way, I remember the panic that shot from the center of my torso ...
Virginia's Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe recently signed two bills into law that provide rules for licensing genetic counselors. Genetic counseling has been recognized as a field since the late 1970s, but many states still fail to regulate it. With advances in technology ...
My daughter Eden is slow. I know that sounds negative. It feels almost like a betrayal to write it. Our world rarely welcomes slowness. But Eden, who is nine years old and has Down syndrome, remains unaware of the need to rush. Ever.
This morning she walked out of the house ...
I started teaching a memoir class in our local library last week. I've never done a class like this before, and the local program coordinator said she hoped for about twenty people from our town of 3,000. Forty-five people showed up, from age ten to eighty-five.
Apparently ...
What do you do before you go to sleep?
I remember when I was in my first job out of college, and after about two years of working until the time I rolled into bed, I started reading novels again. Just as I had as a kid, before novels became homework assignments for all ...
I'm honored to have Caryn Rivadeneira here today to talk about her newly released book, Broke: What Financial Desperation Revealed About God's Abundance. I'll be hosting a giveaway of Caryn's book on my Facebook page if you'd like a chance to read it for ...
"Good morning, sweetie peetie," I greet Temma each morning, my own eyes still half-shut when I paddle into her room. Her eyes are most often open as if she has been waiting for me. She startles a bit at the sound of my voice, her arms and feet lifting up and her ...
It was a long week.
Penny, my eight-year old daughter, was on spring break. William (5) and Marilee (3) were not. My husband Peter was out of town. So I decided to pull William and Marilee from school and go to the Connecticut shore, where we have a family beach house. ...
Last week I returned from the Festival of Faith and Writing, a conference that is just what it sounds like, populated by writers and readers and people of faith. For people like me this constitutes a taste of heaven. Being at the Festival gave me a chance to think about why ...
Just before Jesus died, according to Matthew and Mark, he cried out in a loud voice, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It's a question that has rung out ever since, as Jesus' followers continue to wonder exactly why he uttered this "cry of ...
So much pain. I was at what should have been the prime of life. Med school finished, internship and residency done. Two kids and a wonderful wife at home. But there was so much pain.
I was a rheumatologist practicing in Roanoke, Virginia when I began to have discomfort ...
2015
