Category: The Valley
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A Hole in the World
This past week was brutally, brutally hard. The ache for my mom was almost stronger than it’s ever been before. I felt desperate to call her, hug her, and tell her what an amazing mom she was. I longed for her presence, her laugh, her somehow perfect wisdom of when…
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Could He? Did He? Why?
All summer long, Joe and I attended an 11-week intensive Biblical training course. Every Monday from 9 AM to 9 PM, we sat in the arctic upper room of Lafayette’s Northend Community Center. We heard compelling lectures from some of the best Biblical counselors in the business. And then we…
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My Times are in Your Hands: A reflection on our baby’s due date
July 25 was once a day that I couldn’t wait to arrive: the prepping, planning, hospital-bag packing, the eager expectation of that slightly-too-fast drive down 465, to finally get to park in the hospital loading lot like so many pregnant women I’d watched before, rather than twisting through mazes of…
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Wisdom Observed: Things I’ve Learned from Carrie Saunders
It was a Wednesday in May — two days late on my period once again, but ravaged by fear and overwhelming what ifs. I committed to not taking a test until later. Much later, careful that I might not even get my hopes up about being pregnant until I physically…
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Wish You Were Here
For the longest time, our family has had a group chat titled, “Wish You Were Here!” It was set up by Mom, of course, so that she could share pictures of various family vacations with our grandparents. It became a rite of passage for the add-ons — if you made…
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What they don’t tell you about a miscarriage (Part 2)
I recently reflected on the unexpected elements of miscarriage. Sure, we had lots to learn about the pain, the pills, the procedures. And our eyes were opened in ways I wouldn’t have necessarily asked for to the grief, the questions, the lament. But there’s one more thing they don’t tell…
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Farewell to CL
A Cheesy Rhyming Reflection about our First Married Home The boxes are packed and stacked ceiling-high. The truck and the trailer are waiting outside. Our valiant team of movers is in the parking lot below, waiting to be told what to lift and where to go. We’re bidding farewell to…
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What they don’t tell you about a miscarriage
When Joe and I began trying for children, the farthest thought from my mind was that we would lose the baby. I should’ve considered it — it’s a brutally common reality of our fallen world — but I thought it would never happen to me. That Christmas-morning bloodstain was one…
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Joe Stepped In: a tribute to my husband
The anniversary post I typed last year was marked by left-to-right leaning back and forth, a desperate attempt to stay positioned in front of a rotating fan while sweat splashed on the keyboard. 90 degree temperatures scorched the Indiana earth beneath our feet, and for the fifth day in a…
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School Year Reflections
It was the night before the first day of school when my mom was rushed to the hospital with difficulty breathing. I remember tossing and turning all night, knowing this restlessness would not set me up for a successful start to school but not being able to do anything else.…
House on the Rock 