Choosing Joy at Christmas Christmas can feel complicated. We can feel lots of emotions at once: harried with many things to do, spread thin inside a calendar filled with parties and people you may or may not actually want to see, longing for—or freedom from—Christmases past, with a ribbon of delight and a…
Posted by Sherry Surratt | Jul 25, 2016 | Blog, Make It Personal | 0 | Many jobs come with at least a few personal benefits . . . like vacation or sick days; perhaps a maternity or personal leave option and if you’re lucky, even some personal development opportunities like access to mentors or…
Posted by Kristen Ivy | Dec 2, 2014 | Blog, Create A Rhythm, Imagine The End | 3 | So time is moving. And it’s moving faster than you think. What does that mean for you as a parent? How can you make the most of the limited amount of time that you have with…
I have had the worst year ever. I don’t mean compared to other peoples’ years. I’m not so ignorant as to think that I have a particularly hard life when compared to so many others. However. In my world, 2016 has been one heck-of-a roller coaster. But not like a smooth,…
Right before Thanksgiving, I sat down with my granddaughters, ages six and three, with a Christmas toy catalog. As we turned the pages the oldest circled and put our initials by the toys we each said we’d like for Christmas. The girls picked out dolls and princess dresses, while Papa chose trains and race…
Christmas is about 7 minutes long when you have kids. One minute it’s Thanksgiving and the next you’re putting away your ornaments. Nothing moves as fast as the holidays and it’s no wonder that so many people find this time of year stressful. How do you make sure you make the most of your Christmas?…
December 24th, 1972 – My sister and I are huddled in the back seat of my Dad’s Buick rumbling down interstate 64 from my grandmother’s house in Dunbar, to our home in Hurricane, West Virginia. It was late. What started as an amazing dinner, spun itself into caroling, and storytelling, and presents, and laughter. We…
Posted by Sarah Anderson | Dec 23, 2014 | I already consider this Christmas a win for our family. Our boys were able to visit Santa, and sit on his lap, shedding exactly zero tears. Total success. I could stand back and simply observe as my boys so effortlessly experienced the wonder of the season….
The Story of the Ugliest Christmas Tree In our first year of marriage, I was still finishing up my education degree while my husband worked for a church as a youth pastor. We were poor. Even when we dug under the couch cushions for loose change (which we frequently did), we barely had enough to…
So you probably think you would be a much better parent if you had more hours in the day, don’t you? Bummer that life doesn’t work that way. When you have another child, it’s not like someone shows up and magically hands you another 4 hours a day. Nope, now you have to manage 100%…