I’m loving Christmas more and more. It’s incredibly fun with little ones. Gideon seems especially excited this year. I wish you could have seen him, in the living room, jumping up and down, exclaiming, “Momma, I can’t WAIT to put up the Christmas tree! You know why? Because I love those BALLS! You know those shiny BALLS? Let’s get some of those BALLS and put them on the tree! Can we? Can we?” He was ridiculously beside himself. And in all his thrill and awe, I recovered my little girl wonder. And now that our tree is up, one of my favorite things to do is get up early before my rambunctious little people do, stumble downstairs to turn on the Christmas tree lights and then drink coffee on the couch while I spend time with my Maker.  It’s a sweet time. Just me and God and the [...]

I stand in this wreaking barn, with the manure splattered on the wall and the dust swirling in the air while the radio blares. They're telling me that there's been another shooter at a school in Connecticut. This guy has killed more than twenty people, mostly little kids. My gut groans. There's something terribly the matter with the world.Hours later, the sadness doesn't lift. Just this heavy weight pressing in, for everything twisted and painfully broken. I look over at my kids and listen to their little cheerful voices as they help Grandpa feed the cows. What sort of world will they grow up in? Can't I keep them safe? Their lives only knowing sweet things like newborn calves and kitties? Growing corn and wheat? Long walks down an old lane in the security of a family farm? I would spare [...]