Your body is a gift. She is the most uniquely precious thing – every curve, wrinkle, bump, mark, pound, and scar is telling you a story you need to hear about what she has been through and how special you are. If you are in pain or have sickness, it is not her fault. She is not against you. She is telling you she is hurting and needs your help. Be kind to her.  

I guess Mother’s Day is an appropriate time to say I’m pregnant. It is also a time I want to honor the story of every woman in my life personally and professionally. I have a privilege of hearing very personal stories in my office every week.

Have you ever experienced the feeling of shock? Do you remember what you felt, how your body reacted, what you did next? We enter fight, flight, or freeze mode, and in all 3 we are still unconsciously responding to the unexpected.

Her skin is darker than mine, and her smile takes up all the space in the room. She laughs even though she is burdened, and she plays even though she is tired. I compare myself to her as if we should somehow be carried with the same amount of love and admiration in our boys’ hearts.

A month before my 38th birthday last year, I laid in bed staring out the window into the dark night. My mind wandered in sleeplessness, and my heart ached in confusion. My life had ended up far south of WhereIAlwaysHopedVille.

I eyed each pumpkin in the patch trying to determine which ones would perfectly stack on each other to make that pristine gourd tower. You know – the one on every southern home porch that shouts “It’s fall, y’all.”

“Attention, you have 15 great white sharks near you. Please calmly exit the water.” Thanks for the heads up, but CALMLY exit the water? But the reality is that when in crisis, in the middle of trauma, in the midst of danger, we are advised to “stay calm.” Why?

There isn’t a manual for parenting, so there certainly isn’t one for taking your adopted child back to his homeland to visit biological family. It is a mix of exciting and terrifying.

A few nights ago I went to a concert at 8:30pm. I suddenly felt like I was in my 20's again. Normally I am winding down from a long day of clients, ubering my kids, getting groceries, or tending to some need somewhere.

I had an unexpected break from work today. People were sick and cancelled their appointments, so I looked at my afternoon and wondered what to do with myself.

My father is a pilot, and he has told me stories of landing a plane in an emergency – “If you feel, you die. You just have to stay calm and do the next right thing.”

I take the same route on my walk just about every day. I know it’s the safer street with less traffic, it’s nice flat land, and I have it timed out so I know exactly what gap in my day I can fit it in. It is predictable.

On a recent trip to Maine, I went on a whale watch tour. I jokingly, but with some honesty, said to my husband, “If we don’t see any whales today I want my money back.”

Most days I wake up with my mind rolling through my schedule like a news ticker at the bottom of my brain. It’s always there – scrolling and drawing me back to it – like a flashing “don’t forget!”

I could feel the fire deep in my chest after reading the many posts after the Orlando shootings. I always get overwhelmed by conflicts of opinions, finger pointing, scolding, shaming, and statements of “this could have been avoided by…” It didn’t get avoided. It happened. It hurts.

One of the common things I hear from clients, family, or friends is that everyone feels "less than" when they look on Facebook or Instragram and see photos of other people who seem to have their lives together.

I drive by this church's interesting quotes daily. Most of the time I don't notice. Today I noticed. And I got angry.

The season of advent is always so enlightening to me. Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but there are these weeks before that are dark and riddled with pain and inconveniences.

Pack only what is essential. These were the instructions I gave my kids last week as we packed up our home and filled our suitcases.

Today I have been married to Todd for nine years. I would sit here and write a bunch of really beautiful mushy things about this, but what I really need to tell you is how hard marriage is and why every day it is still worth it.

As much as I love the Fall, this blog is not about my favorite season. I started today with a lot of decisions to make –confusing and hard decisions. So I took a walk.

I sat down to write and really just didn’t know where to start. So I began just by taking a breath. A big long deep breath. And I reminded myself where I am now and what I had just been through – where WE are and what we have been through. It’s a miracle really.

Summer is kicking my butt. I am not complaining, because poolside umbrella drinks and fireflies on my courtyard patio are pretty fantastic. But for some reason I am not basking in rays of sunshine and frolicking in parks. Here’s why – there is no structure.

Often when I open Facebook I see blogs with the theme of something we should STOP doing. For example: What Not to Say to Adoptive Parents, What Not to Say to Parents who have children with Special Needs…

When I worked in the music business in my past life, one of my favorite things to do with my co-workers and friends (Thanks, Danny and Todd) was to come up with our faux album titles – because we are all stars in Nashville just waiting for our shot – might as well have our titles ready to go.

I cannot describe the amount of guilt and shame I have felt the past week.  After my last post about my “doctor mom” inadequacies, it all spiraled – his health, my shame, and our sanity.