For about a year I’ve been looking for every-day gifts, the little (and not-so-little) things that with familiarity I take for granted and stop seeing. Ann Voskamp hosts a link-up every Monday for those who are doing the same. She has challenged readers to see the gifts in what she calls “the hard graces” –…

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At least three times a week, I tell my kids, “Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do. It’s part of growing up.” And at least three times a week, I tell myself the same thing. I really wasn’t in the mood to decorate for Christmas this weekend. It’s gray and rainy…

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It was midnight and the girl was in our room again, this time to say she couldn’t get her music to stop playing. I’d lost count of how many times she got up in the four hours since we’d put the kids to bed. My body had imposed a 30-second fatigue delay – the time…

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Today I join Ann in looking back on the previous week and giving thanks. She’s traveling with Compassion International to Ecuador this week. Follow her trip every day on her blog. We dodged a stomach flu bullet last week – only one of the five in our family caught it. I had to reschedule quite…

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I feel normal today. I shouldn’t, but I do. (#517 times 100!) It is two days until the third anniversary of our daughter’s death, and one day until an important heart check-up for my son. I should be a sobbing mess, barely able to get out of bed, let alone focus on a screen and…

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