Current Events
A Month in France
France has such a distinct sense of place that when I leave, I miss it — its reverence for food, its tradition over profit, and the bedrock principles that no act of terror can snuff out.
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Stories about everything from motherhood, faith, and grief, to classical-Christian education, current events, and the writing life.
Motherhood Wellness
Fleeing Breast Cancer, I Found a Miracle
I scheduled my preventative double mastectomy in September to give that dreaded month a chance to redeem herself. She didn't disappoint.
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Why I Said Yes to Cancer-Preventing Surgery
After one too many MRI biopsies, I decided I wasn't taking another lap around that monstrous circle of hell. Cancer or not, I was finding a way out.
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On Being a Mom Without a Mom
Motherless mothering is its own wilderness. Without my mom's roadmap, I've had to define motherhood for myself — and teach my children about a grandmother they'll never know.
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What the Living Can Learn From the Dying
Kara Tippetts dared to call breast cancer a 'great story' — and in doing so, she flew in the face of every fear I've harbored since my mom's death.
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Staying Healthy After Losing Someone to Suicide
Sorrow isn't the enemy of joy — it's joy's fraternal twin. After my brother's suicide, I'm learning how to grieve well and live fully.
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Suicide and Its Unrelenting Stigma
Stigma chases those who've attempted suicide, those who grieve them, and even the professionals who treat them. Changing this starts with raising our voices.
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“You Are, I Am”
A vivid dream of a lion, a psalm about protection, and a song called 'You Are, I Am' — God was speaking, even when I thought he wasn't listening.
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Grieving at the Holidays
The holidays after a suicide are a bitter cocktail of grief and expectation. Acting as if nothing happened doesn't help — but showing up does.
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Breast Cancer History, Please Don't Repeat
Six months of mammograms, biopsies, and fear led me back to the summer I watched my young mom die — and forward into taking charge of my own health.
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The Upside of Early Loss
Losing my mom as a teenager gave me coping skills I never expected to need again — until my brother took his life.
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I'll Bring You Flowers
For 24 years Jim tended our mother's grave. Now my sister and I repay him, adorning his headstone beneath a big, old tree.
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