A complicated birth, dark intrusive thoughts, and the absence of my mom hurled me into a postpartum furnace — but like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, I was not alone in the fire.
Read moreParenthood is paradox from the beginning — miraculous and grueling. When postpartum illness strikes, story and shared suffering become our most powerful antidotes.
Read moreMotherless 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.
Read moreI walked 39.3 miles through Chicago in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer — pushing back, for the first time physically, against the disease that stole my mom.
Read moreI was unqualified for motherhood — a motherless overachiever with more trust in her resume than in God. But he continually chooses the most unqualified to bear his glory.
Read moreGeneration X children of divorce carry a broken leading edge — spiritual stories shaped by loss. But God can take a generation's fractured faith and turn it into something glorious.
Read moreMy parents' divorce didn't just split a household — it snuffed out part of my existence. Thirty years later, I'm still untangling what it means to have your being divided between two worlds.
Read moreMotherhood has a way of magnifying every inadequacy. I'm learning to celebrate the gifts God gave me instead of drowning in guilt over the woman I'm not.
Read moreThe brutal gang rape in New Delhi forced me to confront my own mother's story and the uncomfortable truth that the objectification and assault of women is far from a thing of the past.
Read moreDeep friendships between women are rare, life-giving, and sometimes frightening. As my best friend moves across the country, I explore why female intimacy matters — and why so many women avoid it.
Read moreMothering two young children has dulled my once-sharp mind and stalled my writing career. But chasing perfection is the real enemy — and God is bigger than the zombie zone of early motherhood.
Read moreOn my son's third birthday, I returned to the Chicago neighborhood where he was born and reflected on how motherhood dismantled my old life — and slowly built a new one.
Read moreWe chase balance like a unicorn we'll never catch. What new mothers really need is rhythm — a grace-filled way of moving through each unbalanced season of life.
Read moreA press secretary and mother of two young girls shares the daily struggle of being perpetually on call — at work and at home — and wishing for more time to simply enjoy her children.
Read moreAfter 13 years at home with four children, my cousin Laura has found that the biggest emotional hurdle of stay-at-home motherhood isn't identity — it's the strain on her marriage.
Read moreWhen my friend Laura left her high-powered law career to stay home, she lost the identity she'd spent years building — and discovered a richer, more expansive definition of herself.
Read moreA full-time teacher and mother of two reflects on the guilt that shadows every school event she misses — and how volunteering in her sons' classrooms is the only time she feels like a real mom.
Read moreA highly educated generation of mothers has more choices than ever — and more stress. The emerging wisdom: you can have it all, just not all at once.
Read moreThe identity shift from career woman to new mother felt like a door slamming shut on my old life. It took time — and faith — to discover that where I was didn't have to define who I am.
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