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For Everything There Is a Season: Reflections on Turning 40

By Caroline Beidler / Purpose, Audio Articles

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) Almost to the day of me turning 40, I began receiving emails from my dermatologist with deals for $10 shots of Botox. Along with some other strange things like: silver hair appearing around my temples, thinning skin on my forearms, random jutting veins like tributaries on an old map on skin only visible when I wear shorts (which is rarely), under eyes like crinkle paper, new ridges etching into my forehead (what my daughter calls: “squigglies”), groaning when I bend down to pick something up, creaking when I wake up the morning after a workout, calling college students “kids,” and needing that overhead light to do the dishes… I also started recognizing a […]

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Change: How to Keep Calm and Carry On

By Marlys Johnson Lawry / Faith, Audio Articles

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) The crocuses and daffodils are stretching upward to show off their color after a long winter’s nap, and our trees are budding and leafing. It’s mid-April as I write this. With temperatures in the high 70s last week, we stored the snow-blower in the shop, uncovered the deck furniture, and set the Adirondack chairs around the firepit. During this change-of-season ritual, I commented to my husband, “You know this means it will snow again, right?” Yep. We woke up to three inches of the fluffy white stuff this morning. Of course. (Did I mention it’s mid-April?) Here at the base of central Oregon’s Cascade Mountains, seasons shift and change every which way. Now,

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When You Feel Lost, God Will Find You

By Tess Lopez / Faith, Audio Articles

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) It’s true what they say: God knows how to call his children back to him. He’s the one who created us, after all. With a week off of school for spring break (and no research papers, video projects or other tedious graduate work due), I finally had a chance to decompress. The previous six months had delivered an unending supply of due dates, elaborate holiday planning and writing opportunities that were too good to pass up. So, to make time for it all, I cut out anything and everything that I felt got in the way of me getting ahead. One of those was my morning Bible study. Big mistake. Stepping Back to

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Why You Should Tell the Story of the Mountain You Climbed

By Marlys Johnson Lawry / Purpose, Audio Articles

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) The path ended near an icy-blue lake which, according to our GPS, stood at 13,850 feet above sea level. If we had known, we would have taken on the neighboring trail. My husband and I had always wanted to climb one of Colorado’s Fourteeners—summits that reach above 14,000 feet. But we waited too long. He didn’t think he had it in him because cancer was revving up its engines. Turns out, the trek we chose that day was across a deep gorge from one of the trails leading up to 14,000 feet. In our ascent, we caught glimpses of hikers on that path and realized—too late—that we could have done it. We could

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Are the Ghosts of Your Past Still Living With You?

By Allison McCormick / Faith, Audio Articles

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) The small, blue house trimmed in bright white sits at the end of a dead-end street. Built in the late 1940s, it was taken down to the studs and thoughtfully reimagined. White tree roses line the walkway and embrace the foundation. Raised garden beds are carefully placed throughout the backyard, angled just right to catch the morning and mid-day sun. Large ceramic bowls, filled with water, and wooden feeders provide refuge for the local birds and a source of exasperation for the resident squirrels. Have You Found Freedom from Your Past, or Do You Live With It? A heart-shaped wreath invites you through the front door. Artwork and handmade quilts grace the walls.

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Trusting God Means Not Needing to Know What Happens Next

Trusting God with the Unknowns

By Kristen Bailey / Faith, Audio Articles

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) Outside of Taipei, Maokong stretches green and wild with tea plantations clinging to the slopes. Taking ropeways up into the hills, I soared unaware of the circumstances unfolding back home. We need more hope and ropeways in the world. And trust. Ruthless trust, some call it. The day I discovered Maokong ropeway, my story spread across two countries. I was in an unaware moment of the events soon to impact me. Stricken by slow-moving gondolas like Téléphérique du Salève in Geneva or the ones near Lake Ashi at the base of Mt. Fuji, I couldn’t resist finding another. Even While Away, I Couldn’t Escape the Worry Taipei sounded like a jungle beneath the

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If Kids Disrupt Our Lives So Much, Why Do We Do It?

By Ashley Johnson / Motherhood, Audio Articles

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) Before I had kids, I used to see all of the motherhood memes on social media and scroll right on by, rolling my eyes a bit. Why are there so many? Now that I am a mother, I read almost every single one, laugh, screenshot the best, and send them to my friends. They’re funny because they’re true. All of them. The ones about how your kid never asks their father for something if mom is in the room. The ones about how your toddler has a meltdown because you cut their sandwich in half (even though they asked for you to cut it in half yesterday), about how you never knew what

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Remarriage Later in Life: Are the Complications Worth It?

By Marlys Johnson Lawry / Relationships, Audio Articles

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) “Do I really want to do this?” I asked myself. I boarded a roller coaster car about four years into widowhood. The lettering on the side of the car read: “Dating and Possible Remarriage.” The bumpy ride was a lot of loop-de-loops and scary ups and downs. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to remain on this not-so-fun ride. “It would be so much easier to never remarry.” I’m Afraid of Remarriage Because… Take family, for example. I’d been married to my first husband 41 years. These sisters-in-law were my sisters, the sisters I never had while growing up sandwiched between two brothers. These nieces and nephews—they were mine. Would a new husband

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When I Feel Like a Bad Mom, I Pray This for My Kids

By Ashley Johnson / Faith, Audio Articles, Motherhood

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) “I am not a perfect mom.” I have this thought—well, much harsher versions of it—more often than I’d like to admit. I lost my patience and yelled. I made PB&J for lunch and frozen chicken nuggets for dinner because I cannot seem to meal plan. I was on my phone too much. My house is a mess (better not post any pictures from today—yikes). I tried a “super easy” kids’ activity I found on Instagram that ended in my toddler eating the glue stick and coloring on the wall. I felt stressed out rather than present during our entire trip to the park because the kids were running in opposite directions, and all these

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A Letter to My Daughter on Body Image: May You Love All of You

By Rachel Hagstrom / Motherhood, Audio Articles

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) Dear Daughter, We are together more than ever these days. I watch as you wake each morning, walk into your closet, and choose an outfit that doesn’t go together. You pull up your leggings without noticing the skin that spills over the tight waistband. You run a brush through your hair and carefully choose a headband or opt for a braid. I passively wonder if you wish for hair opposite of your own in texture and color. But there is no sighing or visible expression of disappointment as you comb through the tangles and frizz. Instead, you smile and make silly faces at your reflection in the mirror. Virtual school ends, and you’re

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This Is How to Avoid Stagnation and Get More out of Life

By Rachel Hagstrom / Purpose, Audio Articles

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) Toward the end of one of our sessions together, my life coach tasked me with an unusual piece of homework: “I want you to write your own obituary and read it to me during our next session. What did loved ones say about you? What kind of life did you lead? What was your impact? Put it all in there and let yourself go wild with it.” This particular session had centered around my feelings of being stuck regarding a new venture; I was desperate to get back to my “why” and remember what it was I was originally after. “It’s like my feet are glued to the ground and everything around me

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My Life Is a Canvas, God Is the Painter

By Rachel Hagstrom / Audio Articles, Faith

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) For many of us, the new year is an opportunity for a fresh start. We’ll seize the newness of the season by taking intentional moments to reset and re-calibrate. We visualize what the next 365 days hold for us. Perhaps because I grew up in the home of an artist, I liken the new year to a blank canvas ready to be primed and painted with brilliant hues and brush strokes of far-off adventures, rough timelines, and enormous potential. The canvas is etched in lofty goals, dreams, and aspirations; our hopes and everything we resolve to one day achieve are saturated in its fibers. Each January, I’d have a vision and high ideals

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Dear Mom, I Will Always Need You (Even Now That I’m a Mom)

By Ashley Johnson / Audio Articles, Motherhood

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) Yesterday my mom sent me a text asking if she could take my two toddlers and me to Costco. And she did. She came over at 10 a.m., acted as if she didn’t notice the disaster my house was, took my son to the bathroom while my daughter was melting down in my arms, and ignored my poor attitude. The truth is, I was about to melt down myself… which she probably knew. I now understand the uncanny accuracy of a mother’s intuition. They know so much more than they let on. They do so much parenting without even saying a word. I know this now, and I’ve only got three years under

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After Losing My Husband To Suicide, One Good Man Restored Our Family

By Amanda-Lee Pitzer / Audio Articles, Relationships

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) “I miss Daddy.” When I hear those words, I feel like someone took my heart and tossed it on the floor. Like a glass falling onto tile, my heart shatters into a million pieces. My big, brave 10-year-old, who has always been very mature for his age, turns back into a little boy that just wants his daddy back. I try so hard to hold the tears back as I watch his fall onto his cheeks. He has told me on more than one occasion that I’m not allowed to cry in front of him. It’s the night before a brand new school year, and my normally confident boy is a bundle of

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This Is What You Need for a Life Long Love

You Need to Do This for a Lifelong Love

By Ashley Johnson / Audio Articles, Relationships

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) The other night my husband and I sat on the kitchen floor and talked until 1 in the morning. The TV wasn’t on—or maybe it was—I can’t remember… We told stories about our day and rolled our eyes over the annoyances. We discussed our individual jobs and the vision we have for what we hope to accomplish. We talked about the funny things our kids are saying and doing, watched a couple videos of them, and laughed so hard. I told him about something that has been on my heart and cried because I knew God answered my prayer. He smiled and said he’d been praying that for me too. I’m not being

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Every Mom Needs Her Own Highlight Reel, This Is Why

By Ashley Johnson / Audio Articles, Motherhood

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) We all do it. The long-awaited moments of silence ensue, and what do we do after those crazy little humans are sleeping in their beds? Pull out our phone and enjoy a recap of our day. We spend countless hours with these people, during which we dream of all the luxurious things we will do after bedtime. You know, like, eat a meal, take a shower, or complete a task such as the dishes, respond to a text, or RSVP to something without interference. But then, that magical moment arrives, and we do this silly thing… We stare at the compilation of snapshots and videos that made up our day: the morning smiles

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This Is What I Would Say to My Younger Mom-Self

By Marlys Johnson Lawry / Audio Articles, Faith

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) Our daughter was away at college when our son graduated from high school. With a job lined up in Northern California, I drove him south across the Oregon border to help get him settled. On our last evening together, we went grocery shopping. Do you see how much it costs to eat in the manner to which you’ve become accustomed? But I don’t say this out loud. The next morning, I hugged him good-bye and then turned my car north. Melancholy rode with me in the passenger seat—past Shasta Lake and into the green mountains of Oregon. From birth until they sprouted wings and cleared the runway, I enjoyed every chapter of our

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