Tales From the Trenches

A few weeks ago, I was blessed to have the opportunity to attend a retreat. One of the talks focused on joy. All of the mothers sitting there, most of us on our third cup of coffee that morning, seemed to heave a communal sigh, because let us be honest—it is often difficult to find joy …READ MORE

There has been a veterinarian clinic in my living room for the last two weeks. Cardboard boxes, laundry baskets, and upended toy bins line the walls, each filled with stuffed animals suffering from various ailments and injuries. Wild cats in one cage, domesticated in another, naturally. There’s a dolphin with a bandaged fin swimming in …READ MORE

The fog of war hits at the most random times. Life happens so quickly as my head spins to catch a glimpse. The constant needs pile up as one task is completed and replaced by the next in line. Sometimes I pause and ask myself what just happened here. How could I respond in a …READ MORE

The alarm blares from my side of the hotel bed. There’s no time for snooze. I pull my overworked body, groggy—and under-slept—to a sitting position, one foot at a time to  the floor. I can do this: another full day of meeting, greeting, and talking in a new town, towing the three kids with my …READ MORE

Easter is here, and so is spring in Louisiana. The trees and gardens around our neighborhood are starting to show off, bursting out in every shade of green with a few pinks and whites thrown in for good measure. Life is coming back in full force, and even without all the obvious connections to the …READ MORE

One of my weekly rituals is writing out the master calendar for the week on the dry erase board in the kitchen. It is the grand plan of who needs to be where at what time, what they need to have with them, and who I need to remember to call because it’s their birthday. …READ MORE