The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

The Bye-Bye Sisters

I was blessed to have grown up with sisters--an older sister and a younger sister! And let me tell you, it was FUN. And as adults it's still fun! Annnd I now also have the added blessing of sisters-in-law. I know some of you don't have sisters and always wanted one, so let me tell you a story in hopes of encouraging you in that longing. Our family has been part of a group of families we call our life group--a Bible study group that we "do life" with. God put our group together almost twelve years ago, and even as our number has fluctuated with some families moving on and new families joining, our bond has remained strong. Our children have literally grown up together, several now young ... Read more

Thanksgiving Scripture Journal

Happy Sunday! I don't normally post on Sundays, but I want to hop on quickly to share something I'm loving in this season of thankfulness. My friend Missy has been "stamping" for several years which means I've been blessed with many of her lovely handmade stationaries. We managed to meet for coffee last week and she brought me something new she'd made. Along with a sweet card and thoughtful note, she gave me a Thanksgiving scripture journal for the month of November! I'm already enjoying daily blessings from my time with this journal in the mornings. There is beauty on every page both in its fall artwork and in the meaningful scripture study. Each day offers a scripture for ... Read more

Girls’ Club Autumn Teatime and Book Discussion

Cultivating female friendships is rewarding yet sometimes tricky. My friend, Kelli, and I have seen the difficulties that our teen girls can go through with making and keeping friends. We wanted to encourage and mentor our daughters in this area as they go about their high school activities with co-ops, sports, etc., and have been getting together every other Sunday for tea and sweets while discussing a book which covers the topic of friendship with meaningful and practical advice. Girls' Club: Cultivating Lasting Friendship in a Lonely World is authored by mother and daughters, Sally, Sarah, and Joy Clarkson and is certainly not written to one age group but to all girls and women who desire ... Read more

Our Family’s Path to Adoption: Part 2

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3 :5-6 I've always enjoyed walking through wooded trails and along interesting paths with twists and turns. The anticipation of "what's around the corner" is so exciting! As we walked our path to adoption, there were so many unexpected changes along the way, which isn't always as fu\n as a wooded path, but watching God's perfect plan unfold was an amazing experience and more than made up for the rough spots. I'm continuing today with our adoption story which much like the pictured path above, took many turns along the way. If you ... Read more

The Blessing of God’s Refusals

A couple of months ago I mentioned that I would begin posting every now and then on the topic of adoption and I have been late in getting those posts started. My apologies! I have so much I want to share but I figure you'd first like to know how our family ended up adopting in the first place. Later this week I'll post that story with all its twists and turns. As a lead-in to our story, I'm reposting this little post from summer 2020 on how God directed our paths to and through adoption. So, without further ado… A couple of weeks ago while I was walking in the early morning hours, I noticed this turtle in the grass, just about to crawl over the curb and into the street. Aware of the ... Read more

Adoption Day x 2!

(At the end of this post is a little blog announcement.) Tomorrow is a special day. It will be the 8th adopt-iversary of our son! He was three when we adopted him, and each year we have a little family celebration with just the five (now four) of us. Nothing over-the-top, just a special meal, maybe an activity, and a gift. Celebrating his adoption into our family is a special occasion each year! We also celebrate another kind of adoption around here: the adoption of our children into God's family! My oldest daughter made her most important decision ever 14 years ago this month when she became a Christian! "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children ... Read more

Teach Them Tuesday: Family Bible Time

Hello, Tuesday friends! Today I'd like to share how our family Bible time has been a huge blessing in our home. I know there are plenty of families who already do this, but if you don't and you're already sweating at the thought, let me assure you that this does not have to be formal, deep, or complicated in any way. And let me also assure you that this is not a judgmental post to say that all families should do Bible study our way and with the same frequency as we do. We don't do it perfectly. This is simply to share the idea and blessing of time together in the Word as a family. When I found out I was pregnant with our first baby, I went to a bookstore and purchased three books: two ... Read more

Snapshot Saturday: Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

My apologies if I've put a certain song in your head now just after reading the title of this blog, but we had a lot of changes around here lately, so I've been singing this tune all week, haha. Sunrises I'll start with a snapshot of something that does and doesn't change: the sunrise. I walk most weekday mornings and I snap a photo of the sunrise almost every time because each morning's sunrise is unique from the previous day's and the next day's. Some sunrises are bright and fiery, some are soft and purple, and some are muted with fog. But what doesn't change is the fact that the sun does still rise EVERY day! That's because it's kept in motion by an unchanging Creator. God says ... Read more