Help Your Tween Daughter Share Her Anxious Thoughts

Help Your Tween Daughter Share Her Anxious Thoughts

Can you and your daughter relate to this? At age 11, I was terrified my mother had alzheimer’s. I worried constantly that my father would die of a heart attack. And I obsessed about my 5th grade teacher discovering that I misplaced a class library book. Your tween...

Hold Me Fast

Hold Me Fast

Today's post comes from Glenna Marshall. Glenna has been playing the piano since the age of seven and writing songs since the age of sixteen. Her music comes from hard places, but because of God's faithfulness much good comes from the brokenness. It was all my...

Come Out of Hiding

Come Out of Hiding

If you’ve missed parts 1 and 2 of our UNDERCOVER MESS series, you can check them out here: Part 1: Ladies, We’ve Got A Problem Part 2: Abundant Life and Abundant HOPE We’ve talked about the pressure to measure up, and the freedom Jesus wants us to walk in. Those...

Abundant LIFE, Abundant HOPE

Abundant LIFE, Abundant HOPE

Do you ever feel bogged down? Like your hope has been stolen. Your joy is all but dead. And your dreams are all but destroyed? I know that sounds a little dramatic, but many of us have felt those emotions in a very real way. Stolen. Dead. Destroyed. John 10:10 says...

Ladies, We’ve Got A Problem

Ladies, We’ve Got A Problem

  We’re all a mess. But guess what? That’s not actually the problem. That’s just life. The problem is we’re in hiding, covered in makeup and perfectly filtered Instagram posts, showing off our cute mug of coffee with a pile of laundry behind us, as if laundry...

Seeking The Still… Still

Seeking The Still… Still

One minute I put a pizza in the oven, the next I was running toward the stairs. With eyes wild and heart on fire, I felt IT rising.  Panic. Out of nowhere. Wait. Maybe this isn’t panic, maybe it’s the virus that Anna had a few days ago. Let’s see, sudden nausea, hot...

Caught on Tape: My Bad Mom Moment Revealed

Caught on Tape: My Bad Mom Moment Revealed

Guilt. Shame. Sadness washes over me as the home video abruptly switches from my cute little girls to me with my game face on, all dolled up in a white denim jacket. It was 9 years ago in 2007, when video cameras still recorded on tiny tapes. Apparently, I intended to...

Blackout: Chasing Contentment

Blackout: Chasing Contentment

On the back of my senior t-shirt, I added these words in white vinyl letters. Harmful or Harmless? What do YOU think? My maiden name is Harm, thus the creative play on words. But a darker meaning also lurked there. I swallowed my first taste of alcohol at age 16...

What I Would Tell Her

What I Would Tell Her

Fear tells me to hold these memories deep in the cavern of my mind. My weirdness, quirks, and imperfections feel safe hidden from stinging curiosity and judging eyes. But change is stirring. With each word released, with every story shared, my heart and soul are...

When Resolutions Are Made To Be Broken

When Resolutions Are Made To Be Broken

“Mommy, will you play pet shops with me?” the little voice pleads. I sigh and look up from the computer, stare at my to-do list a mile long. I begin to utter the familiar words, “Not right now sweetheart. Maybe in a little awhile.” Then I remember. Soon I will be the...

A Prayer for Seeking The Still

A Prayer for Seeking The Still

There's much to say about 2017, but it can wait for now. At this moment I want to share this prayer with you. I have adopted it as the prayer for Seeking The Still. I do hope it will bless you and remind you to ever turn your gaze from yourself to the Author of Life....

When Every Day Is Picture Day

When Every Day Is Picture Day

Today was picture day at my girls' school. The hovering cloud of tension was visible from the moment I pulled into the school parking lot. Moms frantically brushed hair with their child hanging halfway out the car door. Parents raced to the office to pick-up the...

A Masterpiece In Plain Sight

A Masterpiece In Plain Sight

By most Thursday nights, I'm emotionally and physically tapped.  Thus it is pizza dinner night at the Fleetwood abode. Justin slightly adjusts his well-worn commute to stop by Little Ceaser's for dinner in a box. Afterward, you'll...

Prayer Is Not Enough For Orlando

Prayer Is Not Enough For Orlando

Prayer is not enough, dear ones. It’s the beginning. It's the foundation. It’s important, but it’s not enough. #PrayForOrlando It’s one of the first reactions I saw online after the vile terror attack at the Pulse night club a few short days ago. And the very same...

My Word for the Summer

My Word for the Summer

The house is so quiet tonight. My daughters and husband are gone, and the animals are curled up tight. I hear the hum of the air conditioner, the lively chirps of the robins, and the cars cruising along. The television is dark. Lights and phone are off. I notice the...