Sacrifice, Sanctification, and Scrubbing Toilets {An interview in which I admit random stuff}

by Lisa-Jo | Oct 17, 2011 | Blogging, Callings, Family, Marriage

Have you heard of the Nester’s 31 Days series? She’s done it for three years now each October. This year over 700 people are participating. I know, right? I am not one of them. I wasn’t brave enough to commit to 31 days of posts in a row. But today...

For The Days When You Want to Quit Motherhood

by Lisa-Jo | Oct 13, 2011 | Callings, Faith, Motherhood

This post is for my little cousin, Bronwen, who’s at the one year mark of motherhood. And it’s for you. This post is for those days when “getting over yourself” is the last thing an exhausted, I-can’t-take-it-anymore, run down mother needs to hear. Can I just...

Maybe the best way to get over yourself

by Lisa-Jo | Oct 12, 2011 | Callings, Kids, Motherhood, Raising Boys

I like sleep. I like spending hours reading books, alone, in perfect quiet, in a pool of sunlight on a late fall afternoon. I like a clean and tidy house. I like to eat food while it is still hot. I like clean clothes. I like to brush and style my hair in more than 2...

How to be successful at anything

by Lisa-Jo | Oct 10, 2011 | Callings, Faith

And I get her out of the bath and wrap her up in shiny, skeins of softness that compliment her still brand new skin. I burrito her into my arms and we both laugh and the air smells like baby lotion and love. These are my big moments. No one sees them but me and her. I...

How to see nothing routine about your routine

by Lisa-Jo | Oct 5, 2011 | Callings, Faith, Family

All the dishes get done even if all the laundry doesn’t. I wipe down that table top that wobbles on four legs that have been loosely unhinged ever since we had boys. Paper towel and hand smooth over the old paint splotches that won’t come off and the scratches that no...

I want my kids to know I was more than their mom

by Lisa-Jo | Sep 29, 2011 | Callings, Faith, Family, Kids, Motherhood

I want my kids to know me. Not some perfect version of me. And not just the mommy side either. I want them to know how much I loved books and what a great kisser I thought their dad was. I want them to know that like my mom before me, a favorite thing to do was curl...