When You Still Need Your Mom and She’s Not There Anymore

by Lisa-Jo | May 4, 2016 | Family, Inbetween, Just plain hard, South Africa

I dropped my aunt and uncle off at the airport on Tuesday and then cried so hard as I drove away that I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep the car pointed in the right direction. I was completely stunned by my own mascara streaked face in the rear view...

There Are So Many Ways to Die

by Lisa-Jo | Oct 5, 2015 | Callings, Faith, Family, Inbetween, Motherhood, South Africa, Take Action

I think about it a lot. I think about dying. I lie in bed at night and can’t breathe from the bad dreams that paralyze my lungs at the thought of one of my kids dying. I lie there with eyes wide open to the dark and I play it through my head. How would I cope?...

Because sometimes reading someone else’s story can be like coming home

by Lisa-Jo | Apr 9, 2012 | Family, Inbetween, Kids, South Africa, Travel

We are the sum total of our stories. So when we sit down at the computer and open a vein we offer life to someone else. We pour out what we’ve learned or failed to learn as a lifeline to someone else. We offer our stories across computer screens,...

When you’re sure you can’t do it you need a friend who believes you can

by Lisa-Jo | Feb 15, 2012 | (in)courage, Faith, Girlfriends, Inbetween

Two years ago I sat on a park bench eating orange sherbert ice cream and telling Holley all these dreams that were crammed so tight inside my heart I could hardly breathe for fear of splitting down the middle. I told her about my sleepless nights. I told her about the...

“Because words can build a bridge” or “Why I blog and why you should too”

by Lisa-Jo | Jan 31, 2012 | Blogging, Callings, Faith, Girlfriends, Inbetween, Kids, Motherhood

Two years and one job ago. I sat across from the man I love on the bed we’ve loved in since we were first married ten years before. I sat and smacked fist into palm and said it again and again and again, “But this can’t be what I’m supposed to do with my life.” And...

Sometimes the only way to read our kids is by braille

by Lisa-Jo | Jan 18, 2012 | Callings, Inbetween, Motherhood, Raising Boys

She breathes through her nose when she’s having a strong emotion. Short, sharp exclamation points that punctuate her just ten months of life. Her brother yells, “Wa-hoo!” with accompanying right-hand fist pump when a surprise unfolds, there’s ice cream in a cone for...