Sometimes, I look at you and can’t make sense of how much time has already passed… even though nothing seemed to really change day by day. I see you now while I still see you then, and I’m starting to see who you are becoming. The bigger you get, the more you start to pull… Continue reading Dear son…
I keep hearing it - “I can’t wait for things to go back to normal.” “When things are normal again...” What “normal” is everyone is longing for? Seeing family and celebrating holidays together. Having birthday parties and baby showers and weddings. Worshipping in packed sanctuaries together. Having the freedom to take the kids to the… Continue reading When things go back to normal.
On this day last year, I got a phone call at work. It was a nurse from my doctor’s office, telling me that my baby girl’s genetic screening came back with a positive marker for Down syndrome. She wanted me to come in for more tests and follow up with the “high risk” doctor. I… Continue reading Choose hope.
When we pray for peace, what does that mean? When we pray for protection, for healing, for God to bless us... what are we really praying for? When we say “Lord, thy will be done,” how often do we try to define what that should look like? I think sometimes “answered prayers” can be equated… Continue reading We are not immune.
It’s amazing how such a short phase of life can feel like your whole life. I’ve been alive for 34 years now. That sounds like a long time (to me). I’ve only been a mom for 4 of those years (a short time, relatively speaking). Yet those 4 years define who I am more than… Continue reading They won’t remember, but I will.
January & February: First trimester. Nausea all the time, sleeping all the time. Baby Bottle Campaign & Gala preparations keeping me super busy at work. My 33rd birthday and sharing the news about our addition to the family. We didn’t know the gender yet but I was praying about my pregnancy early on and felt… Continue reading 2019 in review.
I'm sitting across the kitchen table from my grandma. "Do you know who I am," I ask her. She smiles, with no recognition in her eyes. "No... you're a cute young girl, I know that!" My dad chimes in, "this is your granddaughter, Kristen. I'm your son, Jimmy." She shakes her head, confused. "Who? What… Continue reading Dementia took you from us.
Shiloh, I pray that you enjoy being part of our family as much as we will enjoy adding you to it. Spencer, I pray that you love every second of being a big brother and that you never forget that you were our first. You made us so happy that we decided to have another… Continue reading A prayer for my children.
I often heard the phrase "terrible twos." When my son turned two, I heard over and over again how interesting and frustrating my life was about to be. To be honest, I thought age 2 was a breeze. I wondered if I might be some lucky parent whose child would skip the terrible two phase,… Continue reading Three-nager.
Right around this time 3 years ago, I took a pregnancy test in our downstairs bathroom. I was home alone when I saw the two lines on the stick. Immediately, I felt this overwhelming sense of unconditional love and intense pressure to protect. I knew my baby was just a speck at that point, but… Continue reading Trading worry for worship.
Kristen Stewart, Writer 