Inconceivable: Finding Peace in the Midst of Infertility
by Shannon Woodward
(Life Journey 2006)

As a pastor’s wife, Shannon Woodward was used to holding babies. Yet her doctor’s diagnosis of infertility sent her on a journey she never planned to take. Her beautiful book explores eighteen years of frustration, pain, anger, and eventually healing. She shares how God increased her joy beyond measure through adoption.

Using a lyrical style of writing, Woodward speaks to the hearts of women, showing them how to have peace through surrender.… Read More

It’s a pie-baking day and I’m dragging a chair up to the kitchen counter in our little house in Arizona. At three years old, anything important usually happens up there, far above chin level. I watch Mama work her magic, measuring and blending flour and sugar, shortening and salt. Then it’s my turn to help.

I add several tablespoons of water to the mixture. With quick movements and a shiny fork, I help her cut through the flour mixture, transforming it into a big ball of dough. I watch her divide… Read More

In our home, the month of June brings visions of outdoor family fun. Through the years our kids would high five each other on the last day of school as we anticipated the lazy days of summer ahead. Sometime around Father’s Day my husband would put on his manly apron and fire up the backyard barbeque. The burgers would start flying and the pink lemonade would begin flowing through our multi-colored straws. Life was good. At least that is how summer started out.

We really did dream of lazy summer days… Read More

“Gather and knot.” That’s all I ask them.

It’s all anyone will ever ask of them, really.

So they try.

First, young eyes and minds gather. Stretching fingers of tree limbs catch sky, saturated in blues. Green’s but a fleeting whisper through the woods, the sky all loud and showing through.  I watch them see.

Having gathered, then they knot the strands, slow and tentative.

“The wood’s green clouds drift in on spring.” Our just-teen says the words, but his eyes keep searching the landscape, looking for more idea threads.

“I think… Read More

With lines like “I’m finding that God is blessing me with messy faces in divine places,” Darlene Schacht has the uncanny ability to warm hearts–captivating them with an inspirational focus.

Perhaps it’s her writing talent laced with design skill and determination that has placed Darlene at the hub of this rapidly growing online ministry for women that celebrated its one year anniversary in March. Christian Women Online has brought about a new wave in the ability to reach out to people both to share faith and to… Read More

This month I had the pleasure of chatting with Margaret McSweeney. Margaret is the author the beautiful gift book, A Mother’s Heart Knows. She is also the founder of ‘Pearl Girls’:

With His love and grace, God covered the unexpected pain in my life of becoming an adult orphan and transformed this pain into a pearl. We are all Pearl Girls™.  Each of us… Read More

What is a “good” father? I like Billy Graham’s definition the best:  A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.

Without fathers, where would we be?

During this current crisis in my little family, my husband has once again proven what a truly wonderful father he is. His job has always been to protect his “little” girls, and he is trying his hardest to do just that right now. Both of us

First of all, I just want to say that I grew up watching you on “Full House.”  I was about 10 when I first watched it, now I’m 27 and I have the entire DVD collection. It’s funny how “Full House” has always been one of my favorite shows, I still enjoy today, and now my son watches it with me. He’s 7, and knows everyone’s name.

I have a question. How do you feel about public schools? Being a Christian, it’s hard for me to be supportive of our country’s public schools when they don’t… Read More

Have you ever thought of the sum total of your life experiences as being a gift from God? That the journey you have walked, no matter how joyful or painful, is something God has gifted you with? And more important, that He wants you to share that gift with others?

If not, I’d like to challenge you today to make the choice to look at your life with a fresh vision. I’d like to challenge you today to make the choice to view your life as your God Story. And… Read More

I love graciously entertaining in my home, and an important aspect of that love comes from being in sync with my husband. Being in sync in many ways – spiritually, physically, emotionally, and regarding how we work together in reaching out.  Although I first loved entertaining more than my husband did, he eventually joined in – and he now shares in my bliss!

This love for entertaining didn’t happen overnight for my husband. His biggest fear was making conversation with others, and keeping it going throughout the meal. It took time… Read More

Eliminating bad habits is definitely not the easiest thing to do. Nail chewers have probably heard of—maybe even tried—the nasty tasting polish that reminds us to keep our fingers off the lips. And those of you who are lip lickers, have likely felt the sting of cracked lips in the winter. Habits range anywhere from picking skin, to blinking our eyes, to grinding our teeth. Most of us have them, yet most of us wish we didn’t.

This month we’re focusing on eating habits–exchanging the bad for the good. Overeating, eating the wrong… Read More

When the two of them began wrestling (and laughing), I was sitting on the couch working on my laptop. A guitar sat perched against the love seat; a violin lay on the floor at my feet. The wood stove, lining the opposite wall, was stoked … and hot.

“Be careful!” I said.

Father and son ignored me.

“I mean it … someone is going to get hurt!”

To that point, they’d been wrestling standing up, circling each other like wary cats—jabbing, grabbing, retreating, wriggling out of each other’s clutches. But just as

In the opening article for this column, I promised we would explore the life of a minister’s wife.  However, I want to make it clear this CWO feature is also for laypeople as we seek to understand one another’s unique perspective within the body of Christ. Forced resignations and cell phone contracts that outlast the minister’s tenure just shouldn’t be! It’s high time we start communicating, understanding, loving, and encouraging one another from both sides of the lectern. I pray this column is just one small way to do that. So, with that said, let’s get to it!

A… Read More

Not even a sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. The very hairs on your head are all numbered so don’t be afraid. You are more valuable to Him than a whole flock of sparrows. - Matthew 10:29-31

My father, a beautiful man with thick, dark, wavy hair and a towering stature of 6’3”, was my hero and my mentor. Whatever Dad was interested in, also intrigued me.  I have vivid memories as a child of five of my brother Richard purchasing a Harley Davidson motorcycle.  His enthusiasm… Read More