The Right to Be Called Gritty

I have found myself wallowing in pity lately. I have found myself screaming to God, “Why me? Why can’t you let up? Why do we have to have one legitimate trauma after another?” I have found myself trying to reason with God, believing the maxim that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, but telling God that I think I am plenty strong enough for the time being; thank you very much. And then I picked up True Grit, and I met Mattie Ross.

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When Following is Freedom

We are a lonely culture that values “being rebellious” over true, deep happiness and fulfillment. Really, it all boils down to pride, yes? But truly, I need people. I always have and always will need people—and there is true freedom in following something proposed in love.

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Dracula: The Inspiring Power of Tangible Beauty

More than a mere horror story, Dracula invites the reader to examine what is required to seek and protect the Good from the evils which are always present, though not always easily recognized or seen, in our world. What fascinates me most, particularly during this latest encounter with the novel, is Stoker’s proposition that the most potent methods of promoting the Good are also some of the most ancient and timeless.

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Seeking to See the Gift

“Everything is gift.” The theme of last year’s Well-Read Mom conference for the Year of the Giver seemed perfect. The idea sounds so beautiful. And yet still, I sometimes wonder, is everything a gift?

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Home: A Reflection on Seeking Amid Family and Motherhood

Listening to my husband read aloud “Two Old Men” to me and our children was one of my sweetest memories of 2022. And this introduction to Tolstoy led me to read Anna Karenina, my favorite book of 2023. This story of two old men, with all its beautiful lessons about pilgrimage, true worship, hospitality, and corporal works of mercy, seemed to me a story about motherhood and being a stay-at-home mom.

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Wonder Makes Us More Human—and More Fun!

Women who live with wonder have a unique ability to impact their surroundings; they are the ones who create an environment in which people can thrive. Children are good at reminding us to see. Antoine de Saint Exupéry’s Little Prince teaches the narrator, “It is only with the heart that one sees rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eyes.”

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