Sunlight filters through the curtain. Though weak and wintry, the light is a welcome rarity this time of year. The clock shows the lateness of the morning, yet the house is quiet. Restful. We have no obligations this morning. Nothing pressing on our time. It's beautiful having space to breathe. Over the break, we've taken … Continue reading Space for the Savior
One of my favourite places to go birdwatching is a park nestled among steel mills and scrapyards. Nearby, the highway roars past, often carrying bumper-to-bumper traffic. This is the grittiest part of the city, with air that hangs heavy with the stench of pollution. In previous years, the creek running through this park made the … Continue reading Sanctuary
When my neighbour got too old to garden, the nettle moved in. It came in from the alley, under the fence. It spread through rhizomes -- rootstalks that crept unseen beneath the soil. The rhizomes sprung tall and dense patches of weeds. My neighbour's beautiful gardens, the ones that brought her so much joy, were … Continue reading Bitter Roots
As I spotted the sweater on the other side of the clothing rack, I knew. She was going to choose that one. It was blue camo. Old-school style fleece and massively oversized. It was everything I didn't like and everything she loves, and I'm trying to let her be herself. So when she picked … Continue reading Confessions of a Former Helicopter Mom: How Letting Go Has Changed Our Lives
Despite the early hour, the latest pop music blares through the coffee shop speaker system. My seven-year old sits across from me, happily eating a chocolate-banana muffin and spooning whipped cream off her maple hot chocolate. She's going to be wired later. I'm not sure if it's the muffin or the prospect of hanging out … Continue reading Book Review: Memory Making Mom
Spring is coming. Although it's still cold and damp, it has been raining rather than snowing. Patches of bare ground, barely visible a week ago, have now almost completely taken over. Mud and hope scent the air. It's the promise that new life will come. It has been a few weeks since I've written … Continue reading The Week in Review
He was threshing grain in a winepress when the angel came. It was hardly the ideal setup. There was no breeze down there to blow away the chaff. Gideon would have had to separate the wheat kernels by hand. Laboriously. Bit by bit. But it was the only way to protect the harvest from marauding … Continue reading Tea With Gideon: When God Asks You to Do Scary Things
Summary What do you do when you've lost your feelings for your spouse? When you fight constantly over everything? When you feel like you'd rather be dead than married to your spouse? Or when you're just doing the normal, everyday work that comes with a relationship so intimate? Dave and Ann Wilson have experienced it … Continue reading Book Review: Vertical Marriage by Dave and Ann Wilson
Happy belated Valentine's Day! I hope your week has been filled with sweetness. In honour of Valentine's Day, the girls and I have been memorizing some verses about love from 1 Corinthians 13. It's so precious to hear them talking about that passage throughout the day, although we all need to work on living it … Continue reading The Week in Review
Here's this week's update from The Grace-Filled Life. Have a wonderful weekend! ~Mary-Ann This Week on TGFL Spreading the Feast: Nourishing Your Homeschooler’s Body and Soul - In this article, I share all about our favourite Monday routine, one that gathers us together, sets the tone for the week, and helps my little ones learn. This … Continue reading The Week in Review
The Grace-Filled Life 