It’s been a good week around here. Katie seems to be feeling better and she’s sleeping for slightly longer periods at night (it’s amazing how much difference one uninterrupted three-hour stretch of sleep makes for me!). We’re having unseasonably gorgeous weather which will lead to all kinds of trouble when there’s no water this summer, but for now I am enjoying the sunshine and our lovely afternoon walks (I took my camera with me yesterday; the tenacity of the weeds in this photo seemed worthy of note!) And, to top it all off, there have been lots of good reads this week!

This piece over at Mothering.com about motherhood breaking your heart is beautiful (if, perhaps, a touch sentimental).

While we’re on the topic of motherhood, I appreciated the different perspectives offered by this piece at Brain, Mother. Motherhood has come relatively easily to me thus far, but it was nice to read another viewpoint.

Also at Brain, Mother, this piece talked about tween/teens and their constant connection to social media. We aren’t to that stage in our parenting journey yet, but it certainly gave me pause to think about I would like for our family in the years to come. Beyond that, I thought about my own use of technology, and whether I am using it in healthy and beneficial ways.

I enjoyed this essay by Billy Coffey about our past and our shared humanity. Though we tend to think of ourselves as standalone individuals, we are much more than that. There’s much that has gone before us. It’s lovely to think about this, and also to extrapolate forward as well as back – that who we are and the decisions we make will be carried on to future generations.

I found myself exclaiming “Yes!” to every point that Addie Zierman made in this piece about things we need to stop saying to youth group kids. I heard and absorbed each of these messages as a teen and, while I know they were given with the best of intentions, I agree (strongly) with her point that, not only can these things be detrimental to the faith of young people, they simply aren’t true. If you don’t want to take the time to read the entire post, this was the line that meant the most to me: “Instead of teaching our kids that Jesus is something that we have and they don’t, let’s teach them to look for the bright image of God in each person that crosses their paths.”

I come from an evangelical protestant tradition, and so Lent is a bit foreign to me. Still, I find it valuable and important, and this piece articulates the main reason why. I wouldn’t state it quite so strongly as this author does – I haven’t ever seen the resurrection as shallow, for instance – but I do find that the celebration of what happened on Easter Sunday to be much more meaningful when I have taken the time to focus on why it was necessary (namely, death). I have always found it odd that many protestant churches spend all of December preparing for Christmas but really only heed Palm Sunday (and sometimes Good Friday) prior to Easter. (Side note: my sister alerted me to Biola’s Lent Project, which provides devotional readings, artwork, and music each day. It’s a great way to incorporate a Lenten observance into your life.)

Finally, as a writer myself, this guest post at Modern Mrs. Darcy about the best gift readers can give writers resonated with me. (Hint: it does not involve spending money.) Your time is so precious, and I am honored and grateful that you choose to spend it reading my words. Thank you.