We had a few very hot days this week at the Ironroad house. The downstairs A/C unit stopped working, and the outside temperatures were in the upper 90's. Not a happy time.

I knew we needed to call the repair company, but I dreaded the news we'd receive after the diagnostic. In my mind, we were lookin...

I've written about baby steps before... how they're meant to be small and wobbly, and that's a beautiful thing. But today I have some different kind of steps on my mind, which are just beyond the baby ones. For this post, I'm thinking about toddler steps.

This topic was inspired by an adorable little...

I watched something really touching yesterday at a neighborhood pool party. 

Our friends have a pool with a diving board, and the kids (+ a couple of dads) were all taking turns jumping into the water. One dad walked a little girl up to the diving board line, strapped tightly in a pink life jacket wi...

I shared in yesterday's post that I went and spoke at a camp for teenage girls in my church this week (remember? Before coming home to a chewed-up shoe? I'm not still bitter...).

It was a powerful experience that I feel I want to share.

I was invited to speak about Divine Identity, and they gave me m...

I recently started taking voice lessons, because I got tired of feeling like I was holding back when I sang. I felt like there was so much more I could do, but didn't know how to break out of where I was. 

In my first lesson, my coach (who is amazing, by the way) taught me 2 things that have helped h...

I've been thinking a lot lately about the New Testament story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water. 

If you're not familiar with the story, I'll give you the quick version. After a big day of feeding 5,000 people with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish -- which took some serious miracle power, Jesu...

I'm immersed in a creative project right now that has been on my heart for over 5 years now. 

I've chipped away at it little bits at a time, with some progress made but not much. 

It sat dormant while other priorities flowed in (new baby, amazing but rigorous school program, global pandemic, helping t...

A friend of mine was telling me about an amazing tour of Radio City Music Hall she took during her last New York City trip. Her group got to go behind the scenes (literally) and see the whole place, including the costumes, Rockettes dance room, got to spend time on the actual stage, and did a meet-a...

There's a hero in my life who is fighting an epic battle right now (keeping her identity anonymous for privacy's sake).

She has kept the most powerfully positive outlook on her fight (doing things like calling her treatments "ammo-therapy," for example), which has been truly inspiring to watch. 

I'm t...

I got to sit in on auditions yesterday, to help my friend with casting for a children's musical. 31 adorable kids walked in and out of the room, each showing up with their individual gifts and a full spectrum of nerves/comfort levels. I tried to give my biggest, most friendly smile to ease their min...

I sang a duet in church with a friend on Sunday, and I have to be honest. Listening back to the recording, I thought she did great -- but I was a little disappointed in myself. I felt totally confident and comfortable when we rehearsed, but when the time came to sing it for the congregation I held b...

This weekend, our very curious and creative 6-year old got bored and figured out that she could break rocks open by throwing them really hard against a bigger one. She was so excited that she could "make crystals!"

Walking into church yesterday, she picked up a rock and turned it over in her hand. Ex...