This phrase has steadied my mothering lately, a gentle reminder that nature isn’t providing much in this season (at least not overtly): We’re growing. When my littlest is set down from her high chair and fusses to be held, and I tell her she needs to go play for a few minutes while I finish [...]
A curving road bends with the shape of the river, and two minutes on its course and you feel apart from the city, all her rush left behind. Five point five miles worth of towering trees lush with late summer, plowed fields with pockets of rainwater, and occasional groupings of mailboxes and horses, and the [...]
Last week, I felt my body start to give way. Regular tasks at work took ten times longer than usual. Evenings that typically held loads of laundry and bread-baking were exchanged for early bedtimes due to zero energy. I had no focus to read. The sore throat crept in mid-week, crumminess resigning me to the couch. But [...]
Last month, Thomas and I went into Chicago. It was our first time going into the city together - a place that was very unfamiliar. We dared to navigate the Shedd Aquarium line, not to mention the beast that is the public transit system. I prepped and planned the day before, finding a cheap place to park and [...]
In three days, I start working again after a five-month hiatus. That means I'll use the slow cooker a bit more and should try to refrain from starting movies late Sunday night. But it also means there is a role in the world of campus ministry that I can fill, and I'm excited to devote [...]
For Mark, Gina & Nora; Jimi & Shannon; and those in transit. When in doubt, get more boxes. Moving gets a bad rap. I always picture the mess - the utter chaos - in our living room on Brown Avenue as we packed up to move in the couple days following. We all tend to [...]
"Start where you're at, be all the way where you are. Sink into where God has you...accept the lessons and the gifts." These warm words came from a blogger in my Instagram feed yesterday morning. And on that particular Monday - with a negative wind chill and a dog as my all-day company - those words [...]
If you’ve been around me at all in the past two months, then you've probably heard me talk about my new dining set. A few friends graciously gave us their old dining table and chairs. Previously, we only had two patio chairs that were too low for the table and made us more inclined to [...]
A few weeks ago, the husband and I returned from our second vacation of the summer. In early June, we traveled to Florida with my family. We invaded a 15th floor condo, beach bummed all day, mediated spats between boys ages 6 and 3, and read the same two Bearenstein Bears books over and over [...]
Mallory R. Manning 