Author: Chara Donahue My husband and I took a step of faith this year by walking away from a place we loved. We knew we were stepping onto the path God had laid before us, but it felt horrible. We have peace that it was the right decision along with expectant hope for what is…
Author: CharaDonahue
Ready or Not
Author: Chara Donahue I was in labor. All day I had paced my new apartment as dear friends helped me unpack boxes and deck the walls with pictures and trinkets. They inquired about where to put things as I kept track of the protracted pains separated by mere minutes. We had just moved to accommodate…
When Holiday Expectations Go Unfulfilled
Author: Sarah Dohman I was born the day after Christmas. In fact, I was born at 2-something in the wee hours of the morning. Had I come any sooner, I would have been a Christmas baby. Every year growing up, and well into my 20s, my family would sort of roll the celebrations into one…
Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving
Author: Chara Donahue ‘Twas the week before Thanksgiving and all through the house, people were nauseous and I looked at my spouse. The children were stirring, up late in their beds, with buckets, in case, next to their heads. Daddy disinfected and I took a nap, trying to elude a nasty virus’ trap. Then the…
Dear Sunday School Teacher
Author: Chara Donahue Dear Sunday School Teacher, I recently told my children that we would be transitioning away from our home church in order to multiply the ministry we are a part of. Two kids cried and one outright refused to leave. She declared that we could drop her off on our way to wherever…
Before I Rise
Author: Chara Donahue Before I Rise I must make the choice. It’s on me. What to believe? What to negate? Today I ask, which voice will it be? Live in the light determined to see, or let depravity poison today’s fate? I must make the choice, It’s on me. Passively cower? An internal absentee? Will…
Hope for the Anxious Heart
Author: Chara Donahue Last year my four year-old came running at me as I laid reading, and she jumped with reckless abandon onto my back. Normally, this would have been benign, but this time her elbow struck the tissue sandwiched between two of my vertebrae. The result of which was nerve damage the doctor said…
Somewhere Between the Be and the Go
Author: Chara Donahue It was early Saturday, my husband leaned over to me and whispered he was going to go to the gym for his jujitsu class. Perfect, I thought, he will take the little ones with him, and I will go back to sleep. What a beautiful plan; he is so wonderful; I love…
Prayers for the Gutsy Girl
Author: Chara Donahue Years ago, I attended a ministry boot camp with Darrin Patrick as the keynote speaker. He shared a personal prayer he often prayed with his son. I did not have a son at the time, but the power of it struck me. I stored it away in the pathways of the brain, just in…
Ballade of Bleached Blemishes
If we can make laundry poetic it makes it better, right? Well, here’s hoping. 😉 I cannot face it. I will not look. Let it be. I will not take the bait or tease the hook. The stress, it mounts thinly—layer by layer—I will flee. No, I will fight. I fold the shirt. I…
Anchored Voices 