Readers, We thank you for visiting our little spot on the internet as we seek to infuse your week with hope. We are pleased to announce that we will be adding to our little corner of the internet in 2017! Be on the lookout for new contributors, a book club, and continued stories of faith….
When Peace on Earth Seems Impossible
I love reading by Christmas tree light. In the faint warmth of its incandescent illumination I feel hope. The gentle radiance enfolds me into a brief retreat during the bustle of the holiday season. The calm soothes in the midst of the distresses of our broken world, and collides with the disquiet hiding in the…
Waiting at Christmastime
Confession: Christy Nockel’s Thrill of Hope Christmas album has been on repeat in my car since the beginning of November. The Advent Hymn, specifically, resonates with my heart in a time of waiting. Christ whose glory fills the skies Christ the everlasting light The sum of righteousness arise And triumph o’re these shades of night…
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas (My Single Mother Gave to Me)
When pine trees and baking supplies started making their way into my home as a young child, I, accompanied by my stealth-like snooping skills, made my way to my mother’s best kept hiding places. I was a peeker. A present-peeker to be precise, and Christmas mornings were filled with anticipation not because of the surprise…
Christmas Moments Amongst the Mundane
Last year, when Christmas tunes began to ring out from the radio, our mostly quiet family of three became a raucous party of seven. My husband and I have one teenage daughter and, while we weren’t on the list for emergency foster care, four siblings (ranging in ages from 7-15) were delivered to our home…
The Thanksgiving Phone Call that Changed our Lives
Author: Keri Nikkel It was Thanksgiving Day. My husband Matt and I were at my in-laws, busying ourselves with laughter, food prep, and good conversation. Finally, the time came to eat. All the smells that had been tempting us for hours were about to be enjoyed. The food was set out buffet style in the…
Dear Adoptive Parents
Dear adoptive parents, There is something I want you to know, and I am unashamedly going to steal a line from NBC’s Parenthood’s patriarch, Zeek Braverman, to do it. “I hear you, and I see you.” I hear you. I hear your earnest, heart-filled desires to bring children into your homes. You pour out your…
Temporary Dad
Author: Josh Hawes I experienced something most fathers simultaneously dread, and consider one of their proudest moments in life. I took the arm of a young woman dressed in white and escorted her down the aisle to give her away to the man she loves. Though she wasn’t my daughter, and in actuality is slightly…
When the Adoption Fell Through
The night before it all fell through my husband had a dream that skated on the edge between sleep and wakefulness. The kind where you think your dream-life actually happened, only to wake and find it never existed at all. He was holding her, a girl we planned to name Harper, sleeping on his chest….
Words of Awareness
There are those in life you hope you never hurt. Those who have walked with you through sacred space and have defined friendship for you. Some of my very favorite people in the world I have known since high school. These women,17 years of friendship, and thousands of memories have created some of my most…
Anchored Voices 