Moments with MarLo

Worn Out! Are you a wife or a mom who is tired—mentally, physically, or emotionally? I am a wife and a mom and I have so been there! Too mentally tired to read—email, favorite authors, a magazine article, yes even to want to look at Facebook©! Too emotional to enjoy great moments in life—my husband’s good natured ribbing, my daughter’s laughter, time with friends. Too exhausted to keep up with daily tasks let alone exercise! I don’t necessarily want to be superwoman but I certainly get caught up in doing. I add one more task to my ever increasing list because it’s something I really want to accomplish. But the worse offense I often find myself engaged in, is giving my family leftovers. Not the prior day meals, though that happens, okay frequently. No, I’m talking about the lack of depth of available emotional, mental, and physical reserves. I desire to actively listen to my daughter even if she takes for-ev-er to recount a story. I want to happily rub my husband’s back when he needs ...

Embracing Your Second Calling is based on two of the values I have always believed women ultimately strive towards—feeling valued and leaving a lasting legacy. Author Dale Hanson Bourke found striking similarities between her life and that of Naomi from the book of Ruth in the Old Testament in that they were both "second-half-of-life" women. By that Dale means they were both in unique positions in life to be used by God to "completely change our world." According to Dale, women in this time of their lives view who they are and what they have to offer from a very different filter—God's. This book is not just for those who are empty-nester’s, perhaps retired, or enjoying mid-life, this book is for every woman who wants to more fully identify what she should be doing. In fact, Dale believes we have more to offer after we tire of chasing our own desires and more fully embrace God’s desires for us. One of my favorite quotes from the book is this, “What He is calli...

I'm curious. Is anyone else lost as to what they are "supposed" to be doing? Any of you out there wondering "what's my next step?" I know I'm not alone. I know I can't possibly be the only person on earth lost in thoughts of what's next? Diligently seeking wisdom, guidance, vision, perspective, understanding. Honestly, a billboard from God every now and then would be welcome. But I wonder in the fast pace of life, would I even notice it? We want a shout, He whispers. We want it now, He says just wait. He ushers us into the next phase often without the big "todo." We want grand brush-strokes, he offers gentle prods. We long to know, He says, "Here I Am." We seek, He says "you'll find." We give up . . . just as He says move forward. There is so much to gain every day in the here and now yet we are so quick to dismiss it. We marvel at how yesterday went by so quickly all while impatiently waiting for tomor...

I flew into Chicago recently and was struck by the sight of the sun as the plane rose above the clouds.   There is something comforting in the brightness of that golden star from the vantage point of an airplane window.  I turned my head and soaked in the warmth. The pressures of life dissipated if only for a few moments.  I felt renewed in my soul simply because I grasped for a moment the difference between what is seen and what was hidden from view. I grabbed my phone and snapped a photo hoping to remember the moment for days to come. As the plane dipped below the clouds I was surprised by the stark   change. I tried to capture the difference while wrestling with the contrast.    I was saddened for the city’s residents who were awakening to the bleariness of the grey, cloudy sky.   I wanted to shout out to them, “Its okay, the sun is shining up above! Don’t let this dreariness get you down!“  I knew my shouting would be pathetic a...

My family and I just returned from a great mini-vacation in the mountains of Tennessee. Boy did we need it! Why is it we put off taking off? Accepting our frenzied state of day-to-day rather than planning time for refueling and refreshing? I know it’s difficult enough in today’s tough economy to find money in the budget to do the smaller things like attend the movies or eat dinner out but sometimes you just need to get away! I’d been telling others how much my family needed time away all while fretting over the cost. I sensed what we needed but I let the thought of the cost throw up caution flags at every possibility. It took a while to find something that worked for us but it was well worth it! It meant having to cook some of our own meals, driving not quite as far as we would have liked to go (we were thinking beach) and not being able to do any of the “fun” attractions once we arrived at our destination (museums and such). Rather than focus on what we couldn’t do, we focused on w...

Today I'd like to welcome Jill and Mark Savage. Jill and Mark's newest book Living with Less so your Family has More just released and I've invited them to share a little bit about this great resource! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family. We have been married for 27 years…17 of them happily. After finding ourselves in a marriage counselor’s office around year 8 or so, we realized that we really didn’t know how to be married. We worked hard to turn things around and now we like to share that hope with other couples. We have five children ranging from 13 to 25. Our oldest three are married. Anne (25) and her husband, Matt, live in Zion, IL, and are expecting our first grandchild in April. (We are very excited!) Evan (22) and his wife, Julie, have been married a year and a half and they live just a few miles from us. Erica (19) married her husband Kendall last September. They live in Augusta, GA, and wherever else the Army takes them. We have two teen...

Mom, do you know how valuable you are? Do you want to be inspired and encouraged? Are you in need of refreshment or rejuvenation? Do you want to laugh? A Hearts at Home conference gives moms the unique opportunity to pause along their mothering journey to refresh, refocus, and renew themselves. The 2010 National Conference, Mom’s the Word , is being held at the Bone Student Center of Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois on March 12-13 . See what others are saying about a Hearts at Home conference: “I attended the conference this year for the first time. I enjoyed it immensely. I was lifted up, instructed, convicted, encouraged, and brought to tears, sometimes all at the same time.” “I loved it. I feel so full of information. I need to sit and read my notes and just process it. It was really encouraging to hear all the speakers and be with all of those moms. Thanks so much! “ “This past weekend was awesome and life changing. This was my first Hearts at Home Conf...