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An Open Letter to a New Stay At Home Mom
Dear Ellen, Today will be one of the hardest days you'll face. You're leaving a job you love so you can spend more time with your children, those two sweet babies who bring you both joy and exhaustion in the same breath. Today as you pack up your classroom, close the...
Personal Boundaries With Toxic People
She sat across from me shaking. She recounted a conversation with the father of her children. Though he's never laid a hand on her, she's afraid. He's verbally abusive. She's exhausted, scared. Her life is far from the picture-perfect image she planned when they...
The Top 3 Lessons from 25 Years of Marriage
As promised, here's the first of upcoming posts on lessons learned from twenty-five years of marriage. I'm sharing the first three this week at Not Alone Mom, where I currently write by-monthly and partner with in ministry. Here are the top three lessons I've learned...
5 Tools to Help The Summer Curse of Unstructured Time
Every summer parents have mixed emotions about school ending. You’re excited to have the busyness of school over, but there’s angst in having unstructured time with kids at home. Routine is nice. Several summers I've planned routines with activities and chores for...
Raising A Daughter As An Eating Disorder Survivor
Today I'm posting a personal article in my monthly column at Whatever Girls, a ministry for moms and daughters. It's the first part of a two-part serious sharing my experience raising a daughter as an eating disorder survivor. Read the full post here at Whatever Girls...
5 Reasons to Take Time To Live
It's my writing day. It's 11:25 and I have deadlines I should meet. It's been a stressful and emotional week in many ways. This weekend, I'm turning off my computer and taking time to live. Here are five reasons why: There are only a few people who are most important...
Arriving at Twenty Five Years Of Marriage
Today I'm married twenty-five years. It's a significant milestone for sure, but in usual Yoder fashion, we aren't making a big deal of it. Mr. Yoder is either playing church softball tonight with two of our teen boys or with me at the Verizon store. I'm exhausted from...
Athena Moberg-A Military Mom’s Story {Part 2}
It's my privilege to introduce you to my dear friend, Athena Moberg, of Maui, Hawaii. She is one of the most remarkable women I know - I'm glad to call her friend, and I'm excited to speak at her ALOHA Conference In September. I've asked her to share her perspective...
Athena Moberg-A Military Mom’s Story {Part 1}
It's my privilege to introduce you to my dear friend, Athena Moberg, of Maui, Hawaii. She is one of the most remarkable women I know - I'm glad to call her friend, and I'm excited to speak at her Aloha Conference In September. I've asked her to share her perspective...
Why I’m Still Confused by Mother’s Day: My Journey Toward Forgiveness
My birth mother would have turned 80 next week. I wasn't adopted, so referring to the woman who gave birth to me when she was 18 as simply “my birth mother” may seem odd. But to the end of her life, nearly 3 ½ years ago, it seldom felt right to call her “Mom”. Most of...
How To Be Intentional With Kids During Summer Vacation
Summer is just around the corner and life can be even busier during summer vacation. How do you maintain quality family time when schedules change and kid’s lives can be even busier? Here are some things I’ve learned in parenting during the busy seasons with school...
When It’s Time To Change Expectations
I should write some inspiring word that's meticulously crafted. I'm speaking at two retreats tomorrow and I should probably have those five great points that make a winning blog post. But I can't. There's so much on my heart I'd betray myself and you if I did. I find...