Author Archives: merckaylin

I started this post back in January and I never really finished it. For now, I will keep this as a list, with not much of a review for any of these books! Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch An Impossible Marriage by Matt and Laurie Krieg Truth on Fire by Adam Ramsey Becoming ElisabethContinue reading “Top 10 books of 2021”

Disclaimer: I enjoy reading widely – not only genre wise, but also author-wise. Ultimately God’s word is my authority and so I read with discernment, evaluating what I read from the worldview that the Spirit has given me through his word. I encourage you to do the same. Counseling/Therapy:  I am working towards getting accreditedContinue reading “Book recommendations summer/fall 2021”

Christians are people on the move.  On this side of Eternity not one place here or set of circumstances is permanent , nor our lasting home. So we live day by day knowing we are journeying to our promised rest. For some Christian families the seen reality of our lives is a tangible expression ofContinue reading “Day 20 -Home is a person”

Few things have impacted me more than women who know with all their heart that God is good. They have suffered deeply sometimes, AND often. They know loss, grief, chronic pain – but they also are sure that God is good and that He is for them in Christ. Christ’s mission on earth was toContinue reading “Day 19: A Home Grounded in Goodness”

I think we all have a complicated relationship with authority. We may have experienced the gift of kind authority AND may have suffered under harsh and needy displays of authority as well. Maybe we swing back and forth on the pendulum – going from authoritarian to permissive continually and struggling to know what the middleContinue reading “Day 18: Embrace Life-giving Authority”

Do you know what the most quoted verse in the Bible is? It’s probably the one we most need to commit to memory, the one we most need to recall while parenting, and the one we most need to teach to our children. It comes from a powerful encounter that Moses had with the LORDContinue reading “Day 17: Devotion in Action – Guest Post by Sara Lubbers”

“Mom, I really miss my friends.” We’d moved to the Middle East a few months before, and my oldest – then 3. 5 years old – was really struggling with leaving our old life behind. Her downcast look made my heart sink. “Oh sweetheart, I know. I miss my friends so much too…” I wantedContinue reading “Day 16: Celebrate”

This summer we were devastated, gutted by tragic news from our host country. I could feel hopelessness starting to envelop me. For the first time I got what it must feel to believe God is truly gone, that he is absent. It seemed as if God must have disappeared. I felt lost. The ground beneathContinue reading “Day 15: Chasing Beauty”

“He doesn’t like anything about this country or the people,” I told the therapist about one of my children.⁣ I initiated a phone call with her because I had exhausted all my ideas. The mom guilt was weighing heavy on my shoulders. I couldn’t help but think of all the long-term issues I might beContinue reading “Day 14: Helping Children Find Joy When Their Life is Hard – Guest post by Alicia Vining”