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A Prayer for Graduation Day

CHRISTINA FOX | EDITOR My oldest is graduating from college this month. Just typing these words seems unreal. It can’t be true, can it? How did we get here already? Wasn’t I just dropping him off on his first day of kindergarten? Perhaps you have your own graduation ceremonies to attend this month. Whether it’s a preschool, high school, or college graduation—or some grade in between—it’s a season that can be filled with many emotions. Joy. Worry. Pride. Sadness. Gratitude. Relief. Regret. And perhaps all at one time! You are not alone in these feelings. Times of transition in our children’s lives can be a lot to navigate for moms. The reality that time slips through our fingers faster than we realized, is jarring. Wondering and worrying if our son or daughter is ready for next steps can keep us up at night. Feeling so much pride at how far a child has come can almost make one burst. It’s an emotional roller coaster ride. Moms, if you are tracking with me on this, here is a prayer for our hearts—seeking the Lord and His goodness to be the steady horizon in all the ups and downs of this season....

A Prayer for Graduation Day2026-04-26T14:03:06+00:00

Weary Mom, Let Christ’s Church Nurture You

ANNIE VANDERHEIDEN |GUEST As moms, each of us nurture in unique ways, according to our unique bents and our children’s unique needs. We have different communication styles and different ways of showing affection. We come from different environments and cultural backgrounds. But even so, many moms share similar priorities: Looking deeply into our children’s eyes. Vigilantly pursuing their health and well-being. Reading or singing to them. Offering a wide array of experiences and stimuli to further their development. Talking to them in the car, during the bath, or around the table. Over time, we become the experts on our children, the ones who can read their every cue and see solutions that remain invisible to others. While we make innumerable mistakes, we develop a sixth sense for what our little ones need, cultivated through hours and hours of looking, listening, and responding—nurturing. But all that investment can feel very one-sided in the wearying days of motherhood. We’ll gladly (or at least willingly) give of ourselves to know and love our children, but it would be nice to feel like there’s someone doing the same for us....

Weary Mom, Let Christ’s Church Nurture You2026-04-10T14:49:08+00:00

Gospel Hope for Those Caring for Children with Autism

ABBY KARSTEN|GUEST While proceeding through a 39-page psychological evaluation, my husband and I finally arrived at the list of diagnoses. There were six, and one included autism spectrum disorder. In so many ways, we were relieved. Since our son was a baby, we had wondered what made his brain and body so different from our daughter’s. “Autism” was tossed around in conversations with doctors and trusted friends, but many pieces didn’t fit the “typical” autism diagnosis: he craved physical connection, made eye contact, and was highly social/verbal. Yet, there were mysteries and challenges: regular meltdowns lasting hours, significant social miscues, bouts of running away, and sudden and extreme sensory distress. Now, with a diagnosis, we would get resources and support. Of course, in the year since then, things have not always gone according to plan. Hoping for resources and resolutions, I was quickly overwhelmed by too many options, waiting lists, and confusion about what would help our son. I share this to point out that each situation is unique...

Gospel Hope for Those Caring for Children with Autism2026-03-28T14:39:48+00:00

What Seminary Meant to Me as a Mom

ALLYSON BRUCE | GUEST This past May, as I walked into my graduation ceremony at Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS) we sang, “How Firm a Foundation.”  This hymn beautifully captures my journey through the Masters of Arts in Counseling program. This foundation wasn’t laid in ease or in ideal conditions; it was built in the midst of motherhood. When I began seminary, I was a mom with soon to be four children under the age of five. I didn’t enter with spare time or energy, but with a desire to know God  deeply, believing it would shape my mothering.   A Foundation in the Word The first stanza of the hymn declares, “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word.” Through lectures, small groups, papers, and exams at Westminster, God laid a foundation rooted in His Word—shaping how I see people and view joy and sorrow through the lens of the gospel. I learned  to see Christ in all of Scripture, in both the Old and New Testament. For example, we all face pain and suffering.  I turn to Psalm 77 and remember the Israelites’ wilderness journey and their longing for the promised land.  In that struggle I see God providing daily bread (Ex. 16), faithfully sustaining them. In John 10, I see Jesus healing and providing for His people, where He ultimately laid down His life for His sheep. We are still in the in-between period, waiting for the promised land, but He will provide. He is faithful. He is enough. As my kids face trials and difficulties, I am so thankful that this is the framework I meet them with—one of eternal hope in God’s faithfulness.... 

What Seminary Meant to Me as a Mom2026-02-10T21:03:24+00:00

The Call to Remember

LINDSAY FUNCHES | GUEST Apart from the two times when I actually forgot my children, the worst episode of mother forgetfulness in my life occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, when I had four children under the age of six. Having just moved to the area, we had been attending our new church for two months. Mary Boyde was five, Sam was three, Steele was nineteen months old, and Hayley was two months old. Steele had Crouzon Syndrome, a craniofacial syndrome like the boy in the movie Wonder, serious medical issues, and literally a dozen doctors. He wasn’t sleeping at night because of severe sleep apnea. Needless to say, I was exhausted as Christmas approached. As is often the case, our new church performed a magnificent Christmas pageant every year with the Sunday School children. Oddly enough, they held this Christmas pageant during the Sunday School hour...

The Call to Remember2025-12-12T12:00:54+00:00

Encouragement for Moms During Graduation Season

STEPHANIE FORMENTI | CONTRIBUTOR Graduation invitations. Yearbooks. Senior photos. Open houses. All signs point to graduation season—a busy and joyful time. And while motherhood is an emotional endeavor all the time, for many moms, graduation ceremonies feel like a sacred threshold where the intensity of pride and joy walk hand in hand with letting go and releasing control. In the time it takes for your student to walk across the stage, a barrage of emotions rush in: joy, relief, pride, nostalgia, and a whole new set of worries, fears, and anxieties. As a mom, you’ve watched your child grow, struggle, stretch, succeed, fail, and begin to learn responsibility. You’ve prayed over, cheered for, cried with, rejoiced with, and, at times, worried for your son or daughter. And now, the next chapter of life awaits. How can you walk faithfully through graduation season? Philippians 1:3-11 provides a beautiful guide for all you are experiencing. Much like our desire as parents, Paul writes to his spiritual children to encourage them in their faith and toward maturity and perseverance. This passage presents a helpful movement for us as moms: Give thanks. Entrust. Keep praying. Give Thanks Philippians 1:3: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you…” Throughout Scripture, God regularly invited His people to pause and remember. Sometimes it involved a sacrifice, a song, or a small tower of stones. These physical elements were meant to invite reflection on and recollection of the faithfulness, power, love, and mercy of God. The invitation to remember is an invitation to reorient our hearts toward what we know to be true about God and to let those truths change us from the inside out. Remembering is a powerful first step toward gratitude and trust...

Encouragement for Moms During Graduation Season2025-05-05T18:43:27+00:00

Trading Striving for Rest in Motherhood

GRACE THWEATT|GUEST Six months after my second child was born, both kids were sleeping through the night. I, however, wasn’t. My body exhausted; I’d lay my head on my pillow only to find my thoughts racing: I haven’t spent enough quality time with my oldest since the baby came. I wonder if he feels neglected. Goodness, I wish I hadn’t yelled at him when he disobeyed earlier. I really need to work on having more patience. I’d begin to drift off to a restless sleep, only to have a stressful dream wake me and leave me with an urgent sense that a child needed me or that I had forgotten to do something important. I would check the time, and my heart would drop with despair at the glaring number, 3am. I needed sleep to have energy to face the next day! My worrisome thoughts continued: Should I reset my alarm to get a little more sleep and just skip having an early-morning quiet-time? But I’m already feeling distant and lacking in my relationship with God… Anxiety and striving had grown to characterize my life, and they were eating away at me. I imagine I’m not alone in this. As moms, it seems we often strive in response to the anxiety we feel about our parenting. We worry: Are we teaching our kids the right things about God? Should we be memorizing more Scripture with them? Are we praying with them enough? And discipline… are we doing it right? Are we really helping facilitate heart change? We move through our days trying to do it all and do it all right. Our striving often comes from a good place: we desire to be good moms and godly individuals. But our striving ultimately leaves us feeling burned out and in bondage to our finite strength and capabilities...

Trading Striving for Rest in Motherhood2025-01-20T19:13:31+00:00

Nothing to Do But Pray

MARISSA HENLEY|GUEST It was around 4:45 a.m. when I gave up on sleep, got out of bed, and reached for my phone. I saw a notification from our family’s tracking app—my oldest son’s phone was out of battery as of 3 a.m., and I knew what that meant. I could picture my sleep-deprived college student in his apartment, lying across his bed, fully clothed, with all the lights on. He had fallen asleep without meaning to, which meant his phone wasn’t charging and his alarm wouldn’t wake him in time for class. My brain went into panic mode. It was near the end of the semester, so he could miss an important quiz or test. Within seconds, my anxiety convinced me that his GPA and career goals would be ruined by one morning of oversleeping. And yet, I knew I was powerless to do anything to wake up my son. I was left with a last resort that should have been my first response: I prayed. Praying for our children is a gift from the Lord, whether our children are babies in our arms or adult children living hundreds of miles away. The Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 98 teaches us this definition of prayer: “Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.” As we consider this definition, we see how prayer shouldn’t be a last resort. God uses the gift of prayer to grow our dependence on Him, comfort our troubled hearts, and turn our focus to His faithful purposes...

Nothing to Do But Pray2025-01-02T20:18:05+00:00

Empty Nesting: Discovering Radical Trust

EOWYN STODDARD |GUEST I find myself in a quiet house we recently moved into, having left our previous city of 23 years just as our last child left for college. My husband is away for ten days for work, and our aging family dog is as disoriented as I am by the silence and stillness. Her persistent whining pulls me from my solitude. It was not always this way. Our home used to be bustling with the activities of raising five children—mornings were a flurry of getting everyone to school, followed by afternoons filled with homework, sports, and family dinners. Beyond our own children, we hosted German students for the past five years, engaging in nightly discussions about life and faith. Those years were full, but that chapter has closed. A New Chapter I typically enjoy new chapters in books as they signal progress and adventure, but this one feels different. The pages of my life ahead are blank, and I am uncertain how to fill them. After 25 years of mothering, I struggle with who I am now without it. I recall, as a young, introverted mother, guiltily daydreaming about a time when the house would be quiet, and I would have more space for myself. Do not get me wrong! There are certainly benefits to this new phase: the freedom to structure my own time, travel with my husband, and the opportunity to pursue personal interests. Yet, I miss those days of crazy chaos...

Empty Nesting: Discovering Radical Trust2024-09-24T16:26:46+00:00

The Calling of Motherhood

BETHANY BELUE | CONTRIBUTOR It had been a good day. A day of errands, laundry, reading books together, playing, and caring for my children. I tucked my 3 and 2-year-olds into bed, came downstairs and sat my tired body on the couch. I opened social media for a few minutes before cleaning up from the day. In a matter of moments, I felt my heart go from thankful and satisfied to longing for more and dissatisfied with what I hadn’t accomplished that day. My feed was filled with creative lunches for toddlers, colorful crafts, ways to organize toys, parenting quotes, and friends going on adventures that looked more exciting than a day at home with my children. None of these posts were wrong or sinful, but my heart was. I went from feeling thankful for my day and the opportunity to be home with my children to thinking I needed to do more in my role as a mother. Different Callings and Seasons Several years ago, I remember reading this passage on singleness: “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, to which God has called Him” (1 Cor. 7:17). As I wrestled with my thoughts about motherhood, this same passage stirred in my heart. The Lord has given us different callings and giftings. He has given us different seasons to walk in and different stories for our lives. Whether it be social media, a conversation with friends, or observing others around us, it is so easy to compare ourselves in our callings. It is easy to look at someone else’s life and think that maybe their life has more purpose than our own, that they are making a greater difference, that they have their life together when our own life feels hard and messy...

The Calling of Motherhood2024-09-14T15:45:56+00:00
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