Special Topics | Widen The Circle
How to Support Someone Through Grief
Chances are, you’ve got a friend or family member who is stumbling along their own personal journey of grief. In honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, here are five ways, according to Stephanie, to best support them during tough seasons. Read More
Special Needs Parenting is Too Big to Do Alone
Families affected by disability are in chronic need of supportive community to do life together. But friends and even family—all with the best of intentions—can sometimes express comments that land more hurtful than helpful. Or they withdraw, intimidated, shushed into silence for fear of getting it wrong. Read More
Special Topics | Widen The Circle
4 Things I Want to Be for My Grandkids
Nobody is making me do this. I do it because my grandkids love it, and if it makes their sticky faces light up, I’m all in. But my job as ‘Mimi’ is bigger than just bringing the fun. It’s not just about doing and buying, but also about... Read More
Social Life | Widen The Circle
Bigger Than Your House
I wasn’t expecting her joy to make me question mine. Part of my job as a youth pastor has been to rally parents to embrace the development and growing independence of their children. Especially as they enter middle school. I remind them of how important it is to... Read More
Tribes Over Time | Widen The Circle
It Takes a Circle
Humans were designed to live within community, but I’d let my desire for adventure interrupt the foundational relationships my son would need, the very ones I’d wanted for myself as a teenager. Read More
School Life | Widen The Circle
4 Ways to Connect With Your Kid’s Teacher
Do you remember your first grade teacher? I loved mine. I remember how Ms. Parker erased the board from left to right every day and then wrote the new date in the top right hand corner. I also remember how she showed me how to use a ruler... Read More
Social Life | Widen The Circle
Share Your Kids
I’m learning that friendship, as a parent, is even more life-giving (life-saving?) now than ever before. And this says a lot coming from a friendship-nostalgia-freak who has a file box of every single note I received in middle and high school organized by name of the sender. (If... Read More
Faith | Social Life | Widen The Circle
Where I Went When I Needed Parenting Help
If you’ve ever moved across the country with kids you are probably familiar with the word uprooted. Our daughter was going into kindergarten and our son into middle school when we moved from Texas to South Carolina and while it proved to be a great move for all... Read More