A three part, not at all tongue-in-cheek post about how to unpack your home in record time for those of us who move all the time (and those of you who are fascinated by those of us who move all the time).

If you’ve ever wondered if it’s worth it to have pets with all our military moves, this one is for you.

Or the balance between pessimism and optimism…and possibly something about melting chocolate covered pretzels on your butt warmer.

When the gift of neighborliness leads to a celebration of grace.

The closer we get to the move, the more my brain threatens to check out, but this time, there is a hammock.

We will pause here a moment in our usually scheduled program to talk about some of the ways that we respond to stress. Why? Because—at long last—I’ve succumbed to the realization that the stress factor is in place at this point, whether I want it or not (and whether I feel like it or not)…but also because some of our stress responses are just plain funny…and probably revealing of who we are in deep and unfortunate ways.

When I was in labor with our eldest son—my husband halfway around the world and my sister busy inflating latex gloves into udder balloons—the nurses kept talking about how calm I was. But the truth was that I wasn’t calm. I just looked like I was.

The darkness is always near, but God reaches out to show us himself in these seasons, not in a blinding flood of revelation (not yet!), but in streaks of goodness that seem to bend to touch our hearts, if we can look into the darkness so that we don’t miss them.

But when I slow down long enough to think about it, I realize—all the things I’m doing during a day are good things, things I enjoy, things I have welcomed into my day for a reason. So is this really busyness—frenetic activity for activity’s sake—or is it fullness, a rich life of purpose and joy?