Justifying Jane

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written anything, and I hope you haven’t broken up with me.  If you did, let’s get back together, or can we at least just have this brief discussion in honor of the hardship that has been 2020??……. What do we do when our life is on fire? When Comfort and Security are burning? …

This morning my 7-year-old came to me, chest puffed out, and said “Mom? Give me something hard to do today.  Something really hard…but it can’t be any kind of cleaning.” I thought about it for a minute, and then went to our little crawlspace under the stairs.  I pulled out a 300-piece puzzle, and walked the box over to him.  …

Here comes the post dedicated to anyone who isn’t feeling all Easter-y today.  Somebody had to write it, right? Worse…. what if you’re a Christian and you’re not feeling all Easter-y today?! Is that even allowed? What if today some of us Christians aren’t contributing to the social media flood of “He is Risen!!!” because we honestly just don’t have …

About one hundred years ago, when I was only 2 kids deep into motherhood, I signed my toddler son up for a “Little Gym” class.  If you don’t know about Little Gym’s, they are magical places where sleep-deprived mothers pay big money to sit behind a glass window and watch people in spandex play with their kids.  At the time, …

This post is dedicated to my mom and dad….who have always been, and continue to be the ultimate empty chair parents…and who are furthering the tradition by being empty chair grandparents. No one does it better than you. I embarrassed myself in public today. You both would’ve been so proud. Summer break is officially here, and this afternoon I took …

Last Friday night, shortly after 10pm, I sat in my un-started, dark car, looking at my 12-year-old son in the back seat. The light from an overhead street lamp helped me to see that he wasn’t looking back at me. He was staring out the side window in an effort to hide the tears that were slowly falling down his …

A few weeks back I was driving down the main street of my town, and I saw it. I see it every year around this time, and it causes me the same panic as when my kids come out the double doors of the school building on the last day of school before summer break, and I realize they’re ALL …

Hey friends! It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted anything on here, and the truth is that I’ve been having a total crisis over my writing. There’s a big part of me that feels like I shouldn’t write about things I’m still in the midst of. Which is basically EVERYTHING. I’ve been reading tips from other well-established writers, and …

Close your eyes and don’t even read this until you’ve read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3!!! I think the most blessed people are the ones who ultimately find themselves banging their heads up against the wall of the world. They’re the ones who’ve searched for meaning and purpose within the confines of the concrete and come up empty. …

Catch up here with Part 1 and Part 2! There’s a lot of us who can testify to rock bottom. To wet faces pushed down in the carpet. Some of us have been there more than once. For me, it’s this place where the superficial foundation I’ve created for myself gives way, and I fall hard, and fast, and deep. …