helpingofhopkins

Happy Birthday Ruthie

Happy Birthday Ruthie

There is a quote that has lived on our refrigerator for the last several years.  I don’t put a lot of things up on my fridge.  I usually reserve the space for Bible verses I am working on memorizing, or quotes, or poems that give me joy or encouragement.  This specific quote I used as […]

Look Up

Look Up

It has been so long since I have posted. I’m almost ashamed to try my hand at putting words on a page again, but here I go.  Writing has always been a source of joy and comfort for me.  Writing myself clear has long been a tool I have used to quiet the ramblings of […]

The Blessing of Being “Just Mama”

The Blessing of Being “Just Mama”

Today I awoke early to the sounds of a sweet little girl smacking her lips and chewing on her fist.  Nobody else would do, just mama. As the morning progressed a little boy got his head caught in his shirt and called down the hallway in a panic.  Sister tried to save him, but she […]

When more gives you less

When more gives you less

I love Christmas.  Truly, there isn’t one thing about it that I don’t love.  I remember as a child loving all of it as well.  Most of all, I loved the Christmas tree.  Every year I looked forward to going out to the local Christmas tree farm and cutting down our own, fresh Christmas tree.  […]

Brown Hair and All…

Brown Hair and All…

“Mommy, when is my hair going to be golden?  I wish I was as pretty as a princess.” And so it begins.  For 6 years, my sweet girl has lived in a world free from the evil of comparisons.  She lived in a place where she simply “was”, and didn’t “have to be”.  She lived […]

King and Snails

King and Snails

King Landon, while getting dressed for church, looked at himself in the mirror and said, “I look like a king!”.  Then he put his hands in his pockets, turned and looked at me with a big smile and said, “Look Dad, I look like a king!”  This is what the king looked like. Snails Aubrey […]

Lost and Found

Lost and Found

Sometimes I get lost.  I get lost while driving to yet another random event.  I get lost in my head, thinking of all the things that I have to do that day.  I get lost in the mounds of school books, the mounds of dishes, the mounds (and mounds) of dirty laundry.  Sometimes I get […]

When it is time to step outside of the bubble

When it is time to step outside of the bubble

Everyday it is so tempting to live inside my bubble.  Temperature-controlled, attitude- controlled, volume-controlled, this home is my place of rest and refuge.  In here it is cozy, it is safe. Here I am free to mother as I choose, laugh and cry as needed, and worship the way God asks of me.  Nobody thinks […]

The girl with the eyes

The girl with the eyes

I brush the hair out of her face, because I love to look into her eyes.  I remember the moment I first caught glimpse of the girl with the light blue eyes, framed with the thick blanket of lashes.  Squished tight with tears, her screams echoed through the hallways, because she has lungs just like […]

My enemy

My enemy

I have an enemy.  I hate my enemy with a deep and overwhelming passion.  If my enemy were to disappear from this earth, I would rejoice.  My enemy knows how to annoy and frustrate me, how to really get under my skin.  I try to run, I try to hide, but it is useless.  My […]