by Ashley Larkin | Jan 28, 2014 | Childhood, Family, Favorite posts, Just Write, Mothering, One Word: Seek, Parenting, Perspective, Surrender, Tell His Story
I write in my basement where puffy cotton clouds dangle from the ceiling along with lines of raindrops cut from paint chips. Through the window, I see the backyard where buckets and rags mingle with sticks jammed into grass and a makeshift drying bench for washed and...
by Ashley Larkin | Jan 24, 2014 | Childhood, Family, Grace, Mothering, Parenting, Trust
They will come back. Often. And from not far away. Maybe from the loft, the small farm in the Gorge, the cottage just south of here. A mama can dream. She’ll be wearing her hair slightly differently than the last time. She’ll tilt her head just so to keep...
by Ashley Larkin | Jan 14, 2014 | Faith, Family, Grace, Gratitude, Mothering, One Word: Seek, Rest
When we hunger to belong, it is home we seek. When we toss, turn, stirring and straining, it is home we want. When we wrap in blankets, warm water and embraces and long to stay right here always, it is home. When we ache for assurance, tenderness, understanding, it is...
by Ashley Larkin | Dec 14, 2013 | Celebration, Community, Faith, Family, Mothering, Perspective, Rest
Lala was only repeating what she’d seen on a commercial, sung by wide-eyed frantic sweater-clad people carrying overflowing shopping bags, rushing to mark items off their holiday lists. While we decorated our house in the first days of the season, I heard her...
by Ashley Larkin | Dec 10, 2013 | Biblical tales, Celebration, Childhood, Faith, Family, Just Write, Mothering, Parenting
The tree shines so brightly this year. It’s amazing what 800 white bulbs can do to an evergreen. (I’ve been known to overdo the lights a smidge in the past.) Much fills our moments, hours and weeks during December, but, as my sister Lizzy and I talked...
by Ashley Larkin | Dec 2, 2013 | Celebration, Childhood, Family, Giving, Gratitude, Joy, Love, Mothering, Parenting, Perspective
An idea board hangs on the door of the two- and three-year-old class at Lala’s preschool. At the top it reads, “What We Know About Clothes.” One line catches my attention: “Corduroy is kind of like crackers.” So yesterday morning...
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