Sierra Leone in February, Mexico in March. Phew! To any of you who travel regularly for your job or even for fun, I applaud you. It’s valuable, but hard. I enjoy travel, but love home. So I’m thankful to be here, typing away at my own desk in my own bedroom. After two missions trips … More Sustainable Gratitude
It’s partly the expression of my inner rebel; partly the rewards reaped from such an endeavor. This thing Cyrus and I did last year, having an UNword – a word we were diligent to delete from our vocabulary – well, we’ve found it to be a positive, beneficial, forward moving practice for us each individually … More Our UNword for 2019
My first instinct is to apologize for a late Christmas Greeting, but don’t you think this is a season meant to linger anyway? So, here is our family’s Christmas greeting to you (the digital version, since there was no paper version this year). We started a new tradition this Christmas season – puzzles! We worked … More Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Love, the Rettmann Family
What if God desires my delight in Him rather than my sense of duty to Him? What if we love Him more by finding pleasure in Him than by proving ourselves to Him? The thought seized me and trapped me. It locked me in an escape room and I’m still working my way out. This … More Softening and Delight
Peace and Joy won’t come this Christmas in the form of kids who don’t fight during winter break, a spouse who meets all your needs, a perfectly decorated home, enough money to buy all the things you want, good health, physical comfort, a relaxed schedule, or a good night’s sleep. True peace and joy will … More Do We Really Want the King?
In a span of six days, our family celebrated my son’s birthday, Thanksgiving, and my birthday. It was fun! But sprinkled in like jagged scraps of sandpaper amidst the sparkly confetti of celebration, were moments where I became frustrated, grumpy, and rude to my husband and kids. One mid-celebration-week morning I was especially rough and … More Sandpaper and Confetti – What I Learned This Fall
I was piloting our family mini-van down the parkway, all the kids in tow. The kid-of-the-day had requested that we listen to Pentatonix as we drove that afternoon. The perfectly in tune vocals had us all wrapped up in the musical experience. And then I started to cry. I had read a few weeks earlier … More That Time Pentatonix Made Me Cry
Short sighted. Short lived. Short tempered. Short range. Short. So often go my prayers. It’s like taking vitamins, or exercise; a duty rather than a delight. How easy it is to shrug off my lack of prayer as a typical human struggle. Is it really, though? I suppose if pride is a typical human struggle, … More Confessions of a Prayer Failure
Seven words at the heart of the issue. You can’t do it, but He can. I was surprised when the words, ‘you can’t do it,’ left my lips headed for my kids’ ears. Surprised, first because of their contradiction to cultural messages, and second because I had not premeditated the utterance. The message we are … More … but He can
Given opportunity, I will be consumed by consuming. Books, Music, ideas, information. But gorging on input has been hindering my output. Last month, God prompted me to attempt an ‘input fast.’ I needed to dam the flow of input into my soul, with a very few exceptions, and fill up with Him alone. So, I finally … More Weather Forecasts and Soul Barometers
