School Is Out at Sparrow Springs
Today, the kids hung hammocks between the oaks. They built rock castles at the creek and picked blackberries in the fence line, followed by nosy sheep. They hun...
Category: Blog
Journaling to Rest
“Cast all your cares on Him. For He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 An Invitation to Rest Once your Bible and journal are open, you are in a sacred space. Prepare y...
Journaling to Settle Anxieties
I often use my journal to pry into my own subconscious thoughts. When I am tense with worry or am nervous about a decision, I ask myself a few simple questions....
Journaling to Remember
The night before Jesus died, he told the disciples that the Holy Spirit would “teach [them] all things and bring to remembrance all that He had said to [them].”...
Through the Eyes of Mary Magdalene
As I read the gospel accounts of Easter week and studied a Bible commentary, Mary Magdalene stood out to me. I imagined her experience and felt her emotions alo...
God Healed Me
PEOPLE OF NEW HEIGHTS | Heather Hunt Healing Through Fasting . I have always been dependent on food. As a child, I was hospitalized nine times because my pancre...
Update: Cultivating Responsibility
Every semester, I revise my kids’ weekly to-do lists. I slide the sheets into a plastic sleeve for them to check off with a wet erase marker. Twice a day, I say...
Name Your Crowns and Lay Them Down
This encouragement was written for Ozark Worship Night in Fayetteville, AR in December 2022. When we bring our cares to the Lord, there are some cares that He t...
Introduction: Shaping Family Culture One Habit at a Time
Children are a wonder. Their hearts are already inclined to drink deeply of knowledge and beauty and their hands are ready to take on new challenges. So, develo...
More about Cultivating Responsibility
In 2017, I started delegating little chores to my young children. I wanted to cultivate a habit of responsibility and an eye for service, so I taught them to ti...
Letters to My Children: Honesty is a Gift
In this life, you will be tempted. And sometimes you will give in to that temptation. When you do, do not lie about your sin. Your goal can too easily shift fro...
Journaling to Plan: Find Your Annual Rhythm
This is the first in a set of three journal entry-starters. Find the introduction here. JOURNALING TO PLAN I. How can you nourish your soul this season? I used...
Journaling to Plan: The Annual Backpack Sort
Twice a year, I stop to ask God questions about my purpose and my progress. He reminds me of how he designed me and what he has called me to do. Then we examine...
Six Months Practicing Drawing
When I was a child, I drew a lot. I drew at the table and on the floor and on my bed and in the yard. I drew while I listened or while I talked or while I daydr...
Was, Is, Will Be
My name is Heather My name was, for a short pure spurt: springtime beholder of mystery faithful, wise, creative, truth-teller zealous leader joyful, beautiful b...
Willing: A Poem for Parenting Preschoolers
Rosy kitchen, my coffee steamy, podcast ready, muffin ingredients gathered. In waltzes the tiptoe maiden, carrying a stool. I pause the show, move my mug and si...
Six Months Reading Aloud
In 2016, I discovered Sarah Mackenzie’s Read Aloud Revival podcast and it changed the trajectory of my parenting. I binge listened as Sarah interviewed scholars...
A Time for Everything
There is a time for everything and an [hour] for every activity under the heavens: a time to clean the kitchen and a time to sit down and rest, a time to shop a...
Not What I Expected
READ OR LISTEN (8:00 MINUTES) FALL 2017 The nurse pushes my wheelchair passed spacious rooms overlooking a hillside forest while my husband carries my boxes, ...
Six Months Connecting with Nature
I remember being six years old living on Texas acres watching lightning storms from the porch with my dad and crunching through leafy woods with my mom. I remem...
Six Months Engaging in Family Worship
When our children were three and one year old, we began reading The Big Picture Story Bible together and saying thankful prayers at bedtime. This cherished habi...
Six Months Incorporating Imaginative Play
In 2019, I was waiting for my children to dive into the world of pretend play. But, at ages 7, 5, 3 and 1, they weren’t doing much of it. A dinner conversation ...
Six Months Embracing Solitude
Since 2016, I have focused on developing a different habit in my children every six months. Over time, they have added up! We have steadily built the habits of ...
Autumn— Quiet, Peaceful, Restorative
September is cider, October is pumpkins, November is leaf piles, December is the hearth. Autumn is oven mitts and thimbles and a full library book bin. It is wo...
Six Months Instilling Responsibility
Housework always took longer when little hands helped. Before 2017, I usually flipped on a flick while I cooked dinner, then tucked them into bed before I clean...
Six Months Learning to Cook
When my daughter asked me to teach her how to bake, I bristled and blushed. I didn’t want to. I didn’t know how. I was too busy to learn something new. And what...
Nurturing their Natures: Know Your Child’s Intelligence (and Yours)
Most people leave IQ tests with an air of superiority or a feeling of inadequacy. I am one whose confidence sank after a high school IQ test. Sure, I could draw...
SPIRITUAL JOURNALING: Get Started
YOUR JOURNAL. Some people treat their journals like a secret, some open them up during conversations. Some neatly color code their entries, some scratch illegib...
SPIRITUAL JOURNALING: Why Journal
WHY JOURNAL. Your white page is a space to explore a concept and flesh out a thought. It’s a place to weigh decisions and evaluate everything beside God’s Word....
My Journey to Becoming a Nurturer
“Cease endlessly striving for what you want to do and learn to love what must be done.” -Goeth I did not become a nurturer on my first child’s birth day. In fac...