This is it. My final Typepad post. I’ve packed up and headed over to my new site. All the same content, slightly different look. You can subscribe to the new site through a reader or sign up to receive posts via email. See you there! Continue reading

You all certainly didn’t let me off easy with your questions. I was talking to Rob last night, and he laughed and said, “You asked for it!” Yep, I did. I hope my answers shed some light on what it is you wanted to know. What is the biggest challenge your marriage has ever faced and how did you overcome it together? I think it was the first year after Isabelle was born. Belle was hospitalized at 2 months old, and had lots of early delays. Immediately after she was born, I had some pretty serious complications which required a... Continue reading

Rob and I celebrated our 17 year anniversary last week. I realize that 17 years most likely sounds like an eternity to those of you who have just been married few years, or are dating, engaged, or not even thinking about that yet. I also realize that anyone who has been married more than 17 years has an entirely different perspective than I do, and our time married is like a drop in the bucket compared to however long you’ve been married. But, I do think that we’ve learned some stuff along the way. Our circumstances are unique, but aren’t... Continue reading

I bind unto myself today The strong Name of the Trinity, By invocation of the same, The Three in One and One in Three. I bind this day to me for ever. By power of faith, Christ's incarnation; His baptism in the Jordan river; His death on Cross for my salvation; His bursting from the spicèd tomb; His riding up the heavenly way; His coming at the day of doom;* I bind unto myself today. I bind unto myself the power Of the great love of the cherubim; The sweet 'well done' in judgment hour, The service of the seraphim,... Continue reading

this is a reprint of a post I wrote awhile back for Blissfully Domestic. It made me giggle when I re-read it, so I thought I’d share it here. By 11am yesterday, I was depressed. I realized that by then I had heard a relentless stream of new warnings of fatalities. · Your kid could die if you give them cold medicine. · You kid could die if you don't give them a flu shot. · You could die if you do get the flu shot. · Your kid could get shot and die if you send them to college.... Continue reading

Rob and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary this past weekend. Last year we went to Sedona, Arizona for a few days, but this year we decided to save some money and just do a local thing. We were able to get a room at the Sheraton Towers through Priceline for ridiculously cheap. We decided to go see Blue Man, since neither of us had ever seen them live. Right after we got to our seat, the usher came over to us and asked us if we would like to be in the show. Rob said “yes”, and I immediately... Continue reading

Rob and I got married when I was 19 and he was 21 on March 13, 1993. 17 years later, and more in love than ever. Not much has changed except Rob’s mullet. Continue reading

I’m not here, because I am busy chasing two sweet munchkins around our house. We get to play with Ashlee for 3 days while her Mommy and Daddy are in California enjoying the warm sunshine. I think Belle has met her match. Ashlee may just have as much energy as her. We shall see who wears out first. (if you see me out in public, notice the dark circles under my eyes, and be kind.) Be back in a few days… If you’d like to leave a message, please do so after the beep and I will get back with... Continue reading

So much has been happening over here at the Wegner house. There are so many times when I think to myself, “I need to write a blog post about that”, but time and space are limited. I put together a mish-mosh of updates from the past week, all of which are very fun and/or important, and I am sure you wouldn’t want to miss. (I am flattering myself, I know…humor me.) Ellie the dog actually ate Whitney's math homework. This is the bag of evidence. Check the scraps...it's really done! Funniest part of my week was writing the teacher a... Continue reading

At age 14, a boy named Patrick was captured from his homeland of Scotland by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years as a shepherd/slave. By his own confession, he grew up knowing about God, but not loving God. The forced imprisonment left him completely alone and away everything familiar to him. He sat for years watching sheep, and like King David in the Bible spent his hours and days listening and talking to God. In his early twenties, he had a dream where he said God told him to leave because... Continue reading

Ellie is a Golden Retriever. She retrieves everything she finds and brings it to us proudly wagging her tail. This photo needs a good caption. Ideas? Continue reading

I try to block out time everyday to just sit and be quiet in God’s presence. It doesn’t always happen since my house is almost always very loud, but occasionally I find something like this video that brings me there in a second. My gift to you today is a moment in God’s presence. Rest. Reflect. Just Be. Let Him love you. And then get back to your noisy, crazy life knowing you are so, so loved. His Grace is so amazing. Continue reading

Say what you will, but I think social media is a wonderful thing indeed. It's today's Global Neighborhood. Growing up, I was the 9th grandchild on my Dad's side, the first girl in the Lanting family for something like a hundred years. You can only imagine how excited my Grandmother was to finally have a little doll baby to dress up and put lace, ruffles, and bows on. Sadly, just a few days before I was born, my Grandfather had a heart attack and almost died. It wasn't looking good, so my Grandma did what she knew she should. She... Continue reading

You’ve heard me ramble on and on about what I have learned about pain in my short 36 years. I did a Twitter/Facebook poll posing the question: Why does God Allow Pain? I was stunned at the response and interest in this question. I did not include every entry because some of you really like to talk a lot, and I though 45 or so short responses would suffice to get a point across. Take a minute to scan through these responses. I would seriously love to hear your feedback after you read through everyone’s unique opinion about the question... Continue reading

To set the record straight, I need to have full disclosure about my own personal process with pain. I do have chronic pain, but not to the degree that most people who struggle with chronic pain do. I have experienced enough to think about it a lot, learn a ton, and grow in some ways I would never be able to grow otherwise. The things I have learned I would not trade to have a pain free-existence. I have learned to look on others with compassion that I can only know from what it feels like to hurt. To see... Continue reading

I grew up on the South Side of Chicago. I love and miss the city like it is an old friend. I got to live downtown for awhile, and it was an experience I am forever grateful for. I saw this old travel movie about Chicago posted on my Dad's Facebook page and had to share. Watch around minute 5 to see how beautifully blue Lake Michigan was. Enjoy, and have a great weekend! Continue reading

As I open this topic of pain, a few questions always come to my mind: Why are people in pain considered weak or emotionally unstable? Or, in Christian circles, when the subject of pain and sickness are brought up, why does it immediately become a “spiritual” subject? Why do so many who live in daily pain hide it to appear strong? Yesterday I explained some of my own reasons about why I really don’t talk about pain much. Last summer when we were making plans to go to India, Rob asked Rajendran if it was possible for me to have... Continue reading

I live with a lot of pain. Ouch. That hurt me just to write. I don’t talk publicly about pain for a reason. I don’t talk about it because I know that 1/2 the general public will offer me all kinds of hopes and remedies and diagnosis from their own experience and expertise. It irritates me so much that I keep my mouth shut. I know I shouldn’t eat sugar. I know I should exercise more. I know what natural remedies are out there and that the prescriptions I have to take could cause blindness, obesity, weight loss, hyperactivity, tiredness,... Continue reading