Living for Real
JJ Landis - Page 3 of 34 - Christian Author on Parenthood, Depression, and Suicide
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anxiety, balanced life, be present, beauty, living for real, perspective, real life / 06.12.2016

  The questions have stayed with on a loop in my brain since I first heard Rob Bell pose them on a podcast last week: Who are you? What are you doing here?   Some days, I wake up and begin pushing a boulder up a hill, only to have it crush me. Pervasive anxious thoughts of never being finished, caught up, or satisfied are in my head.   The particulars of life – grocery shopping, cooking, washing clothes, packing lunches, mopping the floor, planning for this, planning for that, checking children’s grades (that...

adolescence, be present, kids, life is good, living for real, parenting, perspective / 02.11.2016

The bin that holds bits and pieces of past costumes was retrieved a few weeks before Halloween from the shelf above the dryer. Angel wings, a Mardi Gras mask, a studded black belt, a top hat, and other treasures were found and spread all over my bedroom floor.   My office floor was covered with 12-gauge shotgun shell casings (don’t ask where they came from) and rolls of duct tape where Alex spent hours constructing ammunition belts.   As if that was not enough junk, the husband and two kids paid a...

courage, humility, make a difference, service, sin / 12.10.2016

  Explaining our Christian faith to our inquisitive exchange student has been fun. We’re reading through the book of John, a few verses after dinner each evening. He was interested to learn that Jesus was a Jew. We explained that the Jewish people waited for their Messiah, their Savior, to come. Jesus arrived in humility, which is not what people expected. He came not to be an earthly ruler, but to offer another way – something more than earthly kingdoms can provide.   What does this have to do with foot washing?   We...

balanced life, be present, kids, living for real, parenting, real life / 07.09.2016

I drove with the windows down, a rare occurrence during the heat of summer. Dreams of autumn entertained my mind with the drop in temperature. The two little girls with me didn’t notice the subtle weather change, but I rejoiced at the perfect air without one drop of humidity.   Not an evening to be wasted indoors, I gathered up my youngest and her bestie for a playground visit, one I hadn’t been to in years. All other family members were occupied that first week of school, so it was...

acceptance, adoption, beauty, blessings, grace, kids, life is good, love, parenting / 28.07.2016

Recently I heard someone tell about an adoption of a special needs child from another country. He explained some of the parents’ arduous and expensive, heartfelt process, and then said, “Imagine the joy…” as he described how the child must have felt about being adopted. The little boy would be loved unconditionally and taken care of his whole life. He would experience privileges in this country that he would never have had a chance for in his home country.   Though I completely understood his point, all I could think about...