Living for Real

Raw and real stories for women who are tired of striving and pretending to have it all together. It’s time to slow down, take a deep breath, and get real.

 

JJ Landis - Page 3 of 35 - Christian Author on Parenthood, Depression, and Suicide
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balanced life, be present, book review, freedom, kids, living for real, writing life / 09.02.2017

Good day, my friends. It’s a beautiful snow day here in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The kids have been traipsing in and out of the house all morning, overjoyed that school is closed. Our exchange student finally got to experience a significant snowfall for the first time! The snow came overnight. The midmorning sun is now shining that crisp brightness that causes snow to glisten and sparkle like a fairytale.   For some of you who subscribe to my blog, please accept my apology for spamming you with over a hundred emails last...

living for real / 24.01.2017

Disheveled, twitchy, big-hearted Alex walked in the front door after being dropped off by my neighbor with whom I shared kindergarten carpool duty. I hadn’t accomplished nearly enough during my precious two-and-a-half-hour window of time while he was at school. Frustration and angst whirred in my heart as my productivity gave way to unpacking his bag and feeding him and his baby sister lunch.   I dug papers from his backpack while he talked. I didn’t hear what he said; it was noise that I didn’t have time to process....

balanced life, be present, coffee, contentment, living for real, parenting / 11.01.2017

I found our kitty curled up sound asleep, nestled in a pile of blankets on the bed early this morning, so I let her be, and the bed remained unmade. I envy her sometimes – her ability to drop and sleep anywhere.   I went to the couch to drink my coffee and enjoy the slower morning. The roads were covered with a layer of ice, so school was delayed two hours. Once my body and brain begin to move, they are reluctant to slow down. But in the mornings,...

beauty, contentment, kids, life is good, living for real, love, parenting, vacation / 14.12.2016

  It was the trip of a lifetime, just like we had hoped! A ten-day vacation to Hong Kong and Beijing with our family was a dream come true.   I had lived a few months in Hong Kong before we were married. A year into our marriage, Lee and I moved there to teach in an international school. Our daughter Esther was born there, but we relocated to Pennsylvania when she was six months old. For the past 15-years, we’ve spoken of our fondness of Hong Kong to our children.   The...

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...