I’m Back. And I have a post up at Deeper Family. Also, hi.

Hi. It feels a little strange to sit here writing something out to say to you. I spent the past month resting from this blog. I spent the month finishing final details for my book before it goes to the printer. I spent the past month buying Christmas presents, wrapping them, baking cookies, packing suitcases, and sitting with a book next to the tree in my parents’ house. I went to Napa with my cute husband. I started packing my house into a thousand cardboard boxes. And I dropped my baby off at preschool for the very first time. And–can you believe it?–I didn’t write about any of it!

In all, I rested. It was good.

I’m back. And I feel like I’m back with a fury. I have so much to say to you, I’m not really sure where to start. There are many new things I’m thinking about! I’m so excited that my book comes out in three months! I’m so excited that I’m moving to a new home on Friday! (I’m so excited that my whole house is basically packed already!) I’m excited that it’s a new year and I haven’t even told you about my word for the year!

So. Deep breaths, Micha. I will. I’ll tell you all of it. ASAP. Okay?

Let’s start here for now. I have a post up at Deeper Family today. It’s about “reflecting,” a term I’ve been learning in counseling, and how that term is deeply affecting how I parent and how God parents me.

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If I can stop my frustrations. If I can calm my intense reactions to his intensity, I see him. I hear him. And I realize that all along, that’s all any of us want. Even in the moments when we fail, when we cower in our shame, we long for a God who comes to us and says, “You feel ashamed.”

Not a question, just an understanding. A God who sits beside us in our fury and says, “You look hurt. You feel like you can’t live this way.” We long for a God who knows us well enough to show us that we are known. A God who doesn’t say, “You are ashamed, but you have to change,” and instead a God who says, “You are ashamed. And you get to change. You get to have a new day, a new chance, a new heart.”

You can find the entire post over a Deeper Family today. I’d love for you to join me there. (And I’ll see you here tomorrow. Pinky swear.)