Exclusive Content:

Toddler Hugs the Pizza Delivery Man Who’d Recently Lost His Daughter

Since the pandemic, delivery workers have increased exponentially, from...

Son Rushed to ER for ‘Breathing Funny’—Then Mom Finds Out Who Her Ex-Husband Left Him Alone With

They told me his injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My ex husband left our son with that woman even after he promised he wouldn't.

Sisters’ Hilarious Video Confession to Late Mom Has the Internet Rolling

Sisters Sara Wollner and Katie Wiggins are finding new ways to grieve after losing their mom Karen to pancreatic cancer in 2022. In November, they filmed a hilarious viral video with confessions to their late mom.

We Gave Up Everything and Somehow Gained Everything in Return

This morning I stood alongside my husband on the roof of our eight-year-old RV, and together we inspected the area of old caulk around the antenna. Somewhere around it was a leak, as evidenced by the water dripping in our bedroom during the last rainstorm. We bent down together and began applying sealant to the spots we thought looked iffy to us, and I surprised myself when I realized I wasn’t upset or anxious at the turn of events. This was our life now. It had its cons, but then it had those pros too.

A year ago we decided that the status quo wasn’t working for us. The American Dream, the National Norm, was missing the mark in our life. My husband owned a business, something that had once made me so proud of his standing in the community, but that had begun to only cause me sadness. He worked super-long days, and even on his rare off days he was working for his business. I watched my husband age prematurely as he dealt with the stress of owning a small business in a small town, and no matter what fun things it afforded me to do with our children, it just wasn’t as good since he couldn’t get away from work to be there with us. I missed him.
We had finally moved into our four bedroom, three full-bath, dream home on a gorgeous lot in an affluent neighborhood. Every time I pulled into the private drive in my new minivan (complete with all the bells and whistles) I would smile contentedly at my home, but I would also see the large lawn my husband had no time to mow, yet refused to pay someone else to tend. He wanted to do it; there just wasn’t time.

And that was the biggest factor of discontent for me. Time. There never seemed to be enough of it. My life revolved around an imaginary clock of my own making. I rushed to get my girls to dance lessons and softball games, all the while trying to keep up a home with too many trinkets to dust and finish the never-ending laundry pile. Our schedules were bursting at the seams, and our house was just as packed with stuff we didn’t need to be complete. We just thought we did.

I was overwhelmed on the home front, attempting to juggle motherhood, working part-time, and even trying to get a small business of my own off the ground to try and take some financial stress off our family. My husband was overwhelmed by a floundering business and his desire to still spend time with his quickly growing children. I think my children were overwhelmed also, in part because of my frequently frazzled moods, but also because of their full day for such small kids. They had more toys than they could play with or put away, and more clothes than they could even wear. The thing was, they didn’t care about the ruffle pants, frilly dresses, and name brands. I was doing that to them. Their closet floor was teeming with too many shoes, and the racks packed with jackets and coats for every occasion. It was all very unnecessary. When the time came to change out their seasonal wardrobe I was a first-world-problem mess.

A year ago we decided no more, and once God brought the idea to our minds we moved quite quickly. In hindsight, I’m glad we did. Had we not, I think fear of the unknown would have crippled me. Instead, in a matter of months, we emptied our large home of all its belongings. What we didn’t sell, we gave away, and we kept only a suitcase a piece, a few boxes, and a single container for each girl to keep their favorite toys. We kept enough to fill the back of a pickup truck, the one we had gotten after trading in two family vehicles, and it would be the one that would pull our traveling home as we journeyed across the country, wherever God led us.

Brie Gowen
Brie Gowenhttp://briegowen.com/
Brie Gowen is a 30-something (sliding ever closer to 40-something) wife and mother. When she’s not loving on her hubby, chasing after the toddler or playing princess with her four-year-old, she enjoys cooking, reading and writing down her thoughts to share with others. Brie is also a huge lover of Jesus. She finds immense joy in the peace a relationship with her Savior provides, and she might just tell you about it sometime. She’d love for you to check out her blog at BrieGowen.com.

Toddler Hugs the Pizza Delivery Man Who’d Recently Lost His Daughter

Since the pandemic, delivery workers have increased exponentially, from delivery of groceries to take out to the classic delivery: pizza. And these delivery people...

Son Rushed to ER for ‘Breathing Funny’—Then Mom Finds Out Who Her Ex-Husband Left Him Alone With

They told me his injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My ex husband left our son with that woman even after he promised he wouldn't.

Sisters’ Hilarious Video Confession to Late Mom Has the Internet Rolling

Sisters Sara Wollner and Katie Wiggins are finding new ways to grieve after losing their mom Karen to pancreatic cancer in 2022. In November, they filmed a hilarious viral video with confessions to their late mom.