Ten months into a pandemic, in the middle of yet another surge of Covid cases, and I am great with child. My birth center will not let me deliver there if I should contract Covid, I don't want it during pregnancy anyway, and so I've limited my social activity. But still, choosing those limits doesn't … Continue reading Eleanor’s Birth Story
Author: alyssajyoder
Relationship Workout
I lived in southern Spain for almost three years, from May 2017 to March 2020. During those years, I never left the country. For some expats, maybe that doesn’t sound odd or hard; for others, it will sound both odd and hard. It certainly wasn’t something I’d done before. When we lived in Morocco for … Continue reading Relationship Workout
Chances Are
Dear Luke, You turned four this week. I still remember how I cried when the midwives placed you on my chest, cried out of relief that you were alive, outside of my body. No more worries about food, medication, miscarriage, premature birth. No more poking my belly to wake you up, just so your indignant … Continue reading Chances Are
Friday Five
It's Friday! And here are five things on my mind. (This may become a semi-regular blog feature, for those weeks when I'm struggling with writer's block.) Ellis Peters' detective series The Cadfael Chronicles. I've been recommending these books as perfect escape reading, to all my friends who ask and occasionally to those who don't. This … Continue reading Friday Five
On Generosity and Guilt
I want to show generosity "from love, not for love."
Chiaroscuro
Look for the light-- strawberries, cake, reaching hands
Breath Before the Plunge
“I don’t want to be in a battle. But waiting on the edge of one I can’t escape is even worse.” Pippin’s words float through my mind often these days. In January, I plunged excitedly into leaving preparations, only to pulled back to the surface again by a miscarriage. While that grief is still in-process … Continue reading Breath Before the Plunge
Fashion Advice for the Chronically Ill-fitted
If you’ve ever found yourself in a role that fits awkwardly, a size too small or too wide across the shoulders, yet you know you’re meant to wear it anyway: Don’t go to the one wearing a perfectly-fitted shirt and ask them how they make it look so easy. Go to the one who’s rocking … Continue reading Fashion Advice for the Chronically Ill-fitted
Dear Future Thanksgiving Me
Dear Future Thanksgiving Me, The smoky roasted sweet potatoes, bacon browned butter green beans, garlic mashed potatoes and gravy, and roast turkey breast are all winners. Just add more salt (thank you, Samin Nosrat, for transforming my cooking world with that tip). Make sure you completely fill up the sweet potato pan so you don’t have … Continue reading Dear Future Thanksgiving Me
Don’t Shut Your Emotions Up
I’ve been following Jesus since I was seven and prayed the sinner’s prayer by myself, behind the closed door of our tiny schoolroom. Since even earlier than that, I’ve been a little like my childhood literary heroine, Anne of Green Gables. My emotional highs can feel extra-high, my emotional lows extra-low, like Anne’s “perfect graveyard … Continue reading Don’t Shut Your Emotions Up

