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Category: Reflections

Christmas Letter 2020

Posted on December 8, 2020December 9, 2020 by Amy Rogers Hays

Dear Friends and Family, Last week we started doing a little Advent devotional time with the kids. Pajamas on, teeth brushed, kitchen clean, all the lights off we gather around the table. We strike a match and light our first beeswax advent wreath candle and say together “Jesus Christ is the light of the world!”…

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Family Christmas Letter 2019

Posted on December 25, 2019January 5, 2020 by Amy Rogers Hays

  Dear Family & Friends, Merry Christmas! 2019 started out with our sweet Lily baby learning to crawl and ended with a little girl with brown curls bouncing as she runs after her brother (or Bro, as she often calls him now).     Highlights of the year were our trips to North Carolina for…

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Jesus Hide & Seek : A Toddler’s Resurrection Theology

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Amy Rogers Hays

    Last month, I found a board book at the library about Easter for my two-year-old son Jackson. Honestly, he was most interested in the pictures of the spring bunnies and ducks, but when we got to the bit about everyone being sad that Jesus died, Jackson said “sad” in a solemn way. He’s been…

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An Ultrasound For My Birthday

Posted on December 28, 2017 by Amy Rogers Hays

  This year for my birthday we had our 20 week anatomy ultrasound for our second baby! It was a fantastic way to celebrate being 33. I can’t remember looking forward to my birthday more. I loved keeping Jackson’s gender a surprise for his birthday, but for this baby we decided to find out.  It…

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The Road to Emmaus: A Sermon for Eastertide

Posted on May 2, 2017August 16, 2017 by Amy Rogers Hays

    This week I was invited to preach! I was super honored and touched that our pastor invited me to be part of the regular cycle of lay people with whom he shares his pulpit. On Sunday, people were so encouraging and kind after the service. We have a pretty tight-knit little community, so it…

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on listening

Posted on January 24, 2017March 10, 2017 by Amy Rogers Hays

  This weekend I overheard a typical mother-child exchange at the Whole Foods cafe in which the mother laid out a plan for her five or six-year-old son: “You need to eat your lunch and then we’re going to go,” she said. The boy, all wiggles and distraction, said nothing to this plan. To which…

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Old World Wisconsin

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Amy Rogers Hays

  Even though we’ve moved only 20 miles from where I went to elementary school, I’ve been surprised at how infrequently I find myself returning to the important places of my childhood. There are things that are similar in the neighborhood we live in now—the Lannon stone houses from the local quarry, the way the…

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A Season of Tenderness: A Post for Our 9th Anniversary

Posted on May 26, 2016July 14, 2016 by Amy Rogers Hays

  Today is our 9th wedding anniversary and Jackson’s half birthday. It seems fitting to celebrate both as interwoven as they have been these past six months. It’s hard exactly to describe how having a baby has changed our marriage, some moments have been the most beautiful and then hours later some of the most…

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Godparents and Baptism: Joining God’s Great Family

Posted on May 20, 2016September 21, 2016 by Amy Rogers Hays

  This past weekend for Pentecost Sunday, Jackson and I got to renew our baptismal vows while spending the weekend down in Illinois with my goddaughter Teresa and her family (Evan was in DC with his students). That is one of many wonderful things about the sacrament of baptism — several times a year as…

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9 Weeks In : The Joy, Fear, & Nausea of Early Pregnancy

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Amy Rogers Hays

  The Joy.   After seven months of trying, the end of the month was drawing once again to a close. I was that guarded hopeful that I had come to know, counting the days until it would be “reasonable” to take a pregnancy test. That month (March) it was Evan’s birthday, five days after…

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Six Months In : Thoughts on Waiting and Trying to Conceive

Posted on February 13, 2015August 16, 2017 by Amy Rogers Hays

  We’ve been trying to conceive for six months. Six months is a funny amount of time. It’s both short: only half a year. Yet it’s also long: 26 weeks, 182 days.   And every one of those days I’ve thought about it. Some days in tears, a few days in calm acceptance, most days…

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Foggy Beach & Writing Days: Finding Beauty on the Shore

Posted on July 15, 2014July 15, 2014 by Amy Rogers Hays

  Last Saturday Evan and I went to the sandy dunes of a Lake Michigan beach. It was our only Saturday home, sandwiched between our June in Atlanta and the next three weekends in Chicago. We had gotten the name of a great state park an hour north from friends who remembered it fondly.  …

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Three Trips to Atlanta

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Amy Rogers Hays

  So, I’m in Atlanta. This is actually my third time in Atlanta. The first time I came to Atlanta I was 19, and it was your average college spring trip: you know where you and your dad drive a couple thousand miles from the Midwest through the south to see a slew of Great…

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Blue Hearts: A Post for Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 12, 2014August 13, 2017 by Amy Rogers Hays

  It is the last days of our intact apartment. Kind friends keep asking how the packing is going for our upcoming move in 15 days, and I smile and say we haven’t packed a thing. My husband, Evan sometimes will add that we’ve steadily over the years tried to get rid of things we…

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I'm so glad you're here! I'm Amy - Anglican, mother of two, lover of trees, coffee, & fairy tales. Here's where I write about making space for creativity and filling our days with long walks, good food, morning prayers, and the reading and writing of good books. Drop me a line at AmyRogersHays (at) gmail.com.

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Welcome!


I’m so glad you’re here! I’m Amy – Anglican, mother of two, lover of trees, coffee, & fairy tales. Here’s where I write about making space for creativity and filling our days with long walks, good food, morning prayers, and the reading and writing of good books. Drop me a line at AmyRogersHays (at) gmail.com.

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Recent Posts

Maundy Thursday: A Liturgy for Children and Families

Maundy Thursday: A Liturgy for Children and Families

Family Easter Basket Ideas: Books, Games, and Really Good Chocolate

Family Easter Basket Ideas: Books, Games, and Really Good Chocolate

Newbery Review #104 (The First State of Being, Kelly, 2025)

Newbery Review #104 (The First State of Being, Kelly, 2025)

40 Books for My 40th Birthday: A 2024 Reading List

40 Books for My 40th Birthday: A 2024 Reading List

Family Christmas Letter 2024

Family Christmas Letter 2024

Recipe for a Birthday Hike

Recipe for a Birthday Hike

An Invitation to October Rest: A Devotional

An Invitation to October Rest: A Devotional

Fun for Two: 5 Date Night Board & Card Games

Fun for Two: 5 Date Night Board & Card Games

Our Board-Game Loving, Third Grade Son’s Top 5 List of Favorite Board Games

Our Board-Game Loving, Third Grade Son’s Top 5 List of Favorite Board Games

Our First Grader’s Top Board Games: 5 No-Reading-Required, Travel Friendly, Family Card Games

Our First Grader’s Top Board Games: 5 No-Reading-Required, Travel Friendly, Family Card Games

5 Games to Start a Board Game Collection

5 Games to Start a Board Game Collection

5 Tips for Family Board Gaming

5 Tips for Family Board Gaming

40 of the Best Picture Books for 5 Year Olds

40 of the Best Picture Books for 5 Year Olds

Newbery Review #103 (The Eyes and the Impossible, Egger, 2024)

Newbery Review #103 (The Eyes and the Impossible, Egger, 2024)

Ash Wednesday: A Liturgy for Children and Families

Ash Wednesday: A Liturgy for Children and Families

Ways to Feel a Little Better or a Little More Peaceful

Ways to Feel a Little Better or a Little More Peaceful

How to Find Great Children’s Books: 20 Guide Books, Books Lists, and Web Resources

How to Find Great Children’s Books: 20 Guide Books, Books Lists, and Web Resources

39 Books for my 39th Birthday: A 2023 Reading List

39 Books for my 39th Birthday: A 2023 Reading List

Family Christmas Letter 2023

Family Christmas Letter 2023

A Simple Home Christmas Pageant Script

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Books & Boots for Saint Nicholas Day: A List of our Family’s Favorite Christmas Picture and Read Aloud Books

Books & Boots for Saint Nicholas Day: A List of our Family’s Favorite Christmas Picture and Read Aloud Books

40 Great Picture Books for 4 Year Olds

40 Great Picture Books for 4 Year Olds

Newbery Review #102 (Freewater, Luqman-Dawson, 2023)

Newbery Review #102 (Freewater, Luqman-Dawson, 2023)

The Best Children’s Bibles: 30+ suggestions from Board Book Bibles to Illustrated Study Bibles

The Best Children’s Bibles: 30+ suggestions from Board Book Bibles to Illustrated Study Bibles

An Epiphany Liturgy for Children and Families

An Epiphany Liturgy for Children and Families

Categories

  • Anxiety
  • baby
  • Board Games
  • Book Lists
  • Children's Spiritual Formation
  • Connect
  • Creativity
  • Eat
  • Family Stories
  • Fun with Kids
  • Liturgical year
  • Love & Marriage
  • Make
  • Motherhood
  • Move
  • Newbery Book Reviews
  • Order
  • paleo
  • Pray
  • pregnancy
  • Read
  • Reflections
  • Rest
  • Self-Care
  • simplify
  • Toddler
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • walks in the woods
  • Wisconsin Beauty
  • Write

Favorite Posts

natural haircare

Make
Natural Hair Care: Baking Soda, Apple Cider Vinegar & Vodka-Gelatin Hair Gel

 

homemade deodorant

Make
Homemade Deodorant For Sensitive Skin: Bentonite Clay and Baking Soda

 

college advice

Advice to Future College Students: 10 Things I Wish I Had Done More

 

belonging to a church

Belonging to A Church

 

dyslexia

Reflections on Dyslexia:
May B. A Novel by Caroline Starr Rose

 

leaving grad school

A Defining Retreat: Deciding to Leave Grad School

 

love story

The Beginning of a Love Story In Honor of Anniversary Weekend

 

breakfast

Scramble Up A Simple Paleo Breakfast

 

cake

Bake Up A Flourless Chocolate Cake

 

comfortable and presentable

Organize Bookshelves by Color

 

trees

My Life In Trees

 

elimination diet

An Elimination Diet Figure Out What Foods Are Making You Sick

 

goodbye letter

A Goodbye Letter to Our Church: Leaving Those You Love

 

paleo blended chai recipe

Paleo Chai: A Blended Coconut Oil & Butter Recipe

 

Prayer book

16 Online Resources: Liturgical Prayer Apps & Websites

 

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