- Aimee Mae Wiley 2 Comments

Three Unexpected Joys of Going to the Gym

It’s taken me the better part of the school year, but I have finally started making a habit of going to the gym right after I drop off my kids for school in the morning. Apart from the health benefits I get from working out each day, I have discovered three external sources of joy from this new routine, too. Man’s Best Friend Instead of heading home after I drop off my kids in the morning, there is a new[Read more]

- Aimee Mae Wiley 7 Comments

Where Did the Time Go?

where did the time go

I was working through the 2018 family budget this evening, assigning values to line items like birthdays, outings, holidays, etc. By birthdays, I listed out the ages my children will turn this year- 15,13,11,10,7- and then stared at the numbers in disbelief. Where did the time go? How is it possible that my children are no longer “little” children, but teens and tweens and a little girl who will always be my “baby” but is certainly no longer a baby[Read more]

- Aimee Mae Wiley 3 Comments

How to Be Content on Your Birthday

four jars of contentment

Do you suffer from Birthday Letdown Syndrome? Your birthday is coming, and you have such high hopes that it will be all you wished for and more. Even if you’re not a big birthday person, I’ll bet you still have a few unspoken expectations for the day. All of that anticipation builds, and no matter how great the day is, it’s never quite how or what you expected. Then, the letdown comes. Dissatisfied and discontent, you turn the page, and[Read more]

- Aimee Mae Wiley 1 Comment

Look for the Wonder

“Look for the wonder.” This is the thought that came to my mind this week as I prepared to read the book of Luke. It has been so long since I have really taken time in God’s Word. A verse here or there, a passage of Scripture studied on Sunday morning, lyrics from a worship song, but my own intentional quiet times had become nearly nonexistent over the past few months. Now that I am no longer homeschooling, there is[Read more]

- Aimee Mae Wiley 4 Comments

How to Make the Most of the Hours the Kids are in School

I used to be the mom who enviously asked other moms what they did while their kids were at school all day. I was a homeschooling mom, and the idea of that kind of freedom to pursue dreams, accomplish goals, think uninterrupted thoughts, and keep a clean house for seven straight hours sounded like heaven to me. This year, I sent the last of my children off to school, and I found out it was all a mirage. It’s not[Read more]

- Aimee Mae Wiley 7 Comments

Simplifying Summer

We are entering week two of summer vacation, and I have already had to run away from home once because the kids were driving me (and each other) crazy. Thank God I have a teenager who can cover for me in moments like these! Overall, though, it has been a good first week, and I am looking forward to what this summer will bring. Did you catch that? I don’t have this summer all planned out; I have left a[Read more]

- Aimee Mae Wiley 7 Comments

How I Starved My Children

When I went into labor with my first child three weeks early, our plans for a home birth went out the window.  We rushed to the hospital, where I gave birth to a boy weighing 7 lbs, 9 oz and having some respiratory difficulty. The NICU doctor whisked him away, and I found him an hour later, encased in an incubator he seemed too big for, adjacent to another newborn who must have weighed less than three pounds.  That was[Read more]

- Aimee Mae Wiley 5 Comments

Win a Copy of My First National Release (in Chicken Soup for the Soul)!

For those of you who don’t receive my newsletter (yet), you may not have heard that my story, A “Be-the-Gift” Birthday, was chosen out of thousands of submissions to be included in the upcoming release of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Random Acts of Kindness.  It hits bookstores next Tuesday, February 7th, and in celebration, I am giving away two, free copies to my readers at Whispers of Worth. All you need to do to enter the drawing is leave[Read more]

- Aimee Mae Wiley 1 Comment

Discover the Quiet Joy of January

(This piece was originally published in Cedarburg Bridge.) Stark, solemn trees stand sentinel along our streets.  The earth is barren, cold and hard beneath our feet.  In January, winter settles into our bones like a bear into his cave. Gone is the joyous ringing of bells, shining lights, and shimmering splendor of the holidays.  The explosion of fireworks ushering in the New Year fades and flickers into deep winter stillness. And yet, there is comfort in the slowing, as we[Read more]

- Aimee Mae Wiley 9 Comments

January- The Month of Rest

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 After the hustle and bustle of December, we are expected to charge into January, guns blazing, our lists of resolutions tucked firmly under our arms. We make grand plans for personal growth and wellness: exercise more, eat less, cease smoking, stick to the budget, get organized. However it only takes us a few hours, days, or weeks (if we’re lucky) before we[Read more]