Samantha K Schmidt

Before I even knew God, He was placing people in my life like breadcrumbs leading me back to him. There was James, who despite my reputation of being a cactus in high school (prickly and unapproachable) he opened his arms to me when I transferred to the same college. I thought a popular guy like him would never remember a quiet, unlikeable girl like me, but he welcomed me at a time when I knew no one. He couldn’t miss me walking through the otherwise empty parking lot. He stopped and hugged me. I don’t remember our conversation, but I remembered thinking there was something different about James. Now I realize that he shined the light of Jesus into my otherwise dark world. James is now a missionary in China. At the time I didn’t even know he was a Christian, but now I know he was a breadcrumb. There was Caitlin. We transferred in at the same time, took classes together, did projects together, and sat next to each other on graduation day. Caitlin on the other hand always had Jesus on...

I’m probably one of the most laid back first time moms. Especially in this millennial, organic, non-dairy, peanut-allergy ridden world. My approach to parenting is that somebody is always doing a worse job than I am. That sounds like a free-range parenting disaster, but don’t worry I’m not headed down that road. In fact I’m a hands-on discipline approving mom, but I’m also not willing to live in a world where I’m never good enough. Don’t get me wrong I’ve spent many nights googling all the side effects of the many mistakes I’ve made as a parent. In fact, I’ve googled so many things I could probably write a book. Yesterday’s search was “What to do if your baby eats a leaf.” Someone actually posted that their kid ate a dead bug, so my mission statement stands true… someone’s always doing worse. First time moms often fall trap to the heart wrenching reality that how they parent this little being will ultimately have life-changing effects, and while that’s true I want those effects to in...