Author Archives: jennhesse

On writing, sharing your heart, and feeling it bleed out

There’s a story I’ve etched in my mind’s eye for its vivid illustration of regeneration. In “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” the third book in the classic children’s series The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, a whiny and entitled British boy named Eustace lands himself in a dreadful plight when he steals treasureContinue reading “On writing, sharing your heart, and feeling it bleed out”

How my love for my son who is adopted and my son who is biological is the same, yet different

Only one person has had the chutzpah to ask me if I love my son whom we adopted less than I love my son whom I carried and birthed. She didn’t phrase it that bluntly, of course. And I knew she was inquiring out of genuine curiosity, as she was contemplating adoption after having twoContinue reading “How my love for my son who is adopted and my son who is biological is the same, yet different”

Hebrews: A bright hope

This Fall, I have the pleasure of studying Hebrews with some wonderful friends who share such amazing insights, I feel like they all should write devotionals or speak at church retreats. They’ve helped me look at this book with a range of fresh perspectives that bring some of the older – and honestly, difficult toContinue reading “Hebrews: A bright hope”

If I Had a Daughter

Hair bows, leg warmers, ballet flats – things that shimmer, things that tie neatly, things that smell pleasant – sequins, ruffles, and all the shades of pink that could ever be squeezed out of the palette. This is a world that is foreign to me, a culture I don’t belong in, much less comprehend, becauseContinue reading “If I Had a Daughter”

Whose platform is it anyway?

I was born during the Jennifer Era of U.S. history. Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Garner, JLo, and I joined more than half a million of our moniker sisters in dominating the baby name charts from 1970 to 1984, until those scheming Jessicas hijacked our reign. Whether this trend can be attributed to the name of theContinue reading “Whose platform is it anyway?”