Headshot fixed!.jpg

Charlene VandenBrink

Charlene strings together soulful words for life’s beauty and struggles.

When not feeding her six children with good books and endless meals, she can be found walking and talking with neighbors, folding laundry while listening to a podcast, or reading from her latest stack of books for seminary!

She also cheers on her husband, who runs their Edmonton-based renovation company.

They welcomed six children in eight years and are living the dream of homeschooling and traveling life together!

Even if it is just a whisper,

Your voice,

Your story,

Your life matters!

I’m listening.

You are not alone.

I would love to hear from you!

 

Travel Together on Instagram

Rain & shine, I'm so grateful you are all mine ☀️ We enjoyed our first camping week of the season together. I had some deep processing to do for this week's unit on David Fitch's book *Reckoning with Power* for a Leadership Foundations course...
Happy Mother's Day to the one who inspired me with her own half dozen babies 💐 She spent special time with our kids going through a Gather 'Round Unit on North American birds during my fall and winter seminary courses this year!
Dear friends... It's never too late To recalibrate Take the balcony view In whatever's stressing you! My delighted expression captures a helpful leadership/parenting technique I share in this month's blog post reflecting on two books, Soul of Disci
"You will see Mommy crying many times over the next days and years..." Those were Benj's instinctive words to our kids two years ago, tomorrow, as we lay in bed after a sleepless night of sorrow. Tears streamed down our faces as little ar
I hope you had people to sing loudly, hunt chocolate, and break bread with this weekend… I hope you extended forgiveness as you celebrated the One who paid it all… I hope people caught their breath with you as tears fell when you reme
I quickly tossed a book into my suitcase. It was not from my seminary reading stack but a Christmas gift I had been slowly reading over the last two months. I didn’t expect much reading time on our five-day family getaway to the mountains for
The recent loss of a beautiful momma of three children because of a senseless hit-and-run is a lot for everyone to process. There are broken hearts in need of a miracle only God can perform. A miracle he is continuing to do in the deepest places of
Born to be...40! 💖 This post is tempered by the tragic loss of someone connected to our church community this weekend... And so, I celebrate this milestone's beauty, painfully aware of life's fragility. My soul was touched & blessed at a spec