Brittany L. Bergman

Savoring motherhood, building marriage, and living simply

I Carried You

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I wrote this essay about six months ago, and a portion of it was shared on the Coffee + Crumbs social media accounts as a #ccfreewrite. Today I’m sharing the whole essay because that seems appropriate for the week after Mother’s Day. I carried you before I even knew you were there, back when you were just a poppy seed inside my rapidly growing womb. I didn’t believe the pregnancy test at first, convinced as I was that my turn was still many months away. I carried you to church on the day I thought I was losing you, choosing… Read More

The #1 Thing I Learned from My 3rd Round of Whole 30

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I’m currently doing my third Whole 30 (the other two were way back three years ago), and honestly, I was a little nervous about starting it. I knew I could handle the cooking—I had plenty of favorite recipes to choose from—and I certainly knew I could handle the discipline of following the rules. I’m a classic type-A personality, a true Upholder, and an Enneagram type 1. I am HERE for all the rules. But it was actually the rules that made my first two Whole 30 experiences so unhealthy. Back in the day, I was chasing hard after the perfect… Read More

Armchair Chats // I’d Love Your Opinion on Some Ch-Ch-Changes!

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I love writing these Armchair Chats—they are my way of virtually inviting you into my home, pouring you a cup of coffee, settling into the (very real) armchairs in my living room, and talking about what’s going on in our lives and what’s on our hearts. For the past few months, I’ve been toying around with the idea of moving these chats to a monthly email newsletter rather than housing them on the blog. Currently, the lovely people who are signed up to receive emails from me get each post delivered to their inboxes (so, about 2-3 a month). With… Read More

Why We Kept Selah’s Name a Secret

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I sat across from my husband, Dan, noisily adjusting my 20-weeks-pregnant body on the vinyl cushion of the booth as the waiter disappeared with our order. We always ordered the same thing at this restaurant: pulled pork nachos topped with housemade barbecue sauce, heaps of cheese, and plenty of fresh-sliced jalapenos. (I clearly was not suffering from pregnancy-related heartburn.) As soon as the waiter walked away, my eyes lit up, and I asked, “Can we open it now?” We had our 20-week anatomy scan earlier that day, and the technician sent us off with a sealed envelope containing the sex… Read More

The Death and Resurrection of Faith: Reflections on Good Friday

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A year ago on Good Friday, I admitted something out loud that I’d known for some time: my faith, at least as I knew it, was dead. I made my admission to a trusted friend, telling her that if being a good Christian meant rigid exclusivity and self-righteous certainty, I no longer wanted to be a part of the faith. But I had also followed Jesus long enough at this point to know that he was the only thing I wanted, the only one I desired to follow. The words of Peter rang true for me: Who else would I… Read More

Armchair Chats // Permission to Revise Redux

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Almost exactly six months ago, I shared that Dan and I decided to put Selah in daycare two days a week. We had been tag-teaming childcare responsibilities while both juggling full-time work, and once she became a toddler (aka more energy + less daytime napping), we needed a new system. Well, the new system didn’t work so well. After a few weeks in this new setting, Selah started to backslide, and even though we tried everything we could think of, she just never adjusted. I think this situation was not a good fit for her in a number of ways,… Read More

Do We Have to Go?

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Two nights before Dan and I left for the trip of a lifetime—twelve days on the beaches of Phuket, Thailand, with no kids and zero responsibilities—I looked up from my to-do list with tears burning under my eyelids and asked, “Do we have to go?” The words came out choked and quiet, in a voice so small I hardly recognized it. I did not ask this question rhetorically or ironically. It sounds crazy, I know—who wouldn’t want to leave behind the hustle and bustle of regular life, of working full-time and caring for a strong-willed toddler? Who wouldn’t want to… Read More

Armchair Chats // Getting Up Early and Putting Down the Phone

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve been an early bird with an incredibly sensitive body clock. One on hand, this is a gift—it’s not hard for me to get up before dawn. I relish the quiet mornings while everyone in my house, and even the house itself, is still asleep. I love the way the stairs groan as I tiptoe down each one, creaking to life after a night of sleep (so long as the creaking doesn’t wake Selah). I love flicking on just the one lamp next to my favorite armchair, leaving the rest of the house… Read More

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