We added room darkening shades to our guest room so our granddaughter will nap. We thought it would keep her from waking at the crack of dawn as well, but she is her father’s child. He has always been an early riser. She is awake with first light and often before. One day last week, …
Transient
My grandson wanted to roast marshmallows over a campfire but we’ve been in a drought. My dad agreed to build the fire when we came to visit, and in God’s perfect timing, it rained the day before and the day of our visit. He added the wood to fuel the fire before we arrived. By …
Coming Home
Three highways become one main street through downtown, then veer off in different directions again across town. As a college student new to the area, my directional skills were a little sketchy. From the front of campus, I turned left and drove straight until I reached the interstate toward home. From the back entrance, a …
Gospel Conversations & Postmodernism
“Pray for revival in Europe- where faith has faded away and post-modernism has taken hold. Ask God in His Sovereignty to facilitate connections and bless relationships that lead to open doors and gospel conversations.” This caption caught my eye as I flipped the calendar page to the month of November. I am praying through the …
Family Resemblance
Don’t I know you from somewhere? You look so familiar. We chat through locations we frequent, groups we belong to, and places we’ve lived. Nothing surfaces, but still I’m certain that this is not the first time we’ve crossed paths. Have you had this experience recently? I’d love to have a catalog of every introduction …
We’re All In This Together
Every three months, I package my son Jacob’s medications into two daily dose packs, ninety days, one hundred eighty doses, three tablets of one variety and two and a half of another. It’s a labor of love but at the same time it’s comforting for me as his mother. I’m sure I could pay someone …
Moves and Countermoves
Two has arrived in full force for my daughter and her husband. Their son has discovered his voice and along with it, his autonomy. My husband looked across the table in the restaurant, saying, “Please don’t stand up in your chair. I don’t want you to fall.” His reply? In his sternest voice, “Poppy, don’t …
Who Else?
I am a firm believer that we all have so much to be thankful for every single day. Part of recognizing this is the daily practice of coming into God’s presence with gratitude in our hearts. Once you start saying thank You to God, you may find that your prayers grow longer. If you’re unconvinced, …
Show Me
YouTube is proof positive that we live in a show me culture. If you’re unsure of how something works or how to fix it if it’s broken, a quick search will bring up half a dozen video how-to gurus. I needed to know how to prune my fig tree last year. I found nine different …
Foiled By Impatience
Midway through her pregnancy, my daughter developed a dairy intolerance. Since my cancer surgeries, I have been eating entirely dairy free and since she is my recipe substitution expert, she hasn’t had much of a struggle adapting, with one major exception. Pizza. On a recent visit, we headed to my favorite brick oven pizza restaurant, …
A Fitting Reply 