Later this week, my husband and I will attend candlelight worship on Christmas Eve. This service has been part of our thirty years married. The combination of carols, familiar Scripture readings, and sharing this time together with other believers is the perfect prelude to our family celebration on Christmas Day. Add our first grandchild and …
The When That Never Came
I remember my first Christmas married and before kids, my husband and I had big dreams for the future and very little money. We were both in school and working part time. I was an undergraduate in Accounting and he was in his second year of medical school. I worked as a teller at a …
Watching and Waiting
My younger son and his bride were able to hear the heartbeat of their baby this week for the first time and their exclamations as they each shared the news with me were all joy and relief commingled. As they eagerly await the birth of their firstborn, their hopes and fears meet as in the …
Signs and Wonders
I didn’t expect my fig tree to bear fruit in its second year, yet somehow it bloomed well past its growing season. By winter, I counted at least twenty figs. They never reached peak size nor did they ripen. The first frost left the fruit exposed on bare limbs where they remain. The people in …
Ice Cream For Breakfast
Thanksgiving means huge meals with all the family favorites, which unfortunately don’t come with labels. Potluck, for me this year, is like playing Russian Roulette with my insides! Since my cancer surgeries this past summer, my digestive system has been a little quirky. Suffice it to say, I’ve become aware of things that are necessary …
More of My Story
This is my story. Well, actually it’s God’s story. Always has been, but these chapters are from the days in my life that were written in His book before the first one began. (Psalm 139:16) You may wonder how exactly the events of my life could be recorded before they happened. That’s not usually how …
Faith With Feet
“Imagine a world where our beliefs weren’t just something that happened in our heads and hearts- but became something powerful we did with our hands and feet.” ~Jennifer Dukes Lee We all yearn for a life of significance. Truth be told, we want to matter. We long to leave our mark on the world, but …
Responding To God
I listened to my daughter humming as she rocked my grandson, Thomas. The sweet, sleepy tune repeating was so very familiar. As she hummed, the words came back to me. “I love You, Lord, and I lift my voice to worship You, O my soul, rejoice! Take joy, my King, in what You hear and …
Habit in the Making
Did you brush your teeth? Yes ma’am. Are you sure? Feel my toothbrush. This was my kids’ favorite argument at bedtime. Well, at least it was a close second to “just one more story!” It took some training and persistence to teach my children to be responsible for brushing their own teeth, and perseverance to …
Who Does He Look Like?
My husband was enrolled in Genetics, the study of inherited characteristics, in medical school when we started making plans for a family. We spent our evenings talking about dominant and recessive traits and which we possessed and would likely be passed on to our children. No amount of imagining could have prepared us for the …
A Fitting Reply 