Some days it’s difficult to remember who I’ve talked to or where I heard something by the time Paul and I sit down to dinner. I’ve promised to pass along a message from one of our kids or I wanted to share an amusing story about one of the grandkids. I’m reminded of a childhood …
All I’ve Ever Wanted
My mom and I were talking as we often do while I’m driving to visit my grandkids. Our conversation, as it so often does, turned to eternity. We worry and pray over the health and wellbeing of family and friends but an even more serious concern is spiritual health. I am 55 and a cancer …
It’s Not Who I Am
I’ve pulled my share of all-nighters. I’ve finished books started the night before as the sun came up. I’ve chaperoned teen lock ins by snacking all night. I’ve sat up with sick children while fighting stomach bug myself. The closest I’ve ever come to an all night prayer vigil was by the bedside of my …
Without Love
Chicks were hatching as we arrived at my parent’s house to see the new litter of puppies. It was hard for the adults, let alone the grandchildren, to decide where to look first. Little faces crowded around my dad as he lifted the lid from the incubator. Two downy chicks wobbled around one hatchling who …
Wearing God Out
My daughter and her sons traveled to and from the beach with me. My daughter drove. I take the passenger seat unless the smaller passengers become restless. Timothy munched or dozed contentedly the majority of our return trip, but Thomas, who is nearing four, fights sleep with words. His repeated chants of I wanna get …
Sinking Sand
Timothy wasn’t walking the last time we were at the beach so when we arrived at the ocean yesterday and removed his little shoes and set him on the soft sand, he sensed the shifting and immediately reached up to his momma to be held. Thinking the water would draw him in, she dangled his …
Make It Stop
Hurricane Harvey arrived in Houston, Texas just before Jacob was scheduled for brain surgery that had the potential to end his seizures. Though he turned nineteen during his weeklong evaluation earlier in that year, he was to be treated as a pediatric patient. This would allow me to stay with him in the hospital as …
Shared Stories
Amelia’s courage grew as she reached for the handholds on the rock wall. She gripped tightly to the blue and yellow holds while moving her feet onto the green and red. My husband and I built the playground to last so I had boarded off two open rail sections to keep the babies from falling. …
But It Worked Last Time
My biggest misconception as a new mother was that once I had survived two years with my firstborn, I had mastered year one and two with my newborn. Somehow I never imagined that each child would march to the beat of a different drummer. Looking back, I get a good laugh at my own naïveté …
Surprised By God
My daughter, Caroline, crept on cat’s paws through the house during the night. Being the only girl, her room was always situated closest to my own. When they were small, both her brothers raised the alarm at deafening pitch if they were ever sick or awakened by a dream. You heard them long before you …
A Fitting Reply 