Christmas is half a year away in either direction, but we keep the nativity play set out all year. We sing Away In A Manger each time the babies press the angel on top to start the music and often at bedtime. One day recently, my grandson held the baby Jesus as we sang and …
Wait For It
I paid the balance due for our vacation rental this morning. Only one more month! We’re looking forward to a few days at the beach during my granddaughter’s birthday week. It’s the gift her parents requested. She has enough toys already and she only turns one once. Lord willing, we’ll digitally capture some firsts and …
Called By Name
I remember being called Mrs. Ross as a newlywed and thinking Mrs. Ross is my mother in law. I readily identified as Paul’s wife but Mrs. Ross was a title that took some growing into. In fact, I commonly asked to be called Mrs. LeAnn because it seemed less formal and made it easier for …
What Joy!
Pure joy! A most apt description of grandchildren now that I have them. So many people, friends and strangers alike, told me how wonderful this tertiary generation would prove to be but before they came into the world, before I held them and knew them, I simply could not comprehend. The capacity of my heart …
Each New Generation
Why is it true of human nature that we put off things we dread, choosing every possible option to busy ourselves until the dreaded thing is upon us? Taxes. Essays. Doctors. Mopping. What is true of trivialities is also true of essentials. We take stock at the start of a new year and resolve to …
All I Want For Christmas
I lose track of my phone more often these days. I check my email less frequently. I scroll social media less often and more quickly, scanning for birthdays and baby pictures. I don’t have dementia (at least I don’t think so!) I have grandchildren! It’s so much easier to put a pause on my devices …
Happy Birthday, Jesus
We’ve decided to celebrate Christmas a little differently this year with our little ones. Christmas is, after all, Jesus’s birthday and our celebrations should reflect truth more than culture, so this is the year we will start a new family tradition. Since our married children have their own families, we’ve settled on the morning of …
Impress Them
My precious sister loves my children well, loves them like her own, even before she had two girls of her own. She and my daughter are very much alike as God designed them. Both taught 5th grade for three years before staying home with children. Both love to bake and their love language is giving …
We Can’t Get Around It- We Need Each Other
“We’re going on a bear hunt. We’re going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We’re not scared. Oh-oh! A snowstorm! We can’t go over it. We can’t go under it. Oh, no! We’ve got to go through it!” -Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury Thomas loves a bear hunt. It doesn’t matter if …
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Where is your Damascus?
The spring of my daughter’s wedding, she asked if we could ride the Virginia Creeper Trail together. We traveled to Damascus, the midpoint of the thirty-five mile trail, rented bikes and chartered a lift to the trailhead seventeen miles up in Whitetop. That first year was perfectly magical! We shared a quaint little room in …
A Fitting Reply 