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 …
A Mother’s Heart
My Gift - Artwork by Elisabeth Crocker with a little help from her mom Our kids made our hearts skip a beat when they shared their news that they’re expecting and we’d be grandparents, but their “don’t tell anyone yet because we want to announce it” left us anxious to celebrate and worried that we’d …
Real Live Baby
On Thanksgiving Day, everyone gathered at my grandmother’s for lunch joined hands to ask God’s blessing on our meal. Just before my daddy prayed, my younger son announced that he and his wife are expecting my second grandchild in June. I gave his hand a squeeze and glanced across at his wife who was holding …
Straining To See
My eyes strain to see the clock across the kitchen where it’s been plainly visible. I misdial the number to the insurance company because I misread the fine print. I ask my daughters to read amounts on price tags to me in the store. I’m in my fifties and I’ve needed reading glasses for awhile. …
Selling Out
It’s a seller’s market out there! When my daughter and her husband learned that his medical training would continue in North Carolina this spring, they immediately began looking for housing. A new listing would appear and before they could contact their agent, the property was under contract. With barely enough time to close before their …
A Life Changed
One year ago, I didn’t know I would be a grandmother and I had no idea I had cancer. The day before I met my daughter-in-law’s family for the first time, I had my initial screening colonoscopy recommended at age fifty. I wish I’d had one sooner. I was diagnosed with stage three colorectal cancer …
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 …
Upheld
Baby’s First Bath Being a new mother is tough. I knew it well at one point (actually at three separate points) but over time I’ve forgotten. It’s amazing how memory has washed away the monotonous unpleasantness, leaving me with rose-colored snippets of raising my own children. I’ve had the immense privilege of walking with my …
Five Generations Blessed
My Granny will be ninety in October of this year, and she was able to hold her first great-great-grandchild earlier this week. I was the first grandchild of my maternal grandparents. When I was born, five generations of my mom’s family were living. Now that my daughter has a child, we have five generations again. …
Every Firstborn Male
One week ago, our daughter gave birth to her firstborn, a son. It just so happened that as I’ve been reading through the Bible, the timing of his birth overlapped perfectly with scripture. I love the way God highlights things in His Word as they pertain to my everyday life. I read with new eyes …
A Fitting Reply 