My freshman year, the egg in a bottle experiment was banned from the science fair. Overused and unoriginal were descriptors my teacher chose even though no one in my grade had seen it barring those with older sibling. That may have been when I first learned that a fire needs oxygen to burn because the …
Simultaneously Present
My son and daughter-in-law and I stood on the water’s edge at the coast after dinner this week enjoying a video chat with my daughter and grandson in the mountains. He smiled as he recognized our voices and caught a glimpse of our faces. We watched as he pushed up onto hands and knees, ready …
Trust Obeys
“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.” Matthew 14:29 There are intersections in life where I’ve felt my voice and my influence waning. When my children began driving, preparing for college, and marriage- moments when their heads were turned and I prayed that …
Whatever You Can Carry
By far my favorite scene of the 1998 movie EVER AFTER: A Cinderella Story with Drew Barrymore plays out in a dense wood. Prince Henry has been detained by a band of Gypsies while he is walking with Danielle(Barrymore). The leader of the Gypsies has taken Danielle’s dress from where it was discarded on the …
Feel The Heat
What does pure, unadulterated faith look like, the faith of a child that Jesus commended? I saw it in the face of my eighteen year old son and heard it in his voice, as we contemplated the possibility of brain surgery after eight years of tweaking and changing medications failed to stop his seizures. I …
Fitting In
The year my daughter received a fifteen hundred piece puzzle for Christmas and determined we would not to go to bed until it was finished was the year I stopped enjoying jigsaw puzzles. We finished it, framed it, and said never again! She still enjoys puzzles and games, but with a newborn at home, they’re …
Walking Down Briers
When I received my cancer diagnosis and we found that I would need radiation and chemotherapy before having surgery to remove my tumor, my husband began walking with me and the Danes twice daily, weather-permitting, to keep my heart healthy for surgery. Our community has many well-groomed walking trails, but Paul began cutting a trail …
I Will Not Be Moved
Twelve. The number of homes I’ve occupied in my lifetime. Three before I was married and nine since. Half we’ve owned, half we’ve rented. Some of our moves have been from necessity but some have been our choice. All have been within the same state. In every location, I’ve felt secure, but not necessarily because …
This Is My Story
My name is LeAnn. I am the eldest of three children and the mother of three married children. I am a brand new grandmother in training to Thomas, and a cancer survivor. My dad recently asked me to share my story with his church. I was honored for the chance to say thank you for …
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 Fitting Reply 