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 …
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 …
Baby Talk
My grandson, Thomas, found his voice this week. He’s trying out sounds that aren’t crying. He yelps and coos and contorts his face every which way to copy ours as we talk to him. He is determined to communicate, and soon. God, who came into our world as a baby, determined the course of our …
Love Letters
I met my husband over Christmas break of my freshman year of college. We met in Sunday School in the college and careers class. I knew who he was because he has younger sisters but I’m fairly certain he didn’t know me until that Christmas. We went on one date before I returned to school …
The Word Is Alive
After reading through Leviticus and Numbers aloud with my own middle school aged kids, I have a better appreciation for the linguists, theologians, and translators who have invested in the variety of Biblical translations and paraphrases available. I prefer reading aloud from the New Living Translation, but when I’m preparing to teach, I consult at …
Securely Held
This morning, the chair across from me is empty. The view from where I sit is glorious on this second day of October. There’s a slight breeze provided by the fan above me and an accompaniment of birds singing. I choose this spot as often as I can to bask in the glory of the …
Changed By The Word
K is for “keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.” (Psalm 34:13) I’ve memorized more scripture with my children than I ever have alone. The K verse comes from Susan Hunt’s “My ABC Bible Verses- Hiding God’s Word in Little Hearts.” One year while my three kids were still in elementary …
He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
Paul and Silas sang praise to the Lord at the midnight hour from their prison cell. I hum hymns and choruses long past midnight until the words come back, verse after verse, to soothe my newborn grandson as I did my own children. He may not yet understand the lyrics but the familiar tunes will …
Seriously Searching
Have you ever so intently looked for something that you missed it entirely? Today as I stood staring into my daughter’s pantry looking for plastic cling wrap, it may as well have been invisible. She walked up behind me and pointed and it suddenly appeared. I was reminded of my youngest every time he couldn’t …
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 