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 …
More of My Story
This is my story. Well, actually it’s God’s story. Always has been, but these chapters are from the days in my life that were written in His book before the first one began. (Psalm 139:16) You may wonder how exactly the events of my life could be recorded before they happened. That’s not usually how …
He Loves Me
I watched as my younger son, Jacob, twisted an apple stem to the sing-song cadence of the alphabet. As he approached the letter of his wife’s first name, he gave an extra yank and proclaimed triumphantly, “V for Valentina!” If there’d been a clover or a daisy, he would have split the last petal to …
Faith With Feet
“Imagine a world where our beliefs weren’t just something that happened in our heads and hearts- but became something powerful we did with our hands and feet.” ~Jennifer Dukes Lee We all yearn for a life of significance. Truth be told, we want to matter. We long to leave our mark on the world, but …
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 …
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 …
You Finish What You Start
I’ve reached the age where my former penchant for multitasking has turned into easy distractibility. I start four or five tasks only to discover them partly completed later in the same day or week. At the same time, I am finding myself more productive in this particular season. I am motivated by time with my …
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 …
Defining Moments
Becoming a grandmother has quickly become one of those moments in life that changes everything! I’ve spent months preparing for it and thinking about it and still it seems surreal. I’ve looked forward to our grandson’s arrival since a few weeks after his conception, but until I held him in my arms, I didn’t really …
A Fitting Reply 