My daughter, Caroline, crept on cat’s paws through the house during the night. Being the only girl, her room was always situated closest to my own. When they were small, both her brothers raised the alarm at deafening pitch if they were ever sick or awakened by a dream. You heard them long before you …
Birds, Bees, and Fruit Trees
Water levels in the lake behind our house have risen a foot and a half in just a few days. The ground is saturated but it’s not a crisis. Spring is coming. We open valves to drop the lake level in winter for house maintenance. Sea walls and docks are built or repaired. Fallen trees …
Much More To Say
I watch my girls with my grandchildren. They are often so overwhelmed and I remember! Sleep is elusive and days are long because nights are short. Like so many of us, mothers before them, they’ve been entrusted with these precious lives. They carried them inside their own bodies for nearly a year and now that …
Perfecting Holiness
https://videopress.com/v/tCLjsTgx?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true Proverbs 16:24 My life has been lived like yours, one day at a time, hour by hour, minute by minute. I do not spend much time looking back because I have an enemy, same as you, who loves to highlight and bombard me with my worst moments, never my victories or the long months …
Compelled
“You don’t get in my face, Poppy,” said Amelia. “I have a runny nose.” We had just stood to join in the congregational hymns and when I hoisted Amelia to my hip, she saw my husband coming down the aisle to take his seat next to me. She immediately lunged for him and as he …
If You Know You Know
Amelia is my favorite granddaughter and I don’t mind telling anyone so. As it happens, she’s also my only granddaughter. She’s the most beautiful, brightest, most gifted, most coordinated sweetheart and she holds her Poppy’s heart in her little hands. She saves our seat each week for worship. Her face lights up when our eyes …
All My Days
How would you sum up your lifetime in just a few paragraphs? I am nearing the end of my fifty-fifth year and though I feel what the psalmist asserts, my life is but a breath, at the same time my years have been full and rich in both experience and emotion. My grandchildren have only …
Failure To Thrive
Ezra is army crawling and he made his first full hands and knees attempts last week. In the meantime, he’s pulling up on anything he can reach. Timothy took his first tentative steps over the weekend while playing ball with his dad and big brother, Thomas. These second-born boys are highly motivated by their older …
How Many Hearts?
Thomas started attending Little Learners classes with his mom at the zoo when he turned three. January’s first class was rescheduled due to ice and snow, but he made it up this week. He learned that an octopus has eight arms, nine brains, and three hearts. Scientists believe that three hearts are necessary to circulate …
Gratitude of Grace
“God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen.” “Thank You, Jesus, for this day. We love You, Jesus. Amen.” “Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus, for this day, and our food, and our many blessings, and our many blessings. Amen.” Thomas, Amelia, and Timothy’s special blessings at mealtimes mean …
A Fitting Reply 