Chicks were hatching as we arrived at my parent’s house to see the new litter of puppies. It was hard for the adults, let alone the grandchildren, to decide where to look first. Little faces crowded around my dad as he lifted the lid from the incubator. Two downy chicks wobbled around one hatchling who …
It’s Your Choice
“I was thinking I’d blacken some mahi for dinner,” I told my husband. I’d spent the morning with our son’s family while he played tournament golf with our son. I hadn’t realized that their lunch was provided and had been served after their round ended, only an hour or so earlier. He certainly wouldn’t want …
Sinking Sand
Timothy wasn’t walking the last time we were at the beach so when we arrived at the ocean yesterday and removed his little shoes and set him on the soft sand, he sensed the shifting and immediately reached up to his momma to be held. Thinking the water would draw him in, she dangled his …
No Regrets
If I had only admitted how I felt sooner. If I had only walked in a moment later. If I had only had the courage to knock. If I’d made the investment, asked the question, been a little bolder or a little less stubborn, how might things have turned out differently? Movie magic is made …
Make It Stop
Hurricane Harvey arrived in Houston, Texas just before Jacob was scheduled for brain surgery that had the potential to end his seizures. Though he turned nineteen during his weeklong evaluation earlier in that year, he was to be treated as a pediatric patient. This would allow me to stay with him in the hospital as …
Shared Stories
Amelia’s courage grew as she reached for the handholds on the rock wall. She gripped tightly to the blue and yellow holds while moving her feet onto the green and red. My husband and I built the playground to last so I had boarded off two open rail sections to keep the babies from falling. …
Preach
I’m stymied! I’m committed to memorizing Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount this year but I’m barely twenty verses in and I’ve hit a wall. Focusing on new verses interrupts my memory of the initial ones. I could use my age as an excuse or cite unrealistic expectations and simply give up but I have other …
No More Ice Cream
Hot and humid was the forecast for our zoo day so I promised my grandbabies soft serve ice cream after lunch. We stood in line behind half a dozen other patrons inching our way toward the ordering window. When only two people remained ahead of us, the worst happened. We saw the lone cashier, half …
Crash! Bang! Boom!
“I’m scared of storms,” Amelia admitted, her little brow furrowed. I was pushing her high, the way she’d asked, in the rocket swing in the garage because the rain was finally coming down in sheets and thunder was beginning to sound in the distance. We’ve all been praying for the forecasted rain to squelch the …
On The Fringe
“Did you say something?” I called to my husband from the kitchen. Thinking he needed my attention, I dried my hands from rinsing dishes and walked to our bedroom where he sat in his rocker next to our Great Dane, Jake, staring disgustedly at his iPad. “Did you need something?” I asked again. “No, sorry,” …
A Fitting Reply 