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,” …
Best Invitation Ever
Variety is the spice of life, they say. I especially enjoy variety in my diet but very often I seem to get stuck in a rut where I rotate the same few meals. My husband and I quickly tire of once favorites and I’m scratching my head wondering what’s for dinner again. My husband is …
Open Doors
My pastor regularly makes use of elaborate sermon illustrations and being a visual learner, I gain a mental peg on which to hang his messages. He insures that I will think about them again during the week as I encounter the everyday articles he chose. My eldest grandson still has not forgotten the sermon where …
Tales As Old As Time
“What are you doing?” It wasn’t a casual question expressing interest. The tone and timber of her voice let him know that he had crossed a line, though unseen. His actions and intentions had been called into question and he reacted badly. This scene plays out in a million storylines of television drama or film, …
Surprised By God
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 …
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 …
A Fitting Reply 