Toddler silliness can quickly escalate to ugliness. Hitting, pushing, or biting seem to come out of nowhere but if you’re paying attention, it has usually been building gradually toward a crescendo. Either both want to do the same thing or simply don’t want the other to do it. The most recent incident involved opening the …
Why Timothy?
What do you do when your third grandchild doesn’t settle to the same bedtime songs as his older brother and cousin? You reframe Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves The Little Children, and This Little Light of Mine to the tune of Hey Diddle Diddle. There are several soft crinkly baby books in my Lolly Bus …
Over Reacting
In the south, we know how to prepare for ice and snow, but when it comes to hurricanes, well, that’s a different story entirely. We’ve owned a home on the coast so we’ve done due diligence. We’ve installed storm shutters and breakaway lower walls. We’ve dealt with evacuation and flooding, eroding dunes, tainted water, and …
But Are We?
Our grandson was fishing across the lake with his friend when the thunderhead began forming to the southwest. I was away for the day but my husband was in the backyard with the dog when the wind began to pick up. Storms move fast over water and by the time Paul was inside, the first …
Like-Minded
“Sing oil in my lamp,” said Amelia at lunch today. She’s been watching episodes on YouTube of Psalty’s Little Praisers, videos her dad watched as a child. From her seat beside me, I could hear her mumbling her precious rendition of Say To The Lord I Love You while she waited for her pizza. It …
Who’s Leading?
“Amelia,” I voiced in my most animated Lolly accent. “Let’s go take Jake outside and check the mail. You need your shoes.” She plopped down on the welcome mat, waiting for help with her slip-ons, then she ran out the door ahead of me, alternately dancing and running every step of the way. My granddaughter …
More Than Words
“Good night, God bless you, sweet dreams, and I love you.” Thomas repeats to his baby brother, Timothy. I heard these words nightly as a child. I spoke them to my children and now to their children. My son says them to his daughter and my daughter to her sons. They offer a daily reminder …
Unrealistic Expectations
“But I don’t want to tell myself no,” stated Thomas flatly. We’ve been memorizing the fruit of God’s Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23 with a little song and he knows that self-control means sometimes telling yourself no, even if you really want to do something. Of course, it can also mean pushing yourself to do something …
Fishers of Men
No. No. No. It had been that kind of day for Amelia. Did she want peanut butter and jelly? No. Would she like oatmeal? No. Turkey and cheese? Yogurt? Cheese pizza? No. No. No. We were both tired and she needed to eat dinner, but true to what her mom and dad told me before …
The Book For Me
My husband has two devotion books on his bedside table. Thomas and Amelia like to read Poppy’s books, calling them their Bibles. They enjoy moving the ribbon page markers so if Poppy has ever thought, “I believe I’ve read this one already,” he’s probably right. I had the opportunity to teach Thomas the difference between …
A Fitting Reply 