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 …

Proving Ground

Timothy is adapting to life outside the womb. He still bundles himself into a tight ball and even swaddled, he scrunches and squirms. He’s experiencing gravity in a new way now that he’s not suspended securely in amniotic fluid. He has to work at eating, the air he breathes is still new to his lungs, …