I grew up eating trash can omelets, my daddy’s way of cleaning out the refrigerator. We just called them omelets. During college, our late night study group frequented a local diner where I discovered the name on a menu. Somewhat less original, Tupperware included a recipe on their website for “Clean Out-the-Fridge” Veggie Strata – …
Fully Present
Amelia perched on the edge of the raised bed in my parents’ yard emptying tiny black specks from the pods of a collard my dad let go to seed. She is usually more likely to tear through like a tornado, scattering everything in her path but after a morning with her cousins and a good …
Mothering (and Everything Else) in Christ
Dragonflies lay their eggs on the stems of water plants. A creature that soars begins its life underwater. It sheds its skin again and again for nearly two years, it grows until the day it climbs out of the water and appears to die, a dried carcass, clinging lifeless to a stem until one last …
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Me, Myself & I
The house is quiet today but I am not alone. Ever faithful Jake, our Velcro Dane, haunts my steps, following me from room to room, even to the bathroom. He lumbers to the garage door as I fold laundry, pacing, hoping in vain for an early dinner. I take him out and he chases a …
Follow Me
“Why are we whispering?” Amelia asked, leaning in closer. “Listen.” I whispered. “Do you hear the birds? Do you hear the wind?” She was watercolor painting a butterfly outside and she had nearly finished one side but she was distracted by her little brother as he climbed up and down from his chair. In an …
Exponentially
What do you get when you inflate one splash pad and add water and two hundred ball pit balls? Happy grandchildren!Thomas, Amelia, Timothy and Ezra enjoyed hours of fun-soaked outdoor play. At one point, Timothy lounged on the edge of the inflated surround mindlessly collecting balls he had been tossing out a moment earlier. When …
Good Night
Three of our four grandchildren were soundly asleep within minutes. Timothy fell asleep during prayers. We had read our Bible story and stood together under the projection of our new verse from Isaiah as it rotated on the ceiling above our heads. Before I darken the projector, I escort each child to his or her …
Transplants
“Ok, baby, it’s time for your surgery.” I said to Amelia’s doll as I sat down, donned my reading glasses and threaded pink thread onto my sewing needle. “I promise it won’t hurt a bit.” Amelia peered over my shoulder as I stitched the slit along the seam where the tag had been torn off. …
Hellbent on Destruction
“Tell me what you know about Daniel and the lions,” Amelia prompted in her best Ms. Sheila voice as she held up Ezra’s story Bible for me to see. As soon as she joined Thomas for monthly Little Learners classes at the zoo, Amelia quickly adopted the teacher role when she is pretending. She was …
Cast Off
Fair weather and longer afternoons means lots of outdoor play for the grandkids. Boat rides in the evening after dinner at Lolly and Poppy’s are a special treat. It has been so windy of late that only recently did we dust off the cobwebs for a sunset cruise. Last year, Timothy and Ezra, both pre-walkers, …
A Fitting Reply 