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 …
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 …
Leveraging Today for Eternity
Ezra climbs up steps and onto furniture easily at nearly nine months but he needs a spotter. He doesn’t think twice about abruptly turning or plunking down regardless of what’s behind him. He’s very cautious cruising on level ground. He carefully squats until his bottom finds the floor, but today he pulled himself up onto …
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 …
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 …
How Many Hearts?
Thomas started attending Little Learners classes with his mom at the zoo when he turned three. January’s first class was rescheduled due to ice and snow, but he made it up this week. He learned that an octopus has eight arms, nine brains, and three hearts. Scientists believe that three hearts are necessary to circulate …
Gratitude of Grace
“God is great. God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen.” “Thank You, Jesus, for this day. We love You, Jesus. Amen.” “Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus, for this day, and our food, and our many blessings, and our many blessings. Amen.” Thomas, Amelia, and Timothy’s special blessings at mealtimes mean …
Destined For Trouble
You’ve heard the saying, “Silence is golden, unless you have toddlers, then silence is suspicious.” I was reminded earlier today just how true that statement can be. Both girls were putting their babies down for a nap in the guest rooms downstairs and since it was too cold to be outside, the toddlers and I …
Spit It Out
Ezra is a spitter like his daddy before him. He eats and he’s happy, he spits up and he’s still happy. His mama tries everything to prevent it. She burps him, props him, holds him upright, lets him lie down and still he spits up. He will grow out of it soon but not soon …
