Ask the Animals

One of my best investments of late has been renewing our annual zoo membership and taking my girls and our grandchildren to the zoo their parents visited as children. Some of the exhibits are different. The elephant enclosure now houses rhinos, there’s a splash pad in the garden during summer, and there is an aquarium, …

Let It Pour

Rain has interrupted our evening walks for more than half of the past two weeks. A drizzle would be fine. The cooling mist mingled with the humidity of the south is refreshing, but downpours that leave shoe deep mud in our yet ungraded land, though a wonderland for our toddlers and Great Dane, Jake, requires …

We Are His Hands

Our birds enjoy berry, seed, and mealworm cylinders near our front porch throughout the day. These now last a good deal longer since we installed a squirrel baffle. The squirrels still stop by, along with the doves, to glean the scattered seeds that fall from the feeder to the ground but they’re no longer eating …

Without Love

Chicks were hatching as we arrived at my parent’s house to see the new litter of puppies. It was hard for the adults, let alone the grandchildren, to decide where to look first. Little faces crowded around my dad as he lifted the lid from the incubator. Two downy chicks wobbled around one hatchling who …

It’s Your Choice 

“I was thinking I’d blacken some mahi for dinner,” I told my husband. I’d spent the morning with our son’s family while he played tournament golf with our son. I hadn’t realized that their lunch was provided and had been served after their round ended, only an hour or so earlier. He certainly wouldn’t want …

Giant Prayers

Thank You, Jesus Thank You, Jesus For this day And our food And our many blessings  And our many blessings  Amen Amen Amelia sang my Timothy and Ezra echo blessing over our lunch today. It’s my choice for asking a blessing when kids are very small. Their little tummies are short on patience so I …

Wearing God Out

My daughter and her sons traveled to and from the beach with me. My daughter drove. I take the passenger seat unless the smaller passengers become restless. Timothy munched or dozed contentedly the majority of our return trip, but Thomas, who is nearing four, fights sleep with words. His repeated chants of I wanna get …

Pitfalls 

When I have a chance to slip away to the beach with my family, we nail down the date and I begin to search for the perfect accommodations. Each time we rent, I am convinced that this will finally be the perfect fit. The only trouble is the grandchildren keep growing. None of them are …

Sinking Sand

Timothy wasn’t walking the last time we were at the beach so when we arrived at the ocean yesterday and removed his little shoes and set him on the soft sand, he sensed the shifting and immediately reached up to his momma to be held. Thinking the water would draw him in, she dangled his …