Acknowledging God in All of Life
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 …
Continue reading "Mothering (and Everything Else) in Christ"
“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 …
“Tree! Crash! Boom! Bang!” Ezra fairly shrieked, little hands motioning above his head. We were playing on the front porch together when the last two aged hardwoods came down. We waited for spring to see how they would fill out before deciding to take them down. Once they were on the ground and the rotted …
“Amelia dug up a worm,” Thomas announced as I turned from pushing Timothy and Ezra in the swings to be sure my mulch bed was still intact. They knelt in front of their toy excavators, eyes trained on something between them that I could not see. “Are you sure it’s a worm?” I asked, wary …
“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 …
Four hours of outdoor play meant early dinner, bath and bedtime for my grandchildren. The second day of spring offered nearly perfect weather punctuated by an unexpected thunderstorm. The parents coaxed the siblings through baths while I layered peanut butter and jelly on toasty blueberry bagels with strawberry cheesecake yogurts on the side for everyone …
With a pair grandsons tottering into the twos at roughly the same time, my daughters have each determined to nix nap time when at all possible. Some days, naps are still essential but days are measured on a case by case basis. Four children under five is more manageable when the weather is mild and …
“I want a turn to ride the scooter,” Thomas repeated as Amelia sped past him through the living room. “If you catch me, you can have a turn,” Amelia replied, circling around again. She laughed heartily as Thomas ran after her several laps through the kitchen. Finally he planted his feet and declared, “I caught …
Ezra skipped his nap today. He’s nearing two and he is definitely beginning to test boundaries. He sees his older sister and cousins playing independently and even though he amazes us all daily with his climbing and running and new vocabulary, being the youngest, he must feel like he’s always playing catch up. Today he …
Monkey see, monkey do. We make animal sounds for babies to repeat when identifying animals long before they can say the names. We sing head, shoulders, knees and toes and teach little ones to identify eyes, ears, mouth and nose. Young children learn through mimicry but it can be taken to an extreme by their …
A Fitting Reply 