Heading to the beach on Christmas Day was our family tradition for a decade and a half until our kids married and began families of their own. My husband’s work guaranteed him two full weeks a year, July Fourth and the week after Christmas, so we made the most of the extra time with dad. …
You Know My Methods
“You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout. I’m telling you why. *** He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good so be good for goodness sake.” You know the song. It’ll probably be stuck in your head for the …
It Begins With Christmas
At Christmas, Christians celebrate the One referred to by the prophets as King of all kings, upon whose shoulders rests the government of the world. Grandchildren are all the reason I need to pray for the future of our country and its leaders and the world and her rulers. I know that the One who …
More Christmas
This Christmas seems to have arrived incredibly quickly! I know the number of days and weeks and hours are exactly the same as Christmases past but somehow, the day set aside to celebrate our Savior’s birth is only one week away. The seventy degree day has further confused my senses. I’m making preparations for our …
Where Are You?
“Want to play hide and seek, Thomas?” asked Amelia as she propped her forehead on her hands against the stone column on the front porch. “Yes,” he answered, striding over to take her exact posture on the opposite side of the same column as she began to count. The moms and I looked at each …
Leveled
I came home to find a bare spot in my front yard. The extent of the gap wasn’t apparent until daylight the following morning. Autumn and the falling leaves always lets a little more light in from each sunrise but this was a new level of illumination. Even the room darkening shades were no match …
Stumbling
Our 2024 grand boys are now nine and five months. Timothy is crawling at warp speed in his own unique little manner, left leg curled under ready to sit up in a skinny minute. He’s pulling up and just this week, he’s also climbing stairs. Cruising and toddling are just breaths away. Ezra already inches …
Caught
Toddlers are the most dynamic creatures in the universe. The development that happens between two and three is simply astounding. Vocabulary expands exponentially. Coordination improves with each step. Toddling becomes running and balancing, cruising, timidly at first then zooming on balance bikes, jumping and climbing anything and everything. One thing in particular I’ve noticed is …
Sincerely Yours
The year my daughter turned thirteen, she and I stood in line in the dark in a cold, misting rain outside Target on Thanksgiving until the store opened at midnight. She had birthday money burning a hole in her pocket and I agreed to take her to one store. The aisles were lined with televisions, …
Stubborn Older Brother
Not long before he was martyred, Peter wrote, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that God has given us everything we need for living a godly life through the revelation light of Christ, the true and living Word of God. His second epistle reads much like a parent’s passionate appeal to a dear child. …
A Fitting Reply 