Just over a year ago, my sweet mama had a stroke that left her with an impaired memory. Events of her recent past have been erased, causing her to struggle in her understanding of the present. What she does remember, though, are stories from her past that I have never heard before. The pain of…
One of the ways that I enjoy showing love is to give gifts. Not expensive gifts, but simple, thought out gifts that say to the person, “I love you” or “I am thinking of you.” My eleven grandchildren flock to me for that one piece of gum or the tic tac that Nana always has waiting…
The door opens slowly as the anxious groom sees his bride-to-be adorned in her white wedding gown for the first time. A classic moment. Everyone stands, and most eyes are on the bride entering the room, but mine are on the groom. Anxious to see his first reaction, I am unaware of the eyes assessing…
Seriously. I don’t hate laundry. It’s not that it is a difficult job–for me, at least. An automatic washer and dryer, though dated, does the work for me and all I really have to do is fold or hang them when they’re dry. So why does it seem like a chore? Truth is, any mundane…
The voice inside my head said, “You’re not good enough.” And I knew it. I was a mom of four, my youngest still in diapers, and I was overwhelmed. Thankfully, I had a loving husband and friends who recognized that I needed help. My husband is a pastor, so we’re supposed to have it all…
I have always had a strange fascination with doors. Especially the colorful ones. The unique ones. Doorways can represent an opportunity to enter the life of someone you love and cherish–or a threshold to something new and different. In our travels to Israel I was drawn to the colors and the variety of doors in…
Service. Serving. More than putting food on a plate and bringing it to the table. More than doing our “duty” and fulfilling the job or role assigned to us. Even more than giving our time to help someone in need. Our acts of service become nothing more than a pat on the back with our…
Hymns are a part of my story. I can remember songs from my past where I don’t remember many sermons. I can still remember songs from my childhood that I know I haven’t sung for decades, but the words still come… Walking in sunlight all of my journey, over the mountains, through the deep vale;…
Marriage is a partnership. “For better or worse” you said. (Or maybe you didn’t and should have!) Entering this commitment of a lifetime, you most likely underestimated how big and how hard this choice really is… When I said, “I do”, I already knew that this man I was choosing had made a commitment to full-time…
When singer/songwriter Keith Green, along with his 3 year-old son Josiah and two year-old daughter Bethany were killed in a plane crash in July of 1982, it rocked my world. I was a fan. My husband was a fan. We had only been married for six months and Keith’s song, “Make My Life A Prayer…
Drowning in the sea of “What if?”. It fills our minds and our hearts and it consumes us. Controls us. Chains us and pulls us down and drowns us. In fear. In worry. And an overwhelming sense of helplessness. UNTIL.
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 ** I want that. Overflow. So full that there’s no room for more. So filled to the brim that hope overflows. Spills out. …
There is no perfect parent. Period. We would be so much healthier and happier in the process if we would just realize that it’s our humanity that reveals our need for the kind of help that every parent longs for. And that looking for help can be healthy. There are over 70,000 parenting books for…
Why is it that I cannot see the girl in the mirror as clearly as I should? If only there were a mirror on my heart. The invisible would become visible. “Man does not see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
Change can be hard. Six years ago today changed our lives in a way that we would not have chosen. When my father-in-law passed away we knew that the family dynamic would never be the same. It was May of that year that I began to sense that it was time to do that thing…
