A Mother’s Day Body Scrub
Okay, I admit. This is an older picture, but it looked a lot like this today. Strolling down suburban side streets my daughter and I explored and dreamed. Clambering to the top of a patriotically red and blue jungle gym we leaned against the breeze and sucked in the warm summer air. Passing boxy little…
And Then I Saw the Smoke
A verse has been tumbling through my mind since I read it a few days ago. One of the words was unexpected and I have been puzzling through how it works. And then, while driving this week, I saw the smoke. A towering four-story black smoke cloud tilted off-kilter from the horizon. The rest of…
Snakes, Church, and How to Be Beautiful
Photo credits A song on Sunday sent me into snake ponderings. The worship song surged around me in the church pew and I lifted my writhing three year old onto my hip. Unaccustomed to being with us in the service, he was a whirl of energy and motion. Hanging off the chair with one hand…
Newly-Washed Joy in the Day to Day
The dryer whirrs, and teens’ voices meld in guitar and vocal practice. Sunshine and breeze pour through my open windows and deck doors. Last night’s rain splashed color and vivid hues on every leaf and lawn. The heat surprised me when I stepped out onto the deck just a few minutes ago. John, my oldest,…
Seven Steps to Easier Home Stagings and Showings
The phone rang and our eyes leaped to read the caller Id. If it was our Real Estate company, our feelings were mixed. While we were excited to have showing requests, keeping an immaculate house through daily meals, laundry, and homeschooling was wearying, especially with a preschooler. After countless showings though, our family of five…
Speak the Hard Things
Speak the hard things. On a cold peeling blue wooden park bench, I shuddered and wrapped my navy sweatshirt around me tighter today. The spring wind was brisk, chilling me as I read. She shocks me, this author. In between poetic raw faith musings on family and cancer which grab my mind and echo in…
There’s a Happy Gamer Somewhere
“Mom, can I stay up a little bit later to read my Bible?” What a rascally thing to ask! What mother can say no to that? It was past her bedtime, but she was emotional and distraught from a mini-fiasco in her computer game, losing all her rare items in one accidental trade. Frantic phone…
A Recovered Diamond
Upswept blonde hair twirled into a loose French bun revealed classic pearl earrings and the back view of her face. A grandson bounced on her lap as she sang “Holy is the Lord God Almighty,” pausing to wipe tears from her cheeks in the chorus. Minutes earlier, after the first rousing song and when the…
Trying to Be a Good Mom
Silence descends on our home now. I flip on soothing music, cut some cheese wedges, and curl up next to the computer. It’s hard work being a mom. In stress and angst over school, schedules, or their social life, my teens’ emotions can escalate. Sadly, mine do too. We have had real estate…
A Tale of Two Curtains: An Easter Visual
Curtains have been on my mind this week. I accidentally shredded a yellow striped shower curtain on Saturday. Racing to the store after church on Sunday, I chose and bought a new shower curtain, installing it just before a real estate home showing that afternoon. In church that day, the pastor touched on a passage…