As I pulled up in the parking lot, I thought to myself, “What am I doing here?” I contemplated turning around and going back home. The whole reason I was in this situation was I had opened an email from someone I didn’t know. Why I opened that email will remain a mystery to me except I felt compelled to… Read More
The Road, My Reputation, and Freedom
The words of Robert Frost rang in my head as I tried to go to sleep. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth … As a high school student, it… Read More
The Sky, the Sea, and Everything in Between
Let’s keep going! We put our snorkel mask on and forced our way into the waves to see what was ahead. Beautiful blue and yellow fish swam past us while a school of big black fish went the other way. Sea grass waved as if it was welcoming us into its beautiful home. Sea urchins peeked out from under the… Read More
The Full Plate Syndrome
I love the beginning of the school year. The blank notebooks, freshly sharpened pencils, and crayons that haven’t lost their tip remind me it’s a fresh start. With that fresh start comes a hidden danger. It is the same danger that occurs when you have an empty plate at the beginning of a long buffet line! The danger is to… Read More
The Flowers are Gone!
Last week I walked past the garden center at Walmart and realized everything was gone! Instead of a beautiful assortment of flowers, all I saw was empty metal shelving! I was shocked! I thought for a minute, and then it hit me – summer is over! Before we know it, hot temperatures will surrender to milder ones, long sleeve shirts… Read More
Your Family is so … Interesting!
“Your family is so interesting!” I hear these words all the time. I am not quite sure if it is the six children, the fact that my husband left his career to follow God’s direction, our family band, or a combination of it all! Somewhere along the way we just became “interesting.” I remember during my husband’s residency days he… Read More
Celebrating a Legacy
This past weekend we loaded up the family, some instruments, a few changes of clothes and headed to the big “city” of Samburg – home of Reelfoot Lake State Park. Reelfoot was formed by a series of three earthquakes that took place December 1811- February 1812. These three quakes created such a change in the lands makeup that a 15,000-acre… Read More
The Friend that Offered to Help
Today I pulled out a homemade roll recipe I used to bake all the time. As I looked at the bottom of the page, I saw the name and phone number of a sweet friend who was such a blessing when I had lots of little ones. I still remember her calling to make sure I knew her number in… Read More
She Wanted Me To Go Where?
“Turn left at the stop sign.” “Recalculating.” “Turn left in 400 feet.” “Recalculating,” said the voice housed within my mom’s Volvo that kept sending me in the wrong direction. These misleading commands wouldn’t stop! At first, my husband and I got a good chuckle out of the situation. Next, we got a little annoyed with “her” insistent commands. Didn’t she… Read More
The Cello that Sounded … Odd?
Last week my children participated in a ten-day music camp. My son, a cello player, was handed a stack of 15 songs to learn about a week before the camp began. Every day he worked hard learning to play his part. Once my son was able to play the songs, I wanted to make sure he had learned them correctly…. Read More