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 do so. I checked my reflection in the mirror, grabbed my purse, opened the door and forced my feet to walk in the direction I wanted to go. Loud music and talking erupted from the room I was entering. My feet felt like bricks as I walked up to the check-in table. The lady found my name, handed me my lanyard, and gave me my manual. There in front of me was a large room full of round ... 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 was mandatory that everyone memorize "The Road Not Taken" as part of their English studies. I remember loving the imagery the poem evokes. Perhaps it was the cadence and the way the words seemed to dance on my tongue, or the thought of having two roads to choose from. The past few months I have been reading the story of the Israelites in the book of Exodus. At one point Moses is stuck between the Red Sea and ... 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 heavy pieces of coral planted on the bottom of the ocean. The water was full of fascinating details. Intricate lace like designs graced the underwater plants. Fish were dressed in the finest of colors. Warm water mixed with a blast of cold water reminded us that deeper places had yet to be explored. Slowly I tried to take in every detail. I found myself filled with overwhelming awe of ... 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 fill your plate to overflowing when you see all that is available! Out of excitement, you either get more than you could eat, or you get to the end and realize you didn't leave room for the one or two things you really wanted! The same can happen in life. We fill our life plates with all the things that are available never stopping to ask ourselves, "Is my plate getting ... 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 will replace short sleeves, and my taupe colored toe nails will hide behind my closed toed shoes. I don't know about you, but it felt like summer was just getting started! Suddenly, all the time that I thought I had is now gone! This time of year causes many of us to reflect on life. This week some moms will send their little one off to kindergarten wondering ... 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 would say, “You never want to be the case we all think is interesting.” Somehow I feel we have become that case! In our world, there are lots of people who have a family band. We can go to the grocery store, to church, or out to eat and be surrounded by people in the music industry. We have now been a family of 8 for almost four years, so that seems normal to ... 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 lake was formed! Our family didn’t travel to the area to enjoy fishing, the beautiful views, or the bald eagles that live there. We traveled there to celebrate the 90th birthday of my husband’s grandmother. “Granny,” as we call her, has lived in the area all of her life. She has faithfully attended the same church for 65 years teaching, giving, serving, ... 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 case I went into labor and needed help with my older children. “I will keep a jogging suit by my bed, and if you go into labor at night I will come right away to watch your older kids while they sleep. If you go into labor during the day just call, and I will help in any way I can.” I can’t tell you how much this put my mind at ease. At the time my husband worked at a hospital an hour away, and all of our family was ... 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 know he and I were trying to have a conversation? After a few minutes, her now familiar voice began to have a lure to it. Where was she persistently trying to send us? Wherever it was, it was in the opposite direction we needed to go. At one point during the drive, I even began to entertain her demands. "What if I decided to go where ... 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. While listening to him play each song, there were several times I questioned the notes he was playing. "Surely this isn't correct!" I would say to him. To figure out where the problem was, I would play his part on the piano while he played his part on the cello. To my surprise, he had learned his part correctly. "Well that sounds odd but you learned it right," I found myself saying. While ... read more