Dear John John was dear to Christ. In fact, he was called the disciple whom Jesus loved. And it is the book of John that brought my mother to faith in Jesus Christ. What was it about this particular Bible book that made such an impression on her? It was love. My mother was astounded... Continue Reading →
So Long Lives This "So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." It's the final couplet in Shakespeare's sonnet 18. My mom loved it, and I often think about it in relation to her. My mother's love and life lessons live on in me for as long as I remember her. And, on... Continue Reading →
Wake-Up Call Yesterday I was feeling "eh." My hands were hurting, every single joint, and they were swollen. Usually I would chalk that up to accidental gluten ingestion, but since I'm on a healing fast right now - that wasn't possible. Then my right forearm started hurting. Weird. By the time I went to bed,... Continue Reading →
Mom - On The Day You Should Be 80 You had no idea back then how much love and joy you would bring to the lives of people around you. You were busy being the older sister, doing what was expected. But, thank you. For your sense of the ridiculous. Thank you for holding my... Continue Reading →
Talking To Myself I was talking to myself the other day. Not in the fun, "Self, what are you doing?" kind of way. Instead, I heard myself call out, Where ARE you, Mom? Where are you? It was a moment of weakness. And, as I write it now, I wonder if it actually classifies as talking to... Continue Reading →
Unexpected Blessings The sermon on Sunday was about unexpected blessings. It chronicled the Acts 3 healing of the lame man at the gate by the Apostles Peter and John. The man was simply expecting a few coins in his cup but ended up literally walking away from the situation a healed man. He was astounded... Continue Reading →
Do You Want Candles With That? "Do you want candles with that?" My husband asked after peering at the keto cake mix and icing I'd bought to celebrate my birthday. "Not all of them," I replied, "It'd be an inferno!" Then, chuckling, memories flooded my mind. Mom's Birthday Cake Mom was turning 40 something, and... Continue Reading →
Christmas Angel When my children were very small, we didn't have a lot of money. One year I bought a $20 artificial tree and ornaments. The problem was that once I got the tree home, I realized that the decorations were too heavy for the tree and the tree topper was more of a tree... Continue Reading →
A Place For Everything When I was a child, my mother could often be heard finishing that statement in a sing-songy type voice, “A place for everything, and everything in its place!” She always finished triumphantly as if the conclusion of the saying was some colossal win for the world. It is true; our apartment... Continue Reading →
Life Isn't Fair One of my least favorite things to hear as a child growing up was "Life isn't fair" in response to something I was upset about. I remember constantly feeling like that just wasn't a good excuse. Life should be fair. It should be equitable. It seemed that despite the constant reminder when... Continue Reading →
Surprise Visits My mother used to say - Just come by! You don't have to call. Then I don't have to worry about dusting! She meant it. She loved surprise visits from people. I confessed to my husband the other day that one of the hardest things about losing my mom was the loss of... Continue Reading →
"Automatic Replenishment" I looked at my bank account today and realized it was short. Ugh! I scolded myself for overspending because I must have spent an extra $130, even if I'm too tired to remember what I spent it on. At the same time, I opened my email. Ahhhh, that's where the money went! The... Continue Reading →
