Green Fairy Wings and Story Tales
Witches, pirates, green dinosaurs and pink tufted ballerinas stormed the nearby shopping center yesterday. Red firemen, fluffy brown poodles, and blue Thomas the Trains hijacked the sidewalks, and commandeered the shops, trick or treating with smart parents on a warm fall afternoon. Weaving our way through the short creatures, my teen daughter and I grabbed…
Naked Trees Scrape the Horizon
Navy blue light creeps higher in the sky, allowing naked trees to scrape the horizon. Hot coffee in morning twilight, and my three year old son’s truck noises get progressively louder. For the sake of sleepers, I shush him. Earlier this week, my peace was eroded as well. It wasn’t the noise – that I…
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas…
Resilient. Redeemed. Resourceful. Resplendent. Survivors from around the world are being rescued, and are rescuing others. Counseling, healing, education, training, untainted love and affection, and entrepreneurial skills are being provided for them. Made by Survivors and other organizations then sell the products made by these survivors, with 100% of the money…
Cookies, Milkshakes and Hero Truck Drivers
Hello friends, A hot crumbly chocolate chip cookie smolders beside me on the desk, waiting to be cooled enough to pop into my mouth. Quiet jazz music plays in the background and the dryer hums. Our house had a showing last night so we cleaned feverishly, loaded up random laundry baskets into the cars, and…
Calls in the Dark
At my YMCA, down the hallway on the right, is a series of small, rectangular wallet lockers. Keys, wallets and cell phones get stashed there, as their owners exercise. Occasionally as I pass by, I hear cell phones vibrating metallically in their tiny cells, ringing in the darkness. Seventy cubical cells, stacked wide and…
Smoldering Brown Eyes and a Neck that Smells Like Toothpaste
A few weekends ago, I was getting ready to attend a Friday night wedding several hours’ drive away. I chose an outfit, combed my hair, and laughed about the incongruity of applying evening make up at 1:30 in the afternoon. (Men, you’ll just have to take our word on this.) Realizing my necklace looked tarnished,…
Bike Dates, Dark Moonlit Nights, and Doxology
Blonde hair shining in the sun, my three year old asked me on a date this afternoon. Sandwiched between two parked cars, sitting astride his blue and yellow plastic tricycle, he turned expectantly. “Mom, bike a me?” (Mom, will you bike with me?) I grinned, and pulled out my towering two wheeler. Pedaling barely enough…
Car Conversations and Teen Talks
She climbed into the back seat of my car two weeks ago. “How was your day?” I asked. Short brown hair falling into her eyes, she buckled her seat belt as we drove away. After a few minutes of conversation, my teen daughter burst out, the story tumbling from her lips. Someone had made barbed…
5 Sure Signs You Haven’t Been Working Out Consistently
1.) You have to introduce yourself to the new childcare staff when you drop off your son. 2.) The baby diapers in your work out bag are two sizes too small. 3.) Your locker lock is still at home in your “Let’s go to the outdoor pool!” bag alongside sunscreen bottles. 4.) Counting laps around…
Autumn is Here: Children’s Homework and Pumpkin Pies
Are your windows flung wide open too? Crisp autumn air streams through my windows, almost making us cold. Navy storm clouds hover in the horizon teasing with their threat of storm. My two teens lean over the kitchen table, working on a history project together, speaking of the Mayflower, William Bradford and the New Plymouth…