family

  • Under

    Under

    When I was a kid, we had a pool in our backyard. My memory is that it took quite a while for me on those summer days to get in and swim. I’d sit on the deck and put my feet in while my sisters swam and my Dad’s transistor radio played. On particularly hot…

  • Rain

    Rain

    I had a great plan to celebrate my husband’s fiftieth birthday. He’s an outdoors kind of guy, and I love a metaphor, so the plan came together quickly. Go for a hike symbolic of life-so-far with the family in a nearby park, have friends surprise him on the path at various points, finish the day…

  • Baby

    Baby

    Everyone’s been asking about how I’m doing with my last child leaving for college. “I’m fine,” I reply. “Surprisingly good, I am just so excited for her.” And it’s true, what a different experience this time around. I’m not gathering up baby pictures and memories. We are way behind on dorm shopping, and I’m okay…

  • Lion

    Lion

    In a moment where a ripple of jealousy washed in and tried to make me believe that one was blessed and favored and another forgotten, I stopped and named the lie. There is no scarcity in God. He makes good for all those who love Him. (Romans 8:28) He knows the plans He has for…

  • Twenty-five

    Tim and I have been married twenty-five years today. That the day falls on an ordinary Tuesday in the midst of a busy week seems appropriate somehow. Our marriage is built of days like this one. As I look back, it’s hard to remember those two kids who had no idea what they were saying…

  • Burn

    Burn

    Last week, I burned my hands badly. Like, large-mug-filled-with-boiling-water-slips-out-of-your-hands badly. When it happened, I rushed to the sink to let the cold water flow while I prayed for limited damage. When it was time to sleep, I wrapped a wet towel around my hand and waited for morning. In the light of day, the damage…

  • When

    When

    Someone posed this question at my daughter’s post-high school graduation dinner: If given the choice, would you rather know HOW you were going to die or WHEN you were going to die? Now, before anyone piles on about the appropriateness of the timing of this particularly morbid question at that particularly hopeful event, you should…

  • Tread

    In yoga, savasana brought me to the awareness of my deep-water faith experience yet again. In His kindness, Jesus threw me a little floatie out there because He could see I was not resting or walking or floating. I was flailing. While I caught my breath there in the obviously-made-for-a-child floatie, He let me have…

  • Clock

    Clock

    As the school year winds down and the graduation ceremonies and parties gear up, you hear the same parental refrain: Make Time Stop. And I get it, I felt similar emotions when my oldest was graduating from high school. Then, I was gathering up moments from babyhood through elementary school and beyond and holding them…

  • Pass

    Pass

    My youngest child has just a handful of days left of high school, and I’m finding my reaction to her big milestone quite different from when we walked this road with our son just two years ago. Then, I was in mourning, pulling in every “last” and wringing my hands over how everything was about…