We were poor newlywed college students looking for a way to pass the evening when we had the brilliant idea of popping over to the local mall for an ice cream cone from the fancy creamery. Since money was tight, we decided to get one double-scoop cone and share it, each of us picking a topping. It was going to be the best ice cream ever. We each selected the thing we were most craving and we peered through the glass as the attendant folded our independent choices into a single pile of ice cream on the cold marble slab: fresh cherries and Oreo cookies. It was indeed one epic ice cream cone. Hands down the worst we’ve ever had. It was so bad, in […]
The King’s Messenger
This week’s #favoritething is a delightful story written by someone who has since become a dear friend. The King’s Messenger, by Carolyn Clare Givens is a middle-grade chapter book that reads as a kind of parable. This medieval tale will captivate children and parents alike. (You know it’s a good book when a 10-year-old boy devours it in one sitting–as does his momma.) Smuggins waits daily in the presence of his beloved King. As a messenger, he stands at the ready, observing everything the King does, awaiting his turn to be called to serve. Years of waiting and watching shape him, preparing him for the day rumors of unrest reach the throne room and he is finally called upon for an important and dangerous mission. Is […]
An Open Letter to My Mom
Dear Mom, When you said recently that you didn’t homeschool us because you didn’t think you could, you were wrong. The truth is, you did educate us at home, even though we pursued academics at school. The more I learn about everything involved in the education of a whole person, the more I see how much of my education was shaped by you. You taught me to read before I started kindergarten, and you instilled in me a love for books by reading to me at an early age. You fed me books that stirred my imagination and inspired me. You taught me to pursue excellence in all things, because you knew what I was capable of. You showed me how […]
Death by Socks
“You don’t make sacrifices.” I hear his belligerent ten-year-old voice in my head as I pick up another sheet and fold it. “I die daily,” I argue back as I dump the basket of towels and pick up the one on top. The laundry today feels like a slow death. Death by socks. I daydream a little as I fold and stack, fold and stack. How much easier it would be to leave this house every day and move among a world of rational adults who appreciate the contributions I make! How much easier to ship my kids off somewhere so I could pursue lofty goals and dreams instead of keeping house and tending to needs day in and day out! […]
Slugs and Bugs – Sing the Bible Vol. 3
This week’s #favoritething is brand new, but we’ve been dying to tell you about it for months! Slugs and Bugs Sing the Bible Volume 3 was just released Friday. But thanks to Kickstarter, we’ve been listening since Christmas. š We just can’t get enough of this music! (If you need no further introduction, here’s the link so you can get yourself a copy.) Here are a few reasons we LOVE this album: In keeping with the previous Slugs and Bugs albums, the music is delightful, fun, and REAL. (Sometimes I listen to it without my kids in the car. Just sayin’.) The lyrics are word-for-word scripture. Carrots are crazy. Volume 3 is all about Jesus! Voices we love have shared in the joy-making of this […]
Sonderous Thoughts
I see the world from my own personal point of view. I know my own story, and I can see the roles other people play in it. But the world doesn’t revolve around me. I play a role in other people’s stories, too. Sometimes I’m an extra–another face in the grocery aisle as a widower goes to the store alone for the first time in forty years. Sometimes I’m a villain–the one who was in such a hurry that I cut off a lady in traffic and made her sit at that long red light twice, causing her to be late for an appointment. Sometimes I get to be an angel–swooping in to someone’s rescue before flying off again. Sometimes […]
Do You See It?
Thereā Do you see it?ā There, At the end of the long aluminum guard rail, There At the edge of the tire-tracked gravel Spilled over from the rumble-stripped asphalt, There, In the shadow of the wooden cross Wreathed by silk flowers, There, Among the shards of broken glass A wildflower blooms.
When You Wake
This is my favorite time-with-you of day, These moments just after you wake With the pink flush of sleep Upon your cheeks And the glisten of a tear Caught in the round place Beside your nose. Your lashes bat away the light That brightens blue your slumbered eyes As you up-reach two dimpled hands And sweetly call my name. I pull your tiny frame up Up into my arms and you Golden-nestle softly tussled head Upon my chest And rest Until the siren call of play Sweetly beckons you away And you scramble from my arms To leave.
Not Yet, Spring
As I was out with my children yesterday, I noticed the trees in bud along the road beginning to blossom. Half-open pinks and whites heralded the awakening of spring and new life. Joy and beauty bloomed before my eyes. But my heart wasnāt ready to see it. With a pang I thought, āNo! Not yet! Itās not time!ā The reaction startled me. Every winter I long for spring and I rejoice with the green and gold and dappled things. But itās mid-Februaryāthese things are out of season. And my heart is grieving. Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in a wound. Proverbs 25:20, NLT The […]
The Rubik’s Cube
I am married to a man who can solve a Rubikās Cube in just over one minute. I’m baffled each time I watch him do it. The moment he solves one part, he begins unmaking it in order to pursue the next level of completion. What I thought was accomplished now looks undone. Once that level is complete, colors get even more jumbled as he puts other pieces into their proper places. Itās a messy prospect. I get a bit squeamish watching it. But then, all it takes is the flick of a wristā¦ And all is made right again. Whole. Complete. I am that Rubikās Cube. This process of unmaking and rearranging of pieces is messy. Iām holding out […]