This year, we spent Black Friday at Dollywood. Our oldest two have been many times. Sam and I had been before, but never together. The youngest three had never been to any kind of theme park. Throughout the day, I found myself smiling and laughing so much that my cheeks hurt, watching a four-year-old experience …
Today marks two years living without you here living among us. Like a toddler, my grief rides a roller coaster of emotions – The pure delight of memories filled with fun and celebration. The intense anger at how unfair it is to have to put on shoes and go on as if life continues. The …
Ten years ago, it wasn’t just a wedding, It was the birth of our family. Our hopes and dreams, nestled within our more rested minds and our fluttering hearts. And now, ten years later with less rest more mini humans more pets those dreams have come true.
One of the greatest joys of parenting five mini-humans is to watch as they transform into older siblings. Even if they spent years being an older sibling, the new life brings out a different part of their being. Our four-year-old is getting to be a big sister for the first time and there is certainly …
Just a couple of days ago, our four-year-old announced it was time for her first haircut. It’s not as though we haven’t asked if she wanted a haircut. She was fiercely determined that she would not have her haircut until she her five-year-old birthday even as she tagged along to her brother’s routine haircuts. And …
I got the dreaded “mailbox is full” notification yesterday morning. Between Spring Break and Holy Week, I had let some phone messages pile up and was slowly working my way through those voicemails. In an attempt to get back on track, I scrolled through. my voicemails to see if there were any I could automatically …
This past year of ministry has been walking close to grief both personally and as I walk with so many people grieving the loss of loved ones, the loss of plans, and the loss of the way we lived before COVID. Although it may sound like a year filled with sadness, it has actually been …
In the Fall, we always go apple picking on a Friday afternoon. We go to the same apple orchard, take a picture by the same photo op with the cute measurement, and on the tractors by the barn. We get apple cider and apple donuts, a kind of salute to cooler weather and the beginning …
Last Sunday, as we celebrated All Saints Sunday, I read the name of my own dad as one of the saints to remember on this high and holy day. It was not the first time in my years of memory that I have read someone’s name who was difficult to read. It is always difficult …
All Hallow’s Eve is a time when the veil between night and day is thin. People are dressed and masked taking on personas they have encountered in books, shows, and movies. You might walk right by your neighbor and not recognize them. Pumpkins turn into faces alight with personalities and feelings that gourds don’t normally …
