It was a life-line. It was what I needed. The phone call, “I have a question for you.”

A question? What kind of question? Who starts a conversation that way? What does she need ME to DO?

“Do you want to come over tonight for dinner?”

What? Dinner? Hallelujah, YES!!!

It had been one of “those” weeks. Day-light savings just ended (mommy nightmare), three cars in and out of the shop, an electrical issue in the kitchen, every BIG bill that could be due was due, rain, rain, rain, stuck inside…

This mama was in a physical and emotional slump and she needed something, anything. Dinner with a friend, that I didn’t have to cook. Someone else’s house. Someone else’s messes…SCORE!!!

Continue reading “Help Wanted” →

Gratitude…

Webster defines it: the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation

We are reminded many, many times in the Bible to give thanks to God for the blessings that he has given us, but do we ever take the time to ponder how extensive these blessings truly are?  As we sit around the table this Thanksgiving and name the many things that we thankful for, the list will include such things as family, friends, food, home, health, jobs…you get the idea.  These are the “big ones,” the ones that stand out…prominent features.  How often do we miss out on the less noticeable, hidden gems?  Life can be so fast-paced.  Often, we get caught up in the coming and going, so much to do.  We fail to see it all.  We miss what is right in front of us…so, so much beauty, wasted.

Continue reading “The Gift of a Grateful Heart” →

We were out of firewood. It was going to be a week before my parents could come to visit and bring some more, and the weather was supposed to be going down below freezing. The day before, we had gone out and collected as much wood from around the yard as we could. Mommy and the littles collected sticks, branches, and dead trees while daddy chopped. We had a nice little pile. Sunday morning came, mommy and the big girls went to church, daddy stayed home with the two youngest because one was sick and mommy had to teach Children’s Church. We were going to miss our church Thanksgiving dinner due to her sniffles so we decided to make homemade pizza and roast marshmallows on the fire. We burned through that little pile of wood that we painstakingly produced in no time. All that work…so little satisfaction. I told my husband that I would go to the store and get another batch of firewood just to get us through the evening…we had yet to roast the marshmallows. I went to our local Walmart to purchase a few bundles of wood because at the time I could not remember where I had seen firewood for sale and our fire was quickly burning out. I loaded several bundles into my cart and headed to the checkout…Garden Center of course. Those lines are always shorter. Continue reading “No Stranger to Kindness” →

I hear it all the time, “I don’t know how you do it.”

Or I get asked, “How DO you do it?”

Do what?

Survive?

I just do…or I don’t…depends on how you look at it.

Have you ever been to the beach?

Have you ever been playing in the waves and found yourself knocked off your feet by a really big one?

You’re head over heels…

Rolling…

Flipping…

Spinning…

Round and round…

Not knowing which way is up.

Your head is above water for a second…gasp.

You think you’ve got it…feet on the ground…NOPE!!

There you go, rolling again, and again…

You get it? Been there?

Continue reading “Living Like Sea Glass in Stormy Water” →

Have you ever bled green?

No, I’m not talking sports teams here.  I don’t even know which team “bleeds green.”

I’m talking about really bleeding green.

I have…
Continue reading “Bleeding Green” →

I’ve always been intrigued by these flowers.  My daughter calls them her “birthday flowers.”  They grow on “her tree” because they are usually at their fullest bloom in the weeks leading up to her birthday.

The flower, if you don’t recognize it, is a Hibiscus mutabilis, a confederate rose, or “cotton rose.”  We have a huge tree planted outside of our old home.  It was given to me by a lady, a stranger, outside of a restaurant one day.  I don’t know her name, perhaps I can ask around and find out.  I brought this plant home in a large can, the kind you would find in a school or church kitchen.  I planted it, watered it, sheltered it in the winter.  At one time, I would cut it back every year, but I stopped.  I wanted it to just grow, reach its own potential…decide for itself how big or small it should be.  It is now as tall as the house.  When we moved, I took a small cutting from it, brought it along to our new home, and took the same care to root and plant that small tree as I did its parent.  It now resides next to the shed at our new house and seems to be doing just fine.

Continue reading “The Flower of…Life” →

It’s the last day of October, Halloween is here…

As I prepare the costumes for my children and plan how to paint/mask their beautiful faces, I realize that so many of us are already living with masks on. So very afraid of what others would think if they saw the “true us,” we make sure to cover up, hide behind our figurative masks before we leave the house and face the world.

Continue reading “What’s Behind the Mask” →