“Think, think, think...” (Pooh says, tapping his forehead.) What’s as good for Bears of No Brain at All as it is for Bears Who Fear Their Brain Is Going--or Gone? Using words, thinking, communicating. It's the last day of June, and I haven't posted anything yet. My goal is to write monthly, but I haven't…
I was dragging my feet getting ready. For as long as I can remember, we've had an open mike for folks to share their thank-yous the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Children often go first and warm up the crowd with sweeping praises, "Thank you, God, for the whole wide world," and with smaller ones, "We have…
My phone dinged, “How about a hike?" came from daughter in law, Lollie. They picked me up a few minutes later, and we were off for The Pocket Trail in Chickamauga, GA. The boys were strapped in back when they arrived, listening to Harry Potter. Lollie seemed different--serious and quiet. Once we were on our…
C. S. Lewis’s words from 1948 ring with relevance. Just replace “atomic bomb” with “coronavirus.” — Read on http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/cs-lewis-coronavirus/
Ransom Bruce Harris was born to doula-daughter, Sadie, and her hubby, Bryan on February 7. Sadie made sure to do all the training she’d been coaching her mamas to do over the years and was in wonderful shape for an easy delivery. Only there were other plans in place. After a nearly 30-hour labor and…
He walks to the door, As if he's just going out with friends. "Remember, mom, when I couldn't reach this lock?" His memory connects with mine. "Yes, I do," I say. The lock clicks, The door opens, He steps through. It's just an ordinary day. A little rain. Cloudy. "I love you, mom." "I love…
When we cleaned out Mama’s house, I found this letter I’d written to her the Christmas before she died. Dear Mama, I’ve been cleaning up the Christmas tree this week, sweeping pine needles and thinking of the things I’ve never said to you. They are the things no one says to me that I would…
No one made room for him, save the one who yelled, amidst hay and manure, blood and smells. And she prepared nothing, except to accept-- turns out was enough, she opened herself. The womb that bore him and the heart that said yes were filled with a Savior, to rule and to bless. "Prepare the…
Cries from my children used to wake me in the middle of the night, and after that, my teenagers’ calls saying they’d be late. Now, it’s a call from the bathroom. There are also the unexplained wake-up calls, the ones that tug me out of sound sleep for no reason I know of except to…
Time stops in the dark. Before dawn, it yawns and stretches. Putters. Lingers. Moseys. Puts on coffee. And sits. Waits. Makes room. I remember endless time before clocks and counting, when the first day of school and the last stretched out like Highway 16, Macon to Savannah. Nowyearscram instead of c r a w l…
The nest is empty. Our last fledgling is settled into college dorm life and has already slept through his first test, while his mama-bird, blissfully unaware, awoke to her to-do-or-not-to-do list, none of it involving him. I've been preparing Stone his whole life--and myself all year--for when he would be washing his own socks and…
I ordered my dream bed from a shop on Etsy, a carved and distressed French Victorian fit for a king and queen--or wannabes. I ordered it in late February and received it sixteen weeks later, a sign that unless the New Jersey shop owners were felling trees and building beds on demand, my bed was…
It looked like the perfect spot for our family's vacation: a rambling lakefront home in an out-of-the-way cove with covered dock, lots of porches, and plenty of bedrooms for our growing family of 15 with two more on-the-way. It's a challenge to find a house nice enough that merits dropping everything to be together for a week, but not…
The ache in my chest was a tight knot, a familiar feeling. I tried to tell myself I didn’t care, to push it down as I always had. I went for a bike ride on our trails, straining hard against the pedals to climb pasture hills as I pushed hard on the knot to force…
It never occurred to me to check my passport status. At least, not until 20 hours before our flight took off. I'd checked Stone's passport details thoroughly when I booked a trip with friends for spring break. He was 19 now; would his passport from age 16 still be accepted? As it turned out, it…
I’m heading to New Jersey, writing as I fly. It was cold and gray in Atlanta when I left, and it is colder and grayer where I’m going. According to my weather app, Princeton will have snow tomorrow. Right now, I’m looking forward to breaking through the clouds outside my window to the sunshiny blue…
She was talking, but I wasn't listening. I was thinking about what I wanted to say. I don't have to tell you how popular this weakness of mine isn't, especially with my own family. "So what's your experience been?" she was asking. Caught red handed, I had no idea what she was talking about. "The…
I was feeling out of sorts because I hadn't really wanted to come. I didn't want to go to church last Sunday either, and I didn't. I've realized over the last few nights that I haven't been listening to what I've read in the Bible. I've read hurriedly, just to get through it. I’ve…
I want to tell you about the day I had with my teenage son, home sick from school, second day straight, because we had a heck of a time getting along. I'm hoping I'll find some understanding as I write. The first story: I'd confiscated his phone last night because he'd gone to bed with…
"Well, if you're not struggling, you're dead!" I overheard someone say this week. It's a fitting segue as I sit down to dash this off from Athens, Georgia where this morning, my soccer player at UGA had her 3rd surgery in as many years. Oh my, how this daughter has struggled. When she went off…
