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All the kids were home this weekend. That gets harder to pull off as the nest empties. Russell and I stood in the kitchen and watched our four, plus one daughter-in-law and one daughter-in-law-to-be. Laughter filled the house. It made my heart glad to know my kids and their relationships are healthy and strong. Surely…

Wails erupt in my backyard. I feel the neighborhood cringing. I teach swimming lessons each summer. At present, I’m several days into a new session. Learning to swim is stressful. For most kids, swimming sounds fun until… Until it’s not. It’s hard. It’s scary. And it takes work. While some kids truly are fearful, most…

A friend of mine recently had cataract surgery. Although a relatively young candidate for this procedure, she was informed by her doctor that she made his top three worst cataracts list. I’m sure she was thrilled. Today, colors are vivid, and she can pick up fine details—like all of her friends’ wrinkles. Her stories post-surgery…

My sister is my parents’ favorite. Not ready for parenthood when I arrived, seven years later they were more settled. Amy, whose name means “beloved,” was welcomed with open arms. Yet, when the two of us talk, she says I was the favorite. Comparison is a killer especially between siblings. Sadly, we see it in…

I recently attended a benefit concert with my daughter. She was checking out a modern dance company, and I tagged along. One of the dance numbers was a ballet solo. The ballerina looked like a body builder. Her muscles were so defined, I was distracted from her performance. I asked my daughter about it afterward.…

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23a NIV) “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” (Hebrews 12:15) Fruit can be deceiving. Vegetables—not so much. I don’t…

Abide. What does that word mean to you? Merriam-Webster defines abide as: To accept or bear To stay or live somewhere To remain or continue Stay with me, because it was the synonyms and antonyms that caught my attention. Synonyms: stay, dwell, hang around, remain, stick around, tarry Antonyms: bail, bail out, bug out, buzz…

Laughter rings through the neighborhood. A ball flies as preschool hands try to master catching and throwing. The ball rolls into the street, and off they go after it. But they don’t see the car. And the car can’t see them. You command “Stop!” in your sharpest, most urgent parental voice, and the small sneakers…

“While I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.” (Daniel 9:21 NIV) “The angel answered, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you [Zechariah]…

“Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22 NIV) The parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46) gives us a list of needs: hunger, thirst, sickness, shelter, clothes, imprisonment. Turn on the news and we’re hit with more. Natural disasters in foreign countries. Fundraisers…