Not Yet, Baby!

I was sitting in my recliner when suddenly I noticed the all-too-familiar odor of a skunk. Our 18-month-old goldendoodle, Sheba, was in the back yard. Even through the walls, the stench was so strong that it burned my throat! We'd just moved to the country seven months previously, into the house that I built, with...

My Daughter Saw Her DAD (who died 17 months before!)

It was Friday, June 11th, 2021 when I received an unexpected call from my 15-year-old daughter. Jaycie had been at Falls Creek church camp all week with our church youth group, and they were expected home the next day. Her tear-filled and yet excited voice told me something significant had happened. "Mom, I saw DAD...

Real Men Cry, Too (A final message from my late husband)

While sorting through things of my beloved late husband, Hank, I stumbled across what appeared to be notes he was writing for a sermon. He had titled it, "Real Men Cry, Too". The haunting words on the paper both inspired me and broke my heart, as my children and I still grieve the loss of...

Knocked Down, but Not Destroyed

Spring is in the air. I'm a bit sleepy from losing an hour of sleep with the time change last night, but excited about the prospect of more daylight in my day. I spent yesterday working in my front yard, doing more manual labor than I have in months. After the ice and snow storms...

Not What I Planned

If you live on Planet Earth like the rest of us, your New Years Resolutions and best-made plans may seem to be fluttering away in the wind. What were your personal goals and aspirations for the last twelve months? Here's a list of mine...

Reign in Me: Who’s Holding the Reins?

I've been doing a lot of dog walking lately, since we adopted Ralphie, our little rescued Yorkie-Poo. He's blind in one eye and has a cataract in the other, although his hearing is really good. He absolutely loves to go on walks, and it's good for me, too. Ralphie seems ecstatic with a sense of...

Floods of Blessings (But It Didn’t Look That Way)

Sitting at my home office desk a few weeks ago, I noticed some all-too-familiar ripples and bubbles in the laminate flooring. Oh, no ... not again! Apparently the heavy rains the week before had seeped under the house and beneath the flooring of my studio/ office, a room built in part of our garage. Since we've...

Running for Their Lives…and a Baby

Do you ever wish that God would tell you what's coming next? Have you wondered, as I have, why God does (or allows) certain things? Do you ever wonder why He usually doesn't tell us? As a parent, I've come to realize, perhaps, some of the possible reasons. [1] We'd argue with Him, that's it's really...

His Car Caught Fire…but God Never Left

"Uh, Mom, can you come get me? My car caught fire and I'm stranded." Those words are not what a momma wants to hear, but I was very thankful that I was hearing from my son at all, meaning he'd survived! I soon learned that the fire was under the hood, and Aaron had gotten...

One Contented Puppy

My parents have a little long-haired dachshund-mix dog named Kikka. She's such a people-person (for a dog, haha!), and can't stand it when they go away for a few days. Momma says that Kikka gets very excited when they pull into our driveway, however, even though she "cries" when they leave. She'll jump into the...