Christmas time is full of memories and opportunities to make new memories. In my childhood family we had a lot of Christmas traditions, some we picked up in various countries, some from my parents childhood and others that my brother and I made up. Many of my favorite memories of childhood revolve around the Christmas holidays. I don’t … [Read more...]
Fierce Love Blurs Negative History
When I was a child my mother never let me use coloring books. She didn’t want me to learn to color within the lines. She taught me to use the entire piece of paper when I colored. She taught me that the sky should take up at least half of the page and not be a tiny blue line at the top of the page. She taught me to use all the colors in the Crayola … [Read more...]
Cats Don’t Have Germs
Our cat Gogo is well known as a troublemaking, food stealing, mischievous character. He is ever present in our house. Where we go, he goes. His involvement in our day starts at the crack of dawn until he safely puts us to bed having supervised our every move. We have all learned to carefully guard our food, vitamins and drinks from Gogo. … [Read more...]
My Favorite New Moving Tip
To say that I have moved a lot would be an understatement. I’ve lived in at least 27 different homes over my 44 years. I didn’t count the temporary housing, short-term and transitional housing along the way. Needless to say, I’ve learned a few things about moving, but with this summer’s move I learned my very favorite moving and packing tip that … [Read more...]
Towering Cupcakes
My daughter checked out the book Cupcakes, Cookies & Pie, Oh, My! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson from the Crossroads Christian School library last year and started dreaming up what she wanted made for her birthday cupcakes to bring to school. Eventually, I broke down and bought the book so we could return the book to the library. We had so … [Read more...]
The Real Life of a Dance Mom
Ever since the TV show Dance Moms came on TV I find myself being asked, "Are you a dance mom?" It isn't a casual question. It is filled with intrigue and scandal. The show Dance Moms has made dance moms look loony, domineering and downright selfish. But the reality is that most dance teams in America are filled kids and parents who love and … [Read more...]
Marriage for a Lifetime
Today marks fourteen years since I married my husband Dennis. I never imagined what the years ahead would hold. Who really does when they are standing at the altar promising, “to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death us do part.” Dennis and I had a $1000 … [Read more...]
Braver :: Smarter :: Stronger Than We Think
"A deus ex machina literally 'god from the machine' is a plot device in which a person or thing appears 'out of the blue' to help a character to overcome a seemingly insolvable difficulty." I have a teenager. Enough said. End of sentence. No explanation needed. Everyone who has raised a teenager, everyone who is in the midst of raising a … [Read more...]
The Rumors are True :: We are Moving
The ultimate road trip is, by my definition, when you pack up your family and move across the country. My family is on the verge our own ultimate road trip from the great Northwest to Franklin, Tennessee. We have been toying with the idea of moving to Tennessee for the past year or more. It has been a “maybe” and an “if” that has transformed into a … [Read more...]
Ode to a Servant’s Heart
I am in awe of people who have pure servants’ hearts. You know those people who serve others with selfless motives. Last week, while I served among people with a servant heart at Camp Yamhill Outdoor School I was really struck by the sacrifice these people make for others. I was especially impressed while we stood in the pouring rain for hours … [Read more...]
Love Me or Love Me Not
I remember it so clearly. I must have been about 6 years old when my mother took me to the store to pick out any doll I wanted. We weren't big shoppers so it was a huge deal to go to the store to buy a doll. I stood in the aisles searching their faces looking for the most beautiful and lovely doll of them all. Finally, I saw her. I fell immediately … [Read more...]
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