She was never meant to last forever. But I didn’t know it. Growing up on our isolated farm, a door-to-door salesperson was a rare treat. So, my mother always welcomed in the Avon lady. Mom usually purchased practical items like lip balm, skin cream, or bath oil, but on a few memorable, yet … [Read more...] about What Lasts Forever
ICD
Learning to Lament
It was an ordinary Tuesday. As I made my way into the choir room, I remember seeing her older brother pacing outside the school office, waiting for her to be released from class. My childhood friend’s mother had died after a long illness when we were seniors in high school. I knew her mother … [Read more...] about Learning to Lament
Expectations and Promises: When God Disappoints
Shielding the California sun from my eyes for a glimpse as my daughter received her college diploma, I remembered something my husband said four years ago as I sat on these same crowded bleachers. I was wearing my cardiac life vest back then. My older son was graduating from the same university … [Read more...] about Expectations and Promises: When God Disappoints
Surviving the Stairs
I was petrified of those stairs. When I was in Kindergarten, my family moved into our unfinished basement while another story was added to our two-bedroom rancher. My mother took care of three children and a baby in that awkward, damp space for more than a year. We had a makeshift kitchen and … [Read more...] about Surviving the Stairs
Finding God in Soggy Cereal & Cold Coffee
As a kid, I was pretty good at math. Not to brag, but I won my fair share of chalkboard arithmetic races. So I could usually finish my homework in class or during study hall. But I chose not to. Instead, I saved my long division to work on during the nearly hour-long bus ride home or while I … [Read more...] about Finding God in Soggy Cereal & Cold Coffee
Locust Years
Locusts don’t invade wheat farms in southcentral Kansas. At least they didn’t when I was growing up there. But plenty of other pests did. And grasshoppers sure could make a mess of a family garden overnight. Now as a resident of wooded northwest Arkansas, I’ve learned a placid deer family can … [Read more...] about Locust Years