Contagious

One day, I had taken my four-year-old to the park to play. He loves the swings, so he made a bee-line for them as soon as we got there. In his typical independent way, he wanted to learn how to “pump” his legs so he didn’t need me to push him anymore. The more he tried, […]

Love Leader

One night, I was in a boat with my brother on a lake near where I live. We could see lightning in the distance and thought that it was far away. It was getting late and we decided to head back to the dock. We were about 15 minutes into a 30 minute boat ride, […]

You Are So Worth It!

Like clockwork, my mom would change the sheets every Thursday. I remember how good it felt crawling into bed on Thursday evenings. Looking back, I am sure I did not appreciate that as much as I should have, or realize the level of effort it took to make that happen every week.  I do now.  It is one […]

Precious and Good

I go on a three-day, silent retreat each year. It is a very intense spiritual time, filled with much prayer and reflection. It never fails to refresh and renew my spirit and draw me closer to our amazing God. On one particular retreat, most of my thoughts and inspirations were centered on my children; it […]

Reentry

It was a Sunday evening, and the scene at my dinner table was anything but pleasant. The kids were all snapping at each other, had a hard time sitting still, and were picking at the dinner I had spent the better part of the afternoon preparing. The kids just got back from a weekend with […]

Put Down The Gloves

Several years ago, I brought my then five-year-old daughter to the doctor for her annual physical. She was due for a couple of immunizations, and I was trying to find a delicate way of answering her repeated question, “Am I going to get any shots?” I managed to avoid answering the question directly with responses […]

God’s Favorites

When my divorce was final, my kids were all under the age of ten, with my youngest going into kindergarten.  I was now a single parent responsible for raising these little kids, while trying to piece my life back together, and running a demanding business. Life was stressful, to say the least. Since my kids […]

Tranquility

“I hope she rots in Hell!” I screamed at God at the top of my lungs as I drove to work. I had just gotten done listening to my former spouse’s rationale on how our divorce would actually be “good for the kids.” I was so angry and hurt over the pain and distress I […]