I watched my friend, Patricia, struggle through more than twenty years of a difficult marriage. Her husband left three times during the two decades—once before their three children were born, and twice after. They lived through nineteen different homes in multiple cities, revolving jobs, rumored affairs, cycles of financial plenty followed by financial deficiency. Eventually, after twenty-three years, Rodney packed his bags for the last time and left. Read more…
Steve and I were headed to the coast and stopped for our usual lunch break, Chick-fil-A, just twenty minutes from our destination. It was one last time to fill up on sweet tea.
While Steve purchased our nuggets, I took our Bernedoodle, Molly, for a walk in the grassy area between Chick-fil-A and Dunkin’.
Molly sniffed, Read more…
Have you ever held a grudge? That’s a silly question. I think we all have. I remember when Nancy Davis asked the boy I had my eye on to the high school dance. Can we all say G-r-u-d-g-e with an extra grrrr?
Esau, now that’s a biblical character who held a grudge…and rightly so. His brother Jacob and his momma grabbed the pen right out of God’s hand, Read more…
My son, Steven, and I sat on the floor in his room playing a card game. The summer was proving to be the best ever. Our golden retriever, Ginger, had just delivered seven adorable puppies, Steven was enjoying his sixth summer of life, and after four years of negative pregnancy tests, God had surprised us with a new life growing inside my womb. Read more…
Five-year-old Brooke was sitting in the backseat of the minivan while her mom and I ran errands. “Mommy,” she asked, “Is it worse to pick a scab or pick a mosquito bite?”
“You shouldn’t pick either one,” her mom replied.
I glanced back at Brooke as she tried to wipe away the bloody evidence that she had done both. Read more…
There have been times when my heart ached because of a situation I did not like: a bad decision that led to bad situation, an unexpected happenstance that created an unresolved circumstance, a health issue that hung on for far too long. A chapter that I did not like. I’ve thought, God I do not like this chapter of my story! Read more…
When we’re in pain, we want God to comfort us! Right now! But what if He’s in the process of making us comfort-able first. That’s what this little boy teaches us. Keep reading.
A storeowner was tacking a sign in his store window, which read PUPPIES FOR SALE, when a little boy appeared.
“How much are you selling the puppies for?” he asked. Read more…
My son, Steven, was in the ninth grade when I turned in the manuscript for my book, Being a Great Mom, Raising Great Kids. I should have waited until he was in the tenth grade.
That fateful morning, I placed my neatly printed pages in a padded enveloped, prayed a blessing over the bundle, and then dropped a year of hard work in the mail slot at the post office. Read more…
Some people just seem happy and positive all the time. They appear to never worry and fret. These people act like they eat rainbows for breakfast and ride a unicorn to work. But life isn’t all lucky charms. Sometimes it is just plain hard.
We should anticipate trials. Jesus promised trouble. “In this world you will have trouble,” He warned (John 16:33). Read more…
I was 16 years old and about 100 pounds soaking wet.
My friend’s dad, Mr. Evans, gathered up a few of us teenagers and drove us to a church just outside my hometown. We were going to give our testimonies at a Saturday night gathering of strangers. I’d never stood behind a podium, spoken into a mic, or stared at a sea of faces thinking I had something to say. Read more…