Two team members are dead. The third rests against a tree, mortally wounded. His last words are to tell his wife how much he loves her, "and that I died with my brothers...with a full heart" From the movie Lone Survivor. The scene and those words are stuck in my head. What does it mean to die with …
seeing thru the smoke
My husband and I like fresh air. The good news is we both love the house filled with fresh air. The bad news is we have varying criteria, methods and internal thermostats. I may be feeling perfectly comfortable when he will suddenly fling wide the front and back doors. While this creates a lovely wind tunnel effect …
motherly imperfections
... taking an extra-large "mother's cut" of Easter candy before filling your baskets ... needing a "sweat rag" to hold while teaching you to drive ... making up excuses not to take you places because I didn't feel like it ... making up excuses because I was afraid ... serving you fish sticks, French fries and corn... all in one meal …
staying the course…
Saying "no" to a slice of thickly frosted, gooey chocolate cake can make you feel dazed and confused... Staying open to love, when there's a choice to judge, feels risky... Completing the project, the one they want, the one you want to quit, taps every reserve you have... But you will feel better in the …
the thin line between good and hard…
If you post on Facebook regularly, you are familiar with your "memories" from a year or two or five popping into your daily newsfeed. This week, this photo memory caught my attention. It was exactly one year ago that one of my new daughters-in-law very bravely, on her own, bought a cute little house. She searched, …
…on being “Support Staff”
Years ago when I lived somewhere else and was gainfully employed at our local university, I was at a "Support Staff" meeting where employee labels were being discussed. There were "Faculty", who were pretty much the stars of the show. (oh yes, just ask them!) There were "Administrators" with power to hire, fire and make big decisions. They went …
hold on to your vacation heart…
While on vacation your body was busy but your mind was relaxed. You ate good food, reunited with family, saw new places, recorded new memories. Then it stopped. And, oh, how well I know the feeling that followed... You squeeze yourself into a Lilliputian airline seat, spend the day alternately chilled or overheated on the plane, then run into that …
Forward
When the road has changed, When I feel unknown, When there are more questions than answers, I remind myself; You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me..... Psalm 139:5 Truly, there is no place I can go where my Father is not already waiting.
Easter… short and sweet
It's not rocket science. It's love.
encouragement to grow on
One advantage of having your parents live with you is tapping into their memories. And your mother's photo album. These are my grandparents, Dan and Gladys, holding my mom. So this must have been 1927-ish. It's fun to see my grandmother standing on the California beach where I grew up, sporting a bathing suit. Might have been a …
Heart's Home 