We’ve been vacationing in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with the grand girl, and it’s time to go home. But Grace saw a movie at school on the Soo Locks. She wants to see them up close and personal. And go through them. The scenery assaults me. We’ve come from peaceful and pristine to chaos and clutter. Sault Ste. Marie on the Michigan side is a place of barges and docks and seaplanes and cement. A sailboat tips horizontal to the water I try to imagine what what this gateway from Lake Superior to Lake Huron looked like when the rapids swirled and …
I’m Pregnant – Now What?
Whether pink lines, a plus sign or a doctor’s diagnosis is the way you discover you are pregnant, a multitude of thoughts and emotions are sure to follow. Some women are excited and receive the news with great anticipation. Others are afraid of what their future might hold and aren’t sure how they are going to deal with the days ahead. Pregnancy is different for everyone and so are the circumstances associated with it. A thousand questions run through every expectant mom’s mind as she begins her journey down an unfamiliar road. Even if she’s had a baby before, each …
Perfect Counsel
By Featured Guest: Lisa Buffaloe “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16 (ESV) Our college-aged son stopped by my study. Worry seemed to crease his forehead as he sat in the …
Help!
Do you have a nagging feeling that your child’s development is not quite right? Does your doctor see areas of concern? You may know you want help, but have no idea where to turn. Today my goal is to give you some information to help you get started! The very first place to begin is with Child Find, www.childfindidea.org. This website will help you obtain the contact information for your specific state. By law, each state is required to locate and evaluate every child between birth and age 21 who may need special education or early intervention services. This evaluation …
A Mother’s Heart…An Intimate Moment with Mary
She stands at a distance. The sight before her pierces her heart as if thrust in by a javelin. Her puffy eyes sting with tears, blurring her vision. Deep sobs heave her chest as her heart pounds in agony. The crowd jostles her, oblivious to her obvious pain, a pain so deep that no mother on earth will ever feel again. What brings her to this gruesome sight? A mother’s love. My son, she cries. Her name is Mary and her son is being crucified. Naked, exposed. Blood trickles down His face from the open wounds in His head when …
10 Reasons Why I Can’t Be a Mentor
“Where are all the Titus 2 women?” my 28 year-old self asked. I remember it like it was yesterday but that was 21 years ago and now my boys are men. Yesterday, I had a conversation with a mother who asked the same thing. And while there seems to be a resurgence of women who are ready and willing to take on the Titus 2 mantle, many of them still wait in the wings wondering if it’s it is realistic to think they can be a mentor. You see, while we know it’s what we are called to, we also …
Choices
That afternoon changed everything. Our happy, church-going family was suddenly thrown into unimaginable pain. Like so many of my sweet sisters in Christ, this was the afternoon I stumbled upon porn on our computer, and the pornography ended up to be just the tip of the iceberg. It seemed each day brought new, unimaginable confessions from my husband. I was plunged into pain so deep and heavy I could hardly breathe. The shock that this could have come from my husband, practiced in my own home, was incomprehensible. Where was God in this? Why didn’t He protect me? And what …
The Eyes of a Child
She’s covered in Spanish moss. So’s the carpet. I move a couple chairs in front of the silk ficus and brush off and pick up what I can. I direct her attention to the stacking rings. I stack them. She dismantles them. I stack again. She dismantles again. The cat distracts her. She squawks and grabs. Tries to suck tail. Cat scurries away, and she crawls after. But the laundry basket snags her attention. She pulls herself up on her knees and leans over the edge. She flings a white washcloth and a lavender glove and a blue sock and …
Packing a Young Person’s Heart
Last Friday we took our daughter on a college visit. Serene lawns and still hallways echoed the time year: Spring Break. As we toured the campus, thoughts about our sweet girl’s future exploded in my mind like kernels in an air popper. I longed to see some students as evidence that when kids grow up they’re okay. But they were on Spring Break. Inside the dorms, our guide was kind (bold? crazy?) enough to show us several rooms where it looked like the Rapture had taken place. Books, guitars, clothes, pizza pans, and shoes littered the floors and beds. There …