"Life" Books

  • "Life" Books,  Grief,  Jesus,  Let's be Real

    Broken Pieces

    Let’s start today’s post with some lyrics: " Look at all the broken pieces all around me places deep inside my soul I don't know what's real, can't help the way I'm feeling All I know is I'm alone. I need a rescue, I need a reckoning From all the things I've done and have been don't to me I need a revival, I need recovery I need to know that there's an answer for what's missing cause something's missing Turn up all the music, something to amuse me silence is a lonely friend if you really knew me, could you really love me save me from this loneliness It…

  • "Life" Books,  Children,  Children Come,  Let's be Real

    Miss Anna…

    “The soul is healed by being with children.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky The above quote could very easily be my life “phrase.” Whether it’s been a good day, hard day, sick day, tiring day… bring a child into the picture and my whole world is made brand new! I have been having these days that feel like whirlwinds – you know those days that you wake up thinking, maybe just maybe I can get these few things done today, but as soon as your feet hit the ground, its like a tidal wave hits you, and everything you thought could happen is now swept out to sea, and you are flipping…

  • "Life" Books,  Let's be Real

    Highs, Lows, and the Somewhere In Between

    “‘Dear Pastor, Please say in your sermon that Peter Peterson has been a good boy all week. I am Peter Peterson.’ Sincerely, Pete, Age 9” (Dear Pastor, by Bill Adler) I love kids! They get to the point, say what they mean, and ask questions. They have a limited knowledge, the things they do know all depends on who is active in their lives, and what is allowed/accepted by those in their lives. As infants they come to us as fragile delicacies to care for, to help mold, and to train and build up into children, teens, young adults. So that they may thrive as adults. The letter to this…

  • "Life" Books,  Aunt-ing,  Children,  Family,  Friends & Neighbors,  GRANDparents,  Memories

    Smiles Delivered

    “When I see a mailbox, I see a friend. I see something that can connect me to the people I love. I see an entity that can take my words and send them, in reliable snail speed, across the planet. Sure, email and social media are faster, but they’ve got nothing on the magic of a physical object arriving in my hands from thousands of miles away.” The Year I became Snail Mail Superstar by Sara McNally Oh what joy it is to find happy mail among the bills and advertisements, can I get an Amen? I can remember vividly as a child receiving mail. We had a post office…

  • "Life" Books,  Aunt-ing,  Children,  Family,  Friends & Neighbors,  GRANDparents,  Mommy,  Pass it On...

    Be Alert. Gather the Facts.

    I laugh at this photo because if only the parenting know-it-alls knew what was coming for parents, would they have been so hard on my parents for allowing a black and white antenna tv in my room when I was sick for long periods of time? I mean how much could a little Lambchop or Skidamarink looping up and down with periods of black and grey lines do to me? And pacis, they already gave up on those – I found those as soon as they tried to hide them! (fun fact- never had to have braces!) Recently I had a conversation with a friend about the amount of “alert”…

  • "Life" Books,  Grief,  Jesus,  Let's be Real,  My Little

    Doesn’t Anybody Know?

    A friend shared this song with me not long after Jesus scooped Lucy up into His arms. And I want to share the lyrics today with you before writing out my thoughts ❤️ I see the lights in the house and the people inside Clearing dishes from the table like it's a regular night And the ones on 12th Street out for an evening walk How can they keep moving when the world just stopped Doesn't anybody know I still run errands still answer the calls Still sit down for dinner as if I'm hungry at all And the election campaigners still come to the door But there's no use…

  • "Life" Books,  Adoption,  Children Come,  Mommy,  My Little

    A Miracle Starts

    The pictures above were hand crafted by a parent (I babysat for) grown to be true friend. I always admired her artwork in her home, and now I have my very own! Ask my parents- these are not to be touched or removed from my sight! Seriously! The one on the left is from a picture taken just a few days before my Lucy ran ahead to Jesus, with the hymn, “I need Thee every hour,” which I sang to her since she was born. The one on the right is taken from a picture right after her finalization hearing, almost exactly two months before, with the words “wonderfully made,”…

  • "Life" Books,  Children,  Let's be Real,  Memories

    You’ve Got Mail

    I love Valentine’s Day! Now I know this holiday can be a love or strongly disliked day, so let me explain… I love valentine’s day, quite possibly, for the reason that most parents don’t like it and are quite possibly “over it” today. For me it’s the excitement of children, little mailboxes built by little hands, crafts, and hand written cards, and school parties (although I didn’t see or hear of many this year 😕 has our world banned these too?!?) Now all the adult hoopla, I could absolutely live the rest of my life without! Too much pressure and too much drama! You see, I was the kid that…

  • "Life" Books,  Children,  Family,  Friends & Neighbors,  GRANDparents

    Clean Underwear

    “Make sure you wear clean underwear in case you are in an accident and they have to cut you out of your clothes.” That’s what my grandparents would say. Or if not an accident, you never know when you might get stuck in traffic, or have to go to the hospital, and the list went on. Matter of fact, my grandma was so sure this was going to happen that she always had an extra pair with her in her purse! Why do I share this? Simply because I was watching the View this week and this came up in conversation, and it hit me – this really was a…

  • "Life" Books,  Let's be Real

    A Tangled Web

    “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when we first practice to deceive!” – Sir Walter Scott (also made famous recently by Alex Murdaugh) Deceive: to cause to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid. Lie: to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive; to create a false or misleading impression. Can we start by agreeing that there is no in-between- our words are either truth or a lie. Half truths, lie with a bit of truth mixed in, ultimately is a lie. If you disagree, then you disagree and we will leave it at that for today’s post. Truth is, we all have lied. We…