Lyla and I were at the dining room table yesterday working on some craft projects with felt and a sewing needle when Maci, only two years old, climbed up onto the chair and saw a picture of a pair of scissors on the directions. "Scissors!" she said, and promptly got back down from the chair, went into the kitchen drawer, and returned with a pair of scissors in her little hands. "No, no, honey! Those will give you a big OW!!!" I took them from her, and she then proceeded to absolutely sob an absolutely heart-breaking, hard-to-catch-her-breath sob. She was not happy with Gummy! She wanted those scissors, and I was the person who took them from her. We did include her in the craft project, but we protected her from picking up the scissors again, and it didn't take long before she was ... View Post
Pursuing Humility With Everything We’ve Got
Several weeks ago while preaching through the Book of Luke, Pastor Bob was near the end of his sermon when he closed his Bible and took a few steps down from the pulpit. Whenever he does this, I feel as if I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for some big pearl of wisdom to get dropped into my lap. And as he steps down, it reminds me that he is one of us. He looks right at us, calls us "beloved," and then drops that pearl of wisdom into our hearts. This particular one from that sermon has simmered in my heart ever since; perhaps it has for you as well. He said, "Beloved - Pursue humility with everything you've got." Not only have I not stopped thinking about that statement, but I have sifted many of my thoughts, words, and even my calendar through those 7-1/2 words as well. I'm not ... View Post
Nan’s Fellowship Cake
Borrowed, tried, & tweaked - you've got to add this deliciousness to your family recipe collection! Cake Ingredients: 2 cups of flour (gluten-free if needed) 2 eggs 1 can of crushed pineapple with juice, 20 ounces 2 cups of sugar 2 teaspoons of baking soda 1 cup of crushed walnuts I have tried this recipe with crushed walnuts, and it was a big hit. I have also left out the walnuts, and have replaced them with one cup of grated coconut. I have also used a cup of crushed walnuts and 1/2 cup of grated coconut. I'm not sure which one is best, but I tweaked it depending on whether or not people were gluten free, and whether or not they were allergic to nuts. They were ALL delicious! Frosting Ingredients: 8 ounces cream cheese softened 2 cups of ... View Post
The Treasure Of Intergenerational Friendship
Recently I was helping out in the cafe at church before Adult Bible Fellowship classes and Sunday morning services. Just like back in my waitressing days, it was quite predictable what crowd of people would show up at what time. We needed to know how to make specialty coffees nice and early for the first morning wave of folks - the teenagers. I never did quite master that skill. They show up early with their friends, get their specialty coffees, most of them a full day's worth of calories, and go hang out for a little while at the small tables that are scattered throughout the gathering space and line the hallways at church. It's very obvious that they love spending time together, and invest that extra half hour or so to catch up with one another prior to going to their ABF ... View Post
Counting Kadiddlehoppers
We're three days into the month of November. The leaves have almost completely left the trees they belonged to for the past three seasons, the temperatures are slowly dropping, and Christmas stuff is on sale in the stores. And, as much as I hate to admit this - I'm one of those people who is 90% ready for Christmas, including the gift wrapping by September. I get excited. It's never too soon to start playing Christmas music. I'm already trying to find a friend to go to Frankenmuth and walk the snowy streets, watching the horse drawn sleighs go by, with those magnificent sleigh bells ringing beautifully with each of the horses' steps. It's a wonderful time of year and change of seasons. But I'm also no stranger to the sadness these holidays can bring for so many people - ... View Post
Intentional Friendship
Each payday, I set a little chunk of money aside to save, and each time I balance my checkbook I must account for that growing chunk - why? because I only go to the credit union where my savings is, a few times a year. Not because it's far away or difficult to get to. It's not. I just don't bother to go there until... well, basically until I feel like it. But my bank where I do my checking and spending - I go to that place frequently. I know the names of the gals who wait on me because I still park my car and walk inside. I want to know how they're doing, how their mother's surgery went, and how their grandkids who play football at the high school my sons attended years before are doing. And, they always ask how my little grands are doing, too. We have relationships - not ... View Post
My Trip to Harp’s Lingerie ;)
Please forgive me if you are one of the many people I've already shared this story with. I've told it, and re-told it, and re-told it again, and it's still hilarious to me, so I decided it was worth sharing. I was on the other side of town for an appointment on a day off last week, and Harp's Lingerie Store in Birmingham just happened to be on my way home. Now, I don't wear lingerie because my entire life I've preferred a good old-fashioned flannel nightgown straight out of Little House on the Prairie, but that store has the best bras ever, anywhere. Trust me. If you really need a good bra that fits correctly, makes you feel pretty, and doesn't leave you with a stage 2 pressure ulcer at the end of eight hours or have an underwire with the potential to puncture a lung, then you need ... View Post
Sweet Reminders
My Dad has been gone nearly two decades now, and yet, it feels as if he was here not long ago. I can still hear his voice. I can still see him clearly. There are times when I'm driving and think I should call him, and remember I can't. His hat hangs on the shelf in my dining room. Reminders of him are often daily. I quote him all. the. time. Over the weekend, I purchased a re-finished piece of old furniture. My friends know, just about every piece of furniture I own has come from somewhere else, and if you've ever sat at my kitchen table (which came from the side of the road), you've heard the stories about my kitchen tables, its not-so-matching chairs, my buffet from the Fisher Body mansion, the coffee table with the scripture on the bottom, the bed from the Memory Care facility, ... View Post