This morning, again this afternoon, and yet again this evening, I was reminded of an important event in the lives of my sons. The first time was within 30 minutes of being awake, the second time I was convinced I needed to journal, and by the third I knew I needed to start jotting it down tonight. There was this time - long, long ago. It was a time in the growing years of my sons when they were going to church every Sunday, going through the motions because they knew it was expected of them, but they really didn't have a clue what they believed or why they were supposed to believe it. They knew what they had been "taught," but they weren't convinced any of it really had any significance or truth to it. But there were people in their lives, one in particular, who they both watched ... View Post
Transformed by the Renewal of My Mind (and vacuuming couch cushions)
There aren't very many mornings I get to sleep in, but today was one of them. A list of chores and to-do's jotted down last night on a piece of note paper awaited me on the kitchen table this morning. On the top of that list? Wash and iron my kitchen tablecloth. Well, you know how it goes... Pretty soon all the windows were washed, the ironing was done, I cleaned behind the washer and dryer, got up on a stool and washed the ceiling fan, wiped floor boards, scrubbed bathrooms, washed toilets, shook rugs, vacuumed, cleaned door wall tracks, and on and on. You get the picture. After a three-hour deep cleaning, my home smells really good now. But my biggest accomplishments? 1) I never touched or looked at my cell phone. 2) I removed all of the couch cushions and vacuumed, ... View Post
Becoming A Mother-in-Law
For 10 years I've wanted to write about becoming a mother-in-law, about my sons leaving home, leaving me with an empty nest. For 10 years, on multiple occasions, I have sat down to write and just known I wanted to go in 100 different directions, and yet have not had the courage to follow through. And to be completely honest, I haven't had the wisdom. Sometimes I'll have amazing conversation with a friend over dinner, and I'll be just so confident about what it is I want to say, and get home and think to myself.... Nope. Not yet. And maybe I'm going to get two paragraphs into this blog and quit, only for it to remain an unfinished piece until a decade from now. Only God knows. But here I sit. Fingers on keyboard, once again. Thinking about the thing I want the most to write ... View Post
WXYZ – A Household Staple
My home's basement is not finished, and its walls are Pepto Bismol pink - I kid you not. The cement floor is mostly covered by random pieces of carpet or old rugs I've collected, and nothing is the same color. It's simply meant to keep my feet warm when I'm down there. There are shelves that store all of my random small kitchen appliances, books, shoes, and all sorts of other stuff. It's not a place anyone would ever go to just hang out, and color palate-wise, it looks a little bit like a box of 36 different colored crayons may have exploded down there, but its the very first place my grandchildren want to head to as soon as they come in the door to my home. They can't wait to get down there. Owen finds all of the old games and building blocks, Lyla goes through all of the drawers ... View Post
I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together…
I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've sat down here at my kitchen table, with its fun beige and white checkered table cloth, put my hands to the keys, and... nothin. My mind goes blank. But I can promise you - just a few minutes ago I stopped everything I was doing in my kitchen, and left quite a mess, to sit here and peck out one last story on these keys for the ThumbPrint News because I really believed I had a good idea. And now? Oh, now I can't remember what that good idea was. But I'm still sitting here at my beloved found-on-the-side-of-the-road oak clawfoot kitchen table. I have written so many stories for the TPN, my blog, and published three books right here at this table - quite a few of them even inspired by this old piece of furniture, so she feels like ... View Post
When the Pendulum Stops Swinging
While vacationing years ago in Sutton's Bay, Michigan, I was introduced to Allen Design clocks in a cute little store, where I purchased a sewing machine clock for my Mom's craft room. Fast forward a few years, and I spotted more of their fun wall clocks in an airport store, (where everyone knows the price is always doubled or tripled, right?) I had been preparing to move into my current little condo, and knew the teal blue coffee pot clock would look just right hanging on the wall near my kitchen table, so when I returned home, I purchased it on line - and yes, it was much cheaper ;) (Link below to Allen Designs) A coffee cup pendulum swung back and forth below my clock for the past three years, but recently it quit swinging. I thought that the battery had died, so I replaced it, but ... View Post
Notes on Living the Single Life (and the Single Parent Life)
My single parenting days ended 10 years ago when both of my kiddos left home - one for college, and they other for married life. I have often laughed since then and called myself the "single grandmother." The truth is - there's a special place in my heart for single Moms with hard circumstances; there always has been. So it wasn't difficult at all for me when it came time to choose which break-out sessions I'd attend at this years TGCW Conference. (The Gospel Coalition for Women - if you haven't been, I highly recommend it). I've been attending TGCW with my girlfriends Sarah and Ruth since 2014, and since that time we've grown from a group of three women, to a group of five women because Ruth's family has grown, and she has hit the jackpot with two lovely daughters-in-law. It's ... View Post
Spaghetti, Kitchen Tables, Televisions, & A Whole Lot More
There's a story I'm supposed to be writing tonight. Right now, in fact. But I was standing at the kitchen sink and all of these memories just suddenly flooded my head and my heart all at the same time, and I'm one of those journalers who has to write stuff down just as soon as I think of it. So, that story? It's gonna have to wait. I'm clearing out my kitchen, carrying appliances to the basement, filling up bowls of snacks, setting up every inch of my kitchen, my living room, my dining area, my front porch, and my garage for an event on Saturday that has kept me pretty busy for the past few months, doing just a little bit at a time every day or so. Hey - slow and steady wins the race, right? None of it has felt overwhelming to me because I have paced myself wisely. I can't tell ... View Post