I was half asleep when I heard the music. In my semi-awake state, I lay in bed, tried to recognize if it was a chorus of people singing or an ensemble of low pitched brass instruments. As someone who has had experience singing in choirs and playing in orchestras, I can pinpoint kinds of instruments. […]

As a parent, God gives us tools to cope. No, I’m not referring to Margaritas or binge watching your favorite Netflix series… I’m talking humor. Raising four kids… three who were teenagers at one time. I can remember a cryptic comment whispered in my ear as God reminded me, “You’ve lost your sense of humor!” […]

The ying and yang, the dark and light, the hot and cold, and yes, the old and the young. Life is made up of contrasts. It’s those opposite extremes that causes us to reflect on different seasons. While I was recently out in my home state of California to take care of my mother, I […]

Some times the budget just doesn’t stretch far enough. It reaches to the weekly food bills, groans to accommodate insurance, gas, and whimpers to spit out enough for an occasional dinner out or haircut. But I have discovered that one way God provides in leaner times is by allowing material things to last. Take our […]

Christmas hits the newcomer hard when roots are shallow and short, and the new community we’ve been plopped down in, is cold. If only my family was here, you say to yourself, then I could enter into the holidays with joy. I remember the sadness when my husband and I lived in Wheaton, Illinois. My […]

Well, she really isn’t our aunt, but growing up no one could explain to us four kids that she is one of those far-fetched cousins, so we just called her Aunt Joan. In my childhood she was the closest thing to a cool relative our family had. She arrived one night at our house when […]