"Make sure to clean up after yourself", Mom would say, but somehow those words never hit the intended home run with me. I would make a mess, remember Mom's words, then decide to wait until later to clean up after myself. Once I had kids and my own house it felt like I was cleaning... Continue Reading →

This morning I awoke downcast, lethargic and with an unexplained weight on my heart. I wondered what was wrong with me (besides being utterly exhausted) and decided to put my priorities straight. What was the most important thing I could ever do in a day? Spend time with God. So while I fed Izaac, I... Continue Reading →

Keeping my house clean has been much like chasing a locomotive: a lost cause. My kitchen spins me in circles until I'm dizzy, the laundry suffocates me and the bathrooms and floors... well, they're just evil. My house has turned against me, or so it seems. Four against one. I clear the piles of muddy... Continue Reading →

When I was a teenager, not many people believed me when I told them I didn't "fight" with my Mom as a lot of my peers did. Actually, I considered Mom one of my best friends; I confided in her, laughed with her, and believe it or not, she didn't embarrass me too much. Of... Continue Reading →

I was helping Elijah and Joel clean their room. Naturally, three year old Joel wasn't thrilled about it and was working at putting off his duties when he props his foot on a soccer ball, puts one hand on his hip and says in a good-natured way, "Mom, I'm making you work. I'm not upposed... Continue Reading →

Imagine a guy that works hard to provide for his family yet stops frequently to spend time with them; someone who takes his sons camping and hiking, reads to them and tickles them; who changes dirty diapers, vacuums the house, buys his wife chocolate and never complains when her dinners aren't Betty Crocker. That guy... Continue Reading →

I think I broke my record today for most loads of laundry ever (next to the Duggars) - not dinky ones either, but forceful, cramming, sweating, hair in face, hold the clothes in while you slam the door type loads. 2 loads of darks, 2 loads colors, 1 load whites, 1 load baby clothes, 1... Continue Reading →

Their room was dark with only the hallway light shining in through the door, Paul had just given them goodnight kisses when Elijah asked if I would come in and pray for them before bed. I knelt down beside Elijah's bed while he asked, "Mom, will you pray for me that Jesus will come into... Continue Reading →

I sit down "for five minutes" to check my email only to look up forty five minutes (or so) later and berate myself for having wasted so much time. I think about all that I could have gotten done  if only the silver machine with the glowing face hadn't distracted me and get up from... Continue Reading →

Several times a day every day for about two weeks, Elijah and Joel acted out the story of Jesus' death, burial, resurrection and ascension; they would take turns, one being the Roman soldier and the other being Jesus, quoting lines from the Bible I didn't even know they knew. One day they were on round... Continue Reading →