Search: 'mud'


Hold Tight, Keep Your Balance and Watch Out for Mud Puddles

 “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.” Psalm 37: 23-24 ESV One tiny hand gripped deep inside my own, another in the hand of my husband. Chubby legs danced in-between, steps uneven but oh so joyous. […]

Continue Reading
Baking Cookies

What Do You Do?

Somewhere in the middle of dodge ball tag and baking cookies with three grandsons, my youngest grandson cocked his head to the side and asked, “So Grandma, what do you two do here all day long?” And as I looked down at him, red-faced and panting, echoes of that question dittoed through my mind. I’ve […]

Continue Reading

A New Year, A New Self

We make promises. We plan, envision, re-calibrate, and define goals. We look ahead and behind. We hope, determine, and anticipate. We look forward to a white page, a whole year ahead, without smudges. Not a single broken resolve. Yet. Years ago, my husband, myself, and our three little girls stood together with about fifty others, […]

Continue Reading

A Baby Brings Hope And A Future

Mornings have always been a process for me, like pulling me out of a deep well where my feet are sucked by muddy weights of dreams. Greeting each new day takes time and a dose of courage often fortified by coffee. This morning through thick waking-up-soupiness, I reached for my phone and on its screen, […]

Continue Reading

The Grieving We Do

I remember the clingers. I can feel those little arms that hugged tight around my neck and the legs circling my body. I remember the process, of disentangling a hand, then a leg, then the other hand and leg, as if they were glued to me, those little clinging people. My son commented as he […]

Continue Reading

Now What?

Have you ever hit a fork in life when you have asked, “Now what?”  You might be thinking of the last time you put together a 1,2,3 step project out of the box. Only it didn’t turn out so simple or sturdy as the picture on the package.  Perhaps a relationship comes to mind, one […]

Continue Reading

Where Do Your Tracks Lead?

One of my missionary colleagues gave me an illustration of life in the jungle. It held a punch that I hope I never forget.  South American roads at times are little more than frequently trodden paths, unpaved and unmarked. When hard rains come, those dirt paths become like sinking mud pits. My friend, shared about […]

Continue Reading

It’s Not Fair

So, my grandson who is four years old beat me at a game of memory. There are a lot of reasons this happened. The cards, for example had some sort of out of this world superpower heroes. I didn’t know them. He did. By name.  They had tentacles, fangs, green goop, and could fly through […]

Continue Reading

Finding Balance When the Lava Flows 

“Don’t step on the lava!” It’s a chorus of young and old watching little bare feet hop, skip, and jump from pillow to pillow, over and under chairs.  My youngest grandson just turned four. His genius mom, with her creative birthday party juices, has done it again. Complete with lava cake and a “real” volcano […]

Continue Reading

Are You Walking In the Mire? 

Mud, thick red goop clumped his little shoes like melted cheese oozing out of a sandwich. Hunks of it fell in globs I tried to avoid as I scooped him up. Briefly his legs swung from side to side and in the arc. Piles of wet Virginian soil splattered. He’s too heavy to carry now, […]

Continue Reading