Tomorrow marks the beginnng of a season of big days for our family. It’s open house for accepted students at Cal Poly SLO, so it will be Zack’s first time on campus as a future Mustang (technically Mustang 2.0 since his high school mascot is also the Mustang). And while Zack is wrapping up high … More Mustang 2.0 – The Road to Our Empty Nest
My past few years have been full of beautiful times and blessings…and also the hardest challenges I’ve ever faced. During that time I’ve learned something quite interesting: I now believe trials and disappointment just might be the fastest (albeit bumpiest) path to clarifying what matters most to me. Hard times have proven to be the … More Disappointment Has Revealed the True Desires of My Heart
I have spent the past week hauling freshly-drawn milk in buckets hanging from a belt around my waist. I’ve been picking poke salad and gathering pecans. I’ve been walking to school, barefoot, bruising my feet and losing toenails along the way. And in the past seven days, I spent nine days in the back of … More Little House on the Prairie Had Nothin’ on These Kids
The roots of a family tree are a lot like the roots of a real tree. Sometimes they aren’t visible at all; you know they’re there and have been for many years, but they are covered up by the rich soil, doing their job, not demanding any attention whatsoever. Other times, the rugged, old, and … More Getting to the Root of the Story
The tiny, baby blue Datsun sedan pulled into the driveway at 5:00 every weeknight, like clock work, setting into motion a flurry of activity. The table would be set, then came serving up the pork chops and fried potatoes or some other comfort food that Mom knew Daddy would appreciate after a long day in … More Dinner for 3 at 5
As we watched Zack and his friends last night enjoying their final high school formal festivities, it’s just one more reminder that Darren and I will soon be empty nesters. We are closing in on the end of our eighth and final year of high school shenanigans with our boys. Like all the other parents … More Empty Nest Dry Run
“You’re fine,” she said as we rolled up to the stop sign, “just don’t stop right on top of the railroad tracks.” Easier said than done. Mom made driving a stick shift look so easy, fun even. I certainly wasn’t having fun, and I doubt she was having much of a good time, either. I … More Flying By the Seat of My Pajamas
Number Two has a pokey sort of growth, a two-day beard covering his jaws. The mustache could really be a mustache if he worked on it. Early morning glasses and puffy eyes. Upper lip still poking out just a bit past the lower; something only his mother would notice. Sweet boy is so much like … More My Boys to Men
What kind of mother am I? I haven’t placed a single Christmas present under the tree yet. It’s been up, waiting, since Thanksgiving weekend. But alas, no presents yet. When the boys were little, this mom (like many others) made sure at least a few presents were displayed the very day the tree went up. … More March of the Christmas Presents
Staying calm in the face of storm after storm was my daily routine for the past three years. I Will Praise You in this Storm was the soundtrack of my mid-forties, as I dealt with medical situations with my husband and my mom. Open heart surgery for him; cancer for her. Today, five months out … More Praising and Praying Through the Storm
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