Just in case you need a little humor in your life… When our first child was born we lived in a small, quiet, lakeside community in Minnesota. It’s one of those villages with lovely winding roads, parks and sailboats… you can picture it. One summer weekend my husband was up in the Boundary Waters with a group of students so I was home alone with our newborn. I was sterilizing her bottles and rubber nipples on the stove and had a complete brain fart… I left the house to go return some video rentals to the store. When we got home, there was toxic black smoke billowing out of the windows. […]

It seems like life is one transition after another.  Some are obviously life-changing:  giving birth, the death of a loved one, or a walk down the aisle.  Others seem less significant, but in actuality are highly impacting. This fall our eldest daughter moved away to attend college about seven hours from home. I knew it would be a difficult transition for me because Kaia and I are very close and have always spent a great deal of time together.  Once she was in school I would rarely see her; it was just too far for a weekend trip home.  So I tried not to think about the day I would […]

I’m kind of considered the gourmet cook in our family. What can I say; I really enjoy cooking (my kids were eating epicurean delights from the time they were wee babies). So when it comes time for family holidays I like to show off a little. No simple dishes for me; the harder the recipe is the better I like it. Several years ago we had 25 people over to our home for Thanksgiving dinner. I felt good about my preparation; it was Thanksgiving morning and I had already made two fancy desserts, stuffing, a mashed potato casserole, green bean casserole, a mixed green salad with cranberry vinaigrette, homemade bread, […]

This summer my 19-year-old daughter Kaia went on a mission trip to Guatemala with an incredible group called Side By Side Ministries.  They served at a 400-child orphanage called Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos where they spent ten days constructing a tilapia pond so the children could have fresh fish to eat.  It was a grueling, but amazing life-changing trip for the students as they showed God’s love to children half a world away.  My girl was profoundly impacted. The family that operates Side By Side Ministries has suffered a devastating loss. On October 9th at approximately 5 p.m., their 16-year-old son Sam was driving his mom Kris, brother Josh (10) and […]

While the technician strapped me down and slowly eased me into the tube I kept my eyes tightly shut.  Then the motion stopped and I cautiously opened them. A new surge of panic enveloped me. I have claustrophobia.  Now, if you ask ten people if they like small spaces, nine of them would answer in the negative; nobody really LIKES being in closed spaces.  But the majority of people are certainly able to tolerate them to some extent. True claustrophobics, on the other hand are debilitated by them. I have no idea how this condition developed.  Am I predisposed because my mother has claustrophobia?  Possibly.  Was it caused be overcrowding in the womb?   Doubtful – I only weighed 5 […]

This Sunday was Senior Sunday at church.  An annual tradition, the service features the talents of some special senior students involved in the youth ministry.  My daughter happens to be one of those “super seniors”… if there was something going on at youth group she would likely have a leadership role. Kaia’s been singing in the youth band ever since she was a freshman.  That meant she was leading worship on Wednesday nights for middle school “Hang Time,” and Sunday nights for high school “Chill Out” for four years.  So it wasn’t a surprise when she told us she would play a big part in Senior Sunday. By the time […]