Return to Joy
This morning, I wake up after a day in bed with a fever and aches. The sun finally shines, and the whole world seems to sparkle. It’s true. I see it again after all this rain. The children and I find a robin’s egg on the walk to school. Robin’s Egg on the Walk We […]
Your Own Gutter System
This morning I see my husband creeping around the outside of the house in the pouring rain. He’s checking the gutter system. “How are they?” I call out. “The ones in the back of the house aren’t working well. I have to clean the leaves out.” A house in this climate absolutely requires a properly […]
I’ll Take What I Can Get
Today it rained all day. (Not the big kind of rain, but the small kind of drizzle that’s enough to keep you inside but not enough to use an umbrella when you’re picking children up from school.) With a small kind of rain, you stop to consider how long it will take to thoroughly water […]
When God Asks You to Give What You Do Not Have
This morning in church, we read from 1 Kings 17 the story of the Widow at Zarephath. Elijah comes to her and asks of her what she does not have. Elijah insists that she give him what she does not have (in this case a loaf of bread). And when the Widow acts in faith, […]
Turning 7 and Wanting Stiletto Heel Cupcakes
She’s seven! She’s a bike-riding, soccer-playing, worm-finding kind of girl. She’s also a fashionista. So when she wanted fashionable cupcakes, I knew I had no choice: It just so happens that melted chocolate hardens so very nicely and will attach a graham cracker to a Pirouette cookie stick. I used a design from the book […]
How Not to Do It: My Attempt at Ice-Cream Cone Cupcakes
I tell my neighbor that my attempt to make ice-cream cone cupcakes by filling cones with cake batter and baking them failed miserably. They exploded! They made soggy cones! I actually drive back to the grocery store to get ingredients to start all over again. “You didn’t fail,” my sweet neighbor says. “Remember Edison? […]
Open Wide Your Mouth
I arrive at another Italian Mamas’ lunch (this time, eggplant parmigiana, pesto, roasted peppers, mozzarelle, anchovies–and that’s just the beginning), and I’m told to “bring a container” to take home the pizzelles. Apparently, I severely underestimate what’s in store. “Oh, that’s way too small,” the hostess says, laughing as she eyes my small plastic Tupperware. […]
Maybe I Will
Today, the bright blue wildflowers cover the forest floor. The poor light on this damp morning doesn’t make for good photography, but it can’t matter. Not when the blue is so blue you just stop and observe. I want to stretch out among the blue and listen to the bird calls. Maybe I will. __________________________________When […]
Darkness and Light, Darkness and Light
It’s one of those moody and indecisive days. One minute, the chilly air sends me searching for a sweater, and the next minute, the warm sun bakes me. One minute, the blue sky and bright sun shine brightly, and the next minute, the storm clouds hover, cloaking everything in dark shadows. Moody, unpredictable weather! I’m […]
Are You Kidding Me?
Apparently, the chicken wire fence does not descend deep enough. The groundhog has returned, and this time, within the boundaries of the carefully prepared soil of our vegetable garden. Last year, I compared him to the Enemy of our Souls, and I provided 4 questions to keep him out. But today, he (or she) is […]