Gaining a heart of wisdom
One spring day, floor plans and scholarship applications littered my dining room table. The talk around dinner was all about the future as one son was building a house and another (the youngest!) was looking forward to graduation. Life as I knew it then was about to undergo a drastic change here on this country… Continue reading Awkward Questions of the Empty Nest and Answers Shaped by Love
Sometimes I have to pinch myself to realize that I'm actually a grandmother, but for almost nine years, I have answered to the name "Bam." I've discovered that my grandmothering is of a different sort than my mothering. I'm less anxious, more optimistic. Even so, I think I pray for this round of Morins more… Continue reading Celebrating Grandparent’s Day–We “Get” to Be Grandparents!
We know from Scripture that Peter, Jesus's outspoken fisherman-turned-apostle, was married, and the tone of his second letter makes me wonder if he was also a parent. Step-by-step, Peter describes an incremental discipleship in which faith is supplemented "with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection,… Continue reading Embrace the Weighty Joy of Living a Reminding Life
“Ouch!” I yelped as a two-year-old elbow made contact with my arthritic hip joint. The volume of my outburst left me feeling a little silly. After all, while unexpected, was the jolt of pain really that intense? Well, actually, it was, but certainly not painful enough to declare my lap off limits to my squirrely,… Continue reading Holding on by Heart: Is Loving Really Worth the Risk?
When I was in college, my mother would mail small packages filled with improbable gifts. Her favorite was soap. Apparently, she believed there was none available in northeast Georgia, so she would, from her meager income, purchase soap and then pay for the postage to ship it to me. Invariably, she would also send cookies… Continue reading Three Gifts We Can Give to Our Adult Children this Mother’s Day
My grandchildren are on their way to becoming good skaters. Confident and eager, they know the ropes, so I was just barely present in the semi-circle of parents and grandparents as we listened to the coach's instructions before the kids hit the ice. I could easily have missed his words: "If you feel like you're… Continue reading Staying on Your Feet is Really All About Grace
Right from the outset, the years of parenting grown children should come with a big sign hanging over them, a huge and joyful banner that reads: Welcome to the Season of Reorganization! Suddenly, a house that was stretching at the seams with every bedroom full of stuffed animals and noisy life finds itself with three… Continue reading Parenting Adult Children? Welcome to the Season of Reorganization!
On the first Sunday of every month, everyone in our Sunday school gathers in the sanctuary for a short teaching time followed by muffins, juice, coffee, and shenanigans before the sticky trail of crumbs takes us all to our regular classes. When I can, I like to use that time to reassure the kids that… Continue reading Seize Teachable Moments and Point Children Toward a Loving God
A tall platform at the Colorado Springs Zoo gives patrons a once-in-a-lifetime, eyeball-to-eyeball experience with giraffes, the gentle giants of the animal kingdom. Not quite two, my little grandson fed lettuce leaves to his new tame and very attentive friends. “Look at those big brown eyes!” I crowed. “Big, beautiful eyes like yours!” “Long purple… Continue reading How Can I Discourage My Son’s Potty Mouth and Encourage Good Manners?
Advent Series Part Three: Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6) Both my grandsons have been created in the express image of their fathers, which amounts to a temperamental salad bar of sensitivity, willfulness, and a worldview that sees all of life as a multiple-choice quiz--and all the answers are "None of the Above." This shared understanding has… Continue reading The Importance and the Blessing of an Understanding Father
Living Our Days 