One moment after I pressed the timer, it was humming away. Then suddenly, I heard a loud explosion. The door flew open, and the plate I placed on top of the bowl flew out and shattered on the floor, followed by the clear bowl filled with eggs and water. The sight and sound was startling, to say the least. My husband and I jumped up to see what happened and saw the eggs and broken glass on the floor and the baseboards. We were both making poached eggs. He was cooking on the stove, and I prepared mine in the microwave. As a challenge, I told him I could make mine fluffier in the microwave. “Wha ..read more

My daughter invited me to spend the weekend at a family cabin on the Chesapeake Bay for my birthday this year. It was so quiet. The only sounds were our voices, birds chatting, water splashing against the bank, and wind scattering the beautiful, colorful fall leaves on the ground like puzzle pieces. Exactly what I needed after suffering from a concussion at the beginning of the summer. The unfortunate accident happened when I was working in our garden. I was bending over, pulling some weeds. My grandson called my name, and as I started to stand, the double iron shepherd’s hook started to fall ..read more

Sometimes we are so busy rushing from one activity to another that the days slip by way too fast. If it isn’t a physical activity, it can be our minds constantly trying to figure things out. Maybe it’s just me, but if my mind grew muscles with all the thinking and figuring I sometimes do, I wouldn’t be able to carry the weight. And then it is the heart trying to give all that we feel that we need to provide. We forget that we must rest and refill ourselves to give to others. That’s why I love winter. It reminds me to be still. Be still and know that I am God. Psalms 46:10. One of my favorite ..read more

When you come to a stop sign or red light, you stop and look both ways. Likewise, at a yield sign, you pause and look both ways. It keeps us safe. The same thing happens when we take care of ourselves. We must know when to stop, pause, and take a break. After spending two weeks with my husband in the hospital this year, I noticed the words, Pause, Reflect, and Heal, on each patient’s door. Of course, I’ve seen this before, but it felt like a message to me this time. When we never feel rested, overwhelmed, scattered, or burnt out, When nothing is restoring us or refreshing our souls, we must p ..read more

A few months ago, I read a quote that said, “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.” It made me stop and think. Recently I bought a yellow rose bush. I am working on creating a small rose garden in front of our house since we removed all the Juniper bushes. The yellow rose bush reminds me of when my sister visited me in Texas. I had started to prepare a flower garden in front of our new home but hadn’t decided what kind of flowers I wanted to plant yet. When she got out of the car, she was holding a rose bush with one yellow bud ready to open. “Hey, sis, I brought you a housewarming g ..read more

One minute I was a Super Nana, the next minute, I was lying on the tennis court floor trying to breathe. When our grandchildren come for the holidays, it is fantastic, fun, and exhausting. But, unfortunately, the exhausting part has nothing to do with how much we enjoy them. It is what my husband says to me all the time. “Honey, you have done enough. You don’t have to bake a cake, too!” My daughter took charge of the Easter holidays this year. All the things that I usually work so hard on, she turned into a simple, beautiful meal that was more than enough with half the stress I put into the ho ..read more

Our daughter, Carol, died on July 3rd, 1980. She was 19 months old. It was devastating for us. We adorned her small casket with beautiful white daisies. Our family and friends filled the church with arrangements and lots of daisies. When we were married, we decorated the church with daisies, my favorite flower. Our niece and nephew threw daisy petals down the aisles before I walked to unite with my husband. The flower is beautiful yet stunningly simple, and I have always admired it. Everyone that knew us well knew about the daisies. I remember picking wild daisies with my children and being f ..read more

Things can change quickly. Palm Sunday starts with people laying palm branches, a symbol of victory, triumph, and peace, for Jesus as he rode a donkey into Jerusalem. It was an exciting day. Jewish people from all over the world came to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. They were crying ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ (Mark 11:9-10). Ironically, these same voices that greeted Jesus as Messiah and King would be the same voices that shouted ‘Crucify him!’ just a few short days lat ..read more

It’s difficult for me to cut down a pretty plant, even if it is suspicious. But I learned a lesson when I planted one particular tree a few years ago. I thought it would grow tall next to a wooded area inour yard. Instead, one day a vine draped itself over the branches of my tree. It was pretty, so I thought I would let it grow. I didn’t pay much attention to the tree and its new friend because it was at the corner of the lot, and I wasn’t around it that much. So the summer went, people came and went, I came and went, and then I suddenly realized I couldn’t see the beautiful tree I had plante ..read more

Lessons From Papa’s Garden Our children and grandchildren were visiting for the weekend, and they all love mashed potatoes. So I told my husband we needed some more potatoes for dinner. He said he would get some. Then, he asked our grandson, Donovan, to come with him as he walked out the door. Going to the store with their Papa is always fun because they know he will buy them a treat. So he jumped up and ran to the car while my husband was walking around the back of the house. When he realized he was walking alone, he turned around saw our grandson sitting in the car. He asked him what he was ..read more