With the new year comes my traditional cleaning and organizing period. I’ve been busily shredding old papers, cleaning closets, and catching up on things I’ve put off. The last couple of weeks have been dedicated to cleaning out my son’s old bedroom and transforming it into a craft room. Finally! A place to have all
I began something yesterday, something that I knew I needed to do but had continually put off. Have you ever done that? You knew there was no getting around the fact that you needed to get something done, work on something, or focus on a goal, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to start. Why
I know it’s not Thanksgiving, but I’ve recently found thankfulness to be on my mind anyway. The past few weeks have been very difficult for me. The pain of fibromyalgia and the exhaustion of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome have blurred my vision and drawn a veil over my eyes that I find it hard to see
Sometimes, when I look back over my life, I come to the conclusion that no one knows the real me. What’s worse is that I’m not even sure I know the real me. It feels like I have spent my life always trying to be who others expected me to be. The truth is, I’ve
I’ve often thought, and heard others say, that men are really good at compartmentalizing. They can put aside one thing to focus on another, even when the thing they are putting aside is extremely important and upsetting. As women, we may not be great at compartmentalizing our feelings, but there is one way we may
Beautiful sunshine and warm days are two things hard to come by where I live. So today, when both were present, I knew what I had to do. I stepped out of the door and breathed deeply the scent of the flowers, enjoying the bright colors of the marigolds, SunPatiens and Echinacea. Finally, taking a
Like many of you, I grew up watching the Peanuts specials on TV year after year. When we had children, my husband and I introduced them to the Peanuts TV specials and they quickly became favorites of theirs as well. It wasn’t long before they were quoting lines from the shows. In fact, my son,
We are in the middle of an election cycle, so let the war of words begin. Years ago, it would be a “war of ideas” being waged between candidates, but in today’s political climate, it’s all about words. You know the drill, television ads with quotes from one of the candidates splashed on the screen,
Have you ever watched a butterfly? They’re beautiful, but they don’t make much sense. They flit and flot from plant to plant, never staying very long at each one. Their flight appears very erratic, as if they have no idea where they’re flying off to, but they can’t wait to get there. As they fly,
I have very poor eyesight. Without my contact lenses or eyeglasses, everything is just a blur of colors and fuzzy shapes. Recently my cornea was scratched when something blew in my eye and became trapped under my contact lens. In order for the cornea to heal, I cannot wear my contacts, so I’ve been wearing
The blaring of horns, a compressor running a concrete splitting jackhammer, and sirens shouting out their warnings, assaulted my ears as I stepped onto the New York City street. I joined the flow of humanity navigating the narrow sidewalks and began to relax while taking in my surroundings. There was the young father holding up
I have a relative who grew up in the same area as myself. As an adult, she took a job that required her to live in many different parts of the United States. She would spend three to six months in each location before moving on to the next. Everywhere she lived, she would pick
The metallic grinding of the wheels made me look up from my book. I watched as the doors on the yellow school bus opened and children began to file out. There she was, coming down the steps. Then she stopped. On the last step, she stuck her head out and looked first left, then right,
“There’s plenty of time.” How many times have you heard that or even thought it yourself? Another birthday has come and gone, and it has made me realize that the reality is, time is getting short. The years have gone by so quickly, but my dreams still remain in my heart. Some of these dreams
We pass down many things to others as we travel this journey called life. I passed down my love for reading to my children. My husband passed down his love for running and hiking to them. In fact, while they were growing up, they called themselves “The Mighty Hikers.” My daughter, now married with children
Today is just another day for me, nothing special. I’m going about my routine, performing tasks I’ve performed thousands, if not millions, of times before. Most of them don’t require a lot of thought. But today, as I prepare yet another load of laundry, applying stain stick to the collar of my husband’s dress shirt,
After being a Christian for almost 40 years, the newness and excitement of reading the Bible had pretty much worn off. Reading it had become routine. It wasn’t something I necessarily looked forward to anymore, instead, it was something I did because I was supposed to. It’s no longer like that for me, thanks to
Can you feel it? It’s in the air and on the airwaves. Another holiday season has begun and with it, party after party. How many parties will you attend this year? I have three at the moment, but that could change. Of course, each party requires that I dress up, which means I need to
Christmas preparations are keeping me busy. There’s the cards, shopping, wrapping, and baking, not to mention the decorating.And I still have to get what I need for Christmas dinner. There are so many details to think about and things to accomplish. “I’m so stressed! I’m behind on everything. I don’t know how I’ll get it
Have you ever thought about how to open a gift? With Christmas only two days away, I’ve been thinking about Christmases past. One Christmas memory, in particular, stands out in my mind. It was many Christmases ago — when my son was three years old. I learned a few things about gifts that year. It
It’s a new year and that means, like most of you, I’ve been thinking about resolutions. I have a record of failure at past resolutions causing me to hesitate to make any this year. Resolutions usually fall by the wayside after only a few weeks. Yet, with a new year facing me, I can’t help
It was a grey day, typical for Upstate New York in January. The lack of sunshine and the winter wind was fitting for the mood I found myself in. Feelings of loneliness and isolation had been creeping in for quite a while. As I walked, I let myself dwell on all that I was missing
It started a few weeks ago, a loud knocking sound that I couldn’t pinpoint. I was wandering around the house, hoping to find where it was coming from, when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move. I watched and waited, for what, I wasn’t sure. Within a couple of minutes,
Who do you like? It’s a question often heard when looking at a newborn. The question most often refers to physical resemblance, as in “Who does she look like?” There are usually differing opinions as to whether the child looks more like the mother or father. This question applies to us as well. As Christians,
Turn on the news. What do you see? One bad news story after another, followed by dire warnings of looming catastrophe. Look at social media. What do you see? People treating each other with contempt and distrust, not to mention more bad news and dire warnings. Not only is there “nothing new under the sun,”
It happened again. God used one of my grandchildren to teach and remind me of a wonderful truth about faith and prayer. This time he used my 8-year-old grandson, James, who was sitting next to his other grandmother in church. He looked up at her, noticed her nose running, and asked, “Are you stuffy?” “Yes,”
On April 15, 2013, my husband’s lifelong dream of running the Boston Marathon became a reality. It was the perfect day for the race—cool temperatures with a cloudless blue sky. Mark hadn’t been feeling well, but there was no way he was going to miss his opportunity to run in the race of his dreams.
“I can’t do it, Grandma! No matter how much I practice I can’t get it right. I keep playing the wrong notes.” Both of my grandchildren have said this to me at various times while struggling to learn a new piano piece. At times, they want to give up. To help them, I teach them
My son and daughter-in-law recently purchased their first home. It’s a bit of a fixer-upper, but full of potential. They are approaching the transforming work with eagerness and excitement, putting in the hard work to make their vision for their home a reality. Along the way, they are learning and experiencing new things, ie. air