Do you ever have one of those years?  You know what I mean, one of those years that left an impression on you that cannot be erased and will someday have a nickname like, “the year I was pregnant”, “the year I got married”, “the year my cousin died”, “the year I lost my job”, or even “the year I got sick.”  There are just years that fundamentally change your life.  I remember the year I became a mom like it was yesterday.  I was a young mom, and yet as soon as the doctor hand

I’m 42 years old.  It’s not that I turned 42 today or anything, but on this Monday immediately following Daylight Savings Time adjustments, I am reminded that I am 42.  There’s a certain comfort that I have in my own skin now.  A certain understanding of my body that has been a gift with age.  I know that while tropical weather makes for great vacations, it actually turns my hair into something that resembles 90’s Metal Band hair.  I know that when I see a really cute pair of

There was a time not so long ago when I lived in a house that was constantly under various stages of construction. Sometimes there was a necessary home repair, and sometimes there was a new project. It seemed that there was always a slight haze of drywall dust in the air and an orange five gallon bucket full of stuff I might need sitting in the corner. There were putty knives, hammers, screw drivers, nails, screws, box cutters, electric drills, googles, masks…almost anythi

When I was a little girl my mom and her siblings would all bring their families together for holidays.  We’re talking Christmas, New Year’s, Memorial Day, 4th of July…you name it.  There were 6 siblings including my mom and, we would gather at someone’s house, have a potluck that looked like a grocery store exploded, and eat and laugh and enjoy being together.  My grandfather, the patriarch of the family, had 5 strong independent girls, but each of them placated him in his pr

My life hasn’t been that different than the jugglers really.  I have taken one ball at a time and began to orchestrate a delicate dance of throwing and catching life’s balls.  The dance soon included two balls…maybe a marriage…a baby…a job.  Soon the balls began to mount as growing financial concerns were at play, and now another baby was on the way, and hurtful and painful words were swirling around me.  I continued with athletic accuracy to catch each ball that was tossed t

It was a surprise being a mom at the age of 20. Being a mom wasn’t a “party” kind of surprise, I always knew I wanted to be a mom, but being a mom while I wasn’t through college and didn’t have health insurance…SURPRISE!!! After 10 hours of trying to have a Wonder Woman labor, I found myself lying in a hospital bed holding a tiny baby being called “Mom.” Overwhelmed by the thoughts and feelings I was having, accepting that I was responsible for a life, I found myself also

It’s not that I planned on being pregnant at 19. I mean don’t get me wrong I wasn’t an “afterschool special” or anything. I was married and I eventually wanted kids, it just happened way before I was ready. As I struggled through diapers and breast-feeding and formula I soon realize that it wasn’t like it looked in the brochure. Every milestone came after much anticipation and provided instant relief of “Whew! Thank God I didn’t screw that up.” The time eventually came to sta

When I was a kid we would often spend holidays with my extended family. Not just Thanksgiving and Christmas, (although those were some of the best) but also Labor Day, Memorial Day and when pushed…Flag Day. My mom had 4 sisters and a brother and between all of them they had tons of kids, so when we all descended on my grandparents’ house it was like locusts. There was chatter and noise, and tons of hustle and bustle preparing food and allowing my mom and her siblings to catch

I grew up in a household with a charismatic, charming, entertaining brother who had a moral opposition to dead air space. He was infectiously fun, quite the contrast to my dark and serious personality, and would commandeer a room with his mere presence. His charisma did not allow me to have much of a chance to…well…talk. When I was 8 years old, I decided that I would start to help my mom make dinner. Helping my mom allowed me to learn to cook, but more importantly, it gave m

Smart phones have changed our lives. I mean sure, they allow us to carry around maps, an encyclopedia, a bible, a camera, news, weather, and if we so desire, the ability to play Tetris at stop lights. (But don’t do that…it’s illegal.) Smart phones let us stay in contact with everyone by text message, when all else fails an actual phone call, and who can forget the opportunities that smart phones provide to paint an exasperated picture of happiness on social media. Smart phon

There are certain special moments that young parents experience with their young children. There are first words, rolling over for the first time, first steps, and first days at school. There are so many milestones packed into only a handful of years that if you’re not careful you can get an almost historical whiplash that leaves you wondering where time went. One summer day when I was relishing the joy of being a stay at home mom to my 3-year-old and 1 year old daughters, a

The next morning after our shopping experience, I laid her brand new dress on her bed, I choose shoes from her closet that would most appropriately complete the ensemble, I laid out a ribbon for her hair and said six words…”Shannon, it’s time to get dressed!” I stood by her bed picturing her “oohs and ahhs” over getting to finally wear the outfit she had just the day before chosen. As she walked into the room, she smiled at me and then headed toward her bed to get dressed.

As my baby approaches a few of these milestones, I find myself thinking about the skills, the traits and the flaws that I have instilled in my children. As I rapidly become slingshotted into empty nest syndrome, I can’t help but think that all these years of parenting have shown my child the best and worst of me, and now, they are going to carry it with them. Today at church I heard a saying that I haven’t heard in awhile.  “The nut doesn’t fall far from the tree.”  So true,

When I was a little girl I used to dream of being a professional singer.  Not necessarily Beyoncé style (although in retrospect that would have been one amazing dream) but a singer nonetheless.   I wanted to perform in front of thousands of people and have a microphone where I could share stories and witty sarcastic antidotes that would make people happy.   I would wear outfits that would hug all the right curves and have hair that would flawlessly flow down my back.  Okay, m

When I was a little girl I would carefully plan the way in which I would ask my mom for things.  I would make sure that she had had a good day, that she was done making dinner, and that the dishes were done.  I wanted her to not be too tired, not to be headed out the door to a church meeting, and certainly not dealing with the prolific nonsense that my brother was always hurling at her.  I would carefully practice my language and craftly align the words so that I didn’t sound

My grandmother is in the hospital.  Two weeks ago she was a strong and vibrant woman, and today she is under the care of hospice gasping for breaths.  What I love and admire about my grandma is that she lived with her foot on the accelerator.  She breathed life into every room either by inspiration, or simply telling you to get your rear end in gear.  She was a “doer”.  She ran a food pantry that she started out of the back of her car years ago.  She would take in unwed pregn

I’m not a math person. I did okay with basic math, basic accounting, algebra, trigonometry, but something happened in my head when I started calculus. Something in my brain just couldn’t make it make sense. It seems almost asinine to me to have an equation in front of you that takes hours to work on to come up with an answer that can only be classified as “right” or “wrong”. Math involves, measuring, calculating, dividing, multiplying, adding, analyzing, and ultimately comes

When my girls were little there would be a sort of phenomena that would always occur before we would leave for vacation. They would follow me around the house begging for us to just go. “Mom! Is it time? Hurry up! Let’s just leave already! Mom…mom..mom..mom…”As I went about doing dishes, taking out last minute trash, packing suitcases, clearing out space in the car, grabbing pillows and blankets, finding car entertainment that wouldn’t make me want to run my car off a bri

My grandparents lived on a farm. It was almost story book like. There was the barn where the cows would seek shelter, the hay loft that contained rodents, snakes and also hay, a well that literally had to be pumped to get water, a small farmhouse with a coal burner for heat, a tire swing, and the world’s best sledding hill. This hill was long and steep, and if you steered your sled in just the right way, you could hit a jump near the bottom that actually allowed you to tak

#Inspirational #Fear #Love #Faith #Prayer #God