Real Life is Better Than Fiction

Just in case you don’t already know, “The Boy” is my son. I often share stories that concern him because he can be so entertaining. He is one of those unplanned surprises where I was glad God was in charge and not me. This story is typical for him. This past weekend at church our youth had an immersion. This is where the youth camp out and immerse themselves in the Word, studying one book of the Bible. The Boy connected with one of the adult leaders, Nathaniel, and he is now The Boy’s new best friend. All his talking about the immersion included Nathaniel.   When we were leaving church Sunday night, Nathaniel happened to be walking down the sidewalk. The Boy told me, “Slow down and roll down your window.” He pointed at Nathaniel, giving him the evil eye. I’m really not sure what that was about. The Boy is kind of scrawny looking and too goofy to be very threatening.    The rest of the ride home revolved around Nathaniel. Then The Boy commented on the rest of the fam...

I just finished a three day canning marathon, thanks to my sister-in-law who brought me 6 crates of tomatoes and a bushel of green beans. I haven’t been able to do a lot of canning lately since I can’t have a garden. We live in the middle of the city and have more critters here than in the country. Groundhogs eat absolutely everything. Anyway, doing all that canning brought back a lot of memories of summer days when I was a child and would help my mother can tomatoes.    There was one time in particular that stands out in my mind. We had been working for a couple of days and our antique dining room table was full of beautifully canned tomatoes and spaghetti sauce…until the table leg broke allowing many of the jars to fall crashing to the floor, breaking and leave a huge mess. Tomatoes were everywhere! My mom screamed and then she ran crying to her bedroom. I cleaned up the mess knowing she was heartbroken over the loss of time, food, and money. When Dad came home fro...

The TV at our house has pretty much been on constantly since the Olympics began. I enjoy seeing the world come together just for fun – I wish it could happen outside of sports. The games are addicting to watch, even if what’s on isn’t my favorite sport. My favorites include volleyball and gymnastics. As I sit and watch the American women try to fulfill their dreams, I am reminded of dreams of young girls all across the world, even to a little town, that no one's ever heard of, called Jordan.   Every four years my sisters and I would watch the Olympic gymnastics and then go outside and try to emulate them. We were not successful. In the ‘80’s we watched Mary Lou Retton and she was the one we wanted to be like. We set up a 2x4 in the yard and pretended it to be our balance beam. We would perform all our tricks and then score each other to see who would get the gold medal. Well, you know the old saying, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt!” One time in particu...

It’s graduation season! I’m excited about it this year as my second child finishes her high school career. She has definitely accomplished something and since I homeschool my kids, I feel that I have accomplished something as well.     One of our local radio stations recently had people call in with the story of the most meaningful gift you ever had ever received. Perhaps it was because graduation was on my mind, I immediately thought of my graduation present from my mother.  She and my grandmother had been out shopping and had just returned when I got home from school. My mother asked me to help get things out of the trunk. There was a surprise waiting there for me. She had bought me an electric typewriter.    Yes, I know, that’s no big deal these days, but it was to me then. Not only had my mom scrimped and saved to buy me a gift, that gift showed that she had faith in me and in my writing. She was supporting me. It was on that typewriter that ...

It is said that the sense of smell is the greatest factor in bringing back memories. The other night my husband brought home a surprise for all of us – a pop-up camper. I sat and watched as he and our son put it up. When I entered the smell brought me back to my childhood. This camper smelled exactly the same as the camper my family had while I was growing up.    Sitting in that camper, pictures of memories came to my mind. Most just made me smile, but one made me laugh. On the way to one campsite we had a little problem. One of the wheels of the camper came off. I remember watching as the damaged tire rolled away. Dad pulled over and put on the spare tire before we continued on our journey. However, it wasn’t long before the other tire fell apart and we left the rubber alongside the road.  We didn’t have another spare and no place was open where we could get a new one. So…Dad kept driving to the campsite. The absence of that tire caused a horrible scraping noise ...

Anniversaries are a special time to reminisce and celebrate. This week I have two anniversaries. The first is my salvation birthday. Long ago, April 11, 1977, I sat on the couch with my mother and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. It was the Monday right after Easter and some things at church made me think. Mom patiently answered all my questions and led me to the Lord while my Dad and brother were at church and my baby sister was asleep nearby in her cradle. What a blessed time of year to get to know the Lord on a much more personal level! The other anniversary I celebrate this week is my wedding anniversary. Our story is very unusual. I was 13 at his high school graduation. When I went through the receiving line to shake hands with all the graduates, there was something electrical happening, or maybe it was spiritual.   Shortly after I turned 14 we started dating – not something I would suggest for most girls. By the time I was 16 we were engaged – again, not ...

One of the joys of being a parent is that your kids get to embarrass you. I know for a fact that I embarrassed my parents on several occasions. Just to name a couple…   While we were visiting some Civil War sites that were absolutely full of people, I rather loudly and with a serious look on my face, asked my mom, “Was Grant a Confederate?”   Now this might not see so embarrassing to most parents, but you have to understand mine. My parents were great history buffs, involved in Civil War Skirmishing (which is similar to re-enacting only they shoot at targets not at each other), they worked with historical societies and local schools doing various Civil War programs. THEIR child most definitely should have known that Grant was NOT a Confederate since we ate and breathed the Civil War.   I believe it was on the same vacation where I caused my mom’s face to turn all shades of red for a second time. Due to some plumbing issues, one place we stopped to use the restroom, we ...