I wake with a start. The pressure strange. I struggle to my feet. The waters of life stir. It's time. I call the hospital. I call my mother in law. My farmer wakes as the alarm rings. His normal waking hour. I let him know it's time. This child already in tune with the milking schedule. With 3 sleeping children in the house, we head toward life. It is quick. We barely make it to the hospital before the final pushes. Fast and furious. He arrives. A surprise. We always ... View Post
The Farm Boy Left Behind
He loves to be out doors. Always has. He'd cry when the farmer was heading out. We'd strategize how long he could stay outside. When his nap should be. Often it was taken with a grease rag pillow; somewhere in the tractor. Wanting to be with his father. Longing to be close to the earth. Now he races tracks on this land. He tills and toils and lifts and creates, Jumps and turns. It exhausts him. He pushes his muscles and expends the relentless energy. So committed. Yet, still so ... View Post
Happy Birthday Mom
Mom would be 78 today. Be grateful for your time. Live. Love. Forgive. Be present, grateful to God, in the moment. ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` It's my mom's birthday. She would have been 71. Her birthday so near Mother's Day. I would always send her flowers for Mother's Day and a present for her birthday. I remember her last Mother's Day. The woman asked me what I wanted to say on the card. I must have known in my spirit that this would be my ... View Post
Laughing In The Graveyard
The boy leaves me undone. Most days are difficult. Each word is poison and I can't begin to help him. He's lost a brother. Dealt with his beloved father being so sick and he's 14. I would come unglued. He's still fragile in the faith. And he's lashing out. But sometimes there are glimpses of what is to come. The veil pulled back and the blue eyes shine. There is humor and there is a sensitivity, so like his fathers. But this growing and stretching is hard on me. So when there is a calm. I embrace it. When ... View Post
He Did What He Had To Do. . .For Us
It's not about the candy or the Bunny. It's not about the Eggs, the baskets or the Ham dinner. But it is. And One less basket leaves me weak. There are so many little things that add up to shattered dreams and a broken way. And I wonder. What was it like in Heaven when Jesus returned? God had sent his son that star lit night long, long ago. Sent the babe to Bethlehem. The Incarnate. Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. The Savior of the ... View Post
The Cost Of The Cross
Snow. In April. Poor man's fertilizer. The temperature has dropped 30 degrees. The water has traveled outside it's boundaries. Warm air has given way to a bitter wind. Reminding us that winter has not had it's final say. It is Holy Week. For some, this means nothing. For me. It is everything. The journey Jesus took to the cross is the defining piece of my faith. He came into Jerusalem Hailed as King and left Jerusalem via the cross. He took on the dirty and broken; so that we might live. He died to save a wretch like me; when He himself was sinless. And as we ... View Post
