The Corrosion Effect

“I’ll be happy to stay with the class until the she arrives,” I offered.  My child’s elementary teacher was running late from an early morning meeting and hadn’t made it back to the classroom in time to greet the students.  No biggee.  As a parent, I am certainly capable of monitoring 20 young students while they unpack backpacks and prepare for the morning’s lessons.  It would only be a matter of minutes before the teacher arrived. This would be  easy – or so I thought.

Epoxy for the Heart

My preteen and I just returned from a Mom/Daughter Conference in Katy, TX.  The one-day event was titled You and Your Girl featuring Author/Speaker Vicky Courtney from Virtuous Reality, a ministry dedicated to promoting and preserving the virtue of teen and young girls.  Although my own girl was initially apprehensive about a weekend of lectures and intentional bonding, she was won over by a hotel slumber party with her friends and the opportunity to meet Singer/Songwriter Lindsay Kane.  It turned out to be a great weekend of fun, fashion, and forming foundations!

Vicky Courtney spoke on such topics as Guarding Your Heart, Putting the Brakes on the Rush to Grow Up, and The Top Three Lies About Beauty. 

True Love

(Must be read as a dramatic narration to receive it’s full value.)

We stumbled in the door of the crowded restaurant.  A growing shared hunger and the need to stretch our legs had led our family of four to this place in hopes of a respite from the unending Texas highway.  It was the only place in the area, the golden arches drawing us in to it’s fat-filled high-carb trap like a spider into it’s web.  As we stepped inside and took our place in line, I imagined this lonely, yet familiar, place must draw thousands of other travelers from the busy road.  From the looks of the building, it had stood it’s ground a long while.

Our extended wait in line allowed us each a bathroom visit, leaving behind rotating sentinels to defend our claimed position.  We even had time for a supervised return to the car for jackets to ward off the over-eager air conditioning, hoping to restore blood-flow to our limbs before we lost all sensation.  Finally, the wait was over; our moment arrives.

Being vs. Doing

I am sitting on an airplane, physically and emotionally spent, returning home from the hospital bedside of my father.  After a week in the cardiac wing, he will be released within the next few days.  But we are far from sure that he leaves with hopes of better health.  My brother will stay behind to assure he adjusts to home life and a new medical regiment and diet while I fly home to wait, pray, and care for my family.  As I stare out the window at the passing clouds, I don’t know if this is a new beginning or the beginning of the end.

A Defining Choice

I just returned from a vacation in Mexico with my siblings and their spouses.

We’re an interesting bunch, my siblings and I, each one marked by their own personality and preferences. But, I’d have to say, we’re most interesting when we are together. We are like magnets on one another’s family traits, drawing out our shared strengths and flaws. Our group could easily be picked out in a crowd. Besides any physical resemblances you might notice, we’re loud and boisterous with a humor that’s decidedly sarcastic in nature.

It’s hard for us to show even the slightest seriousness without someone interjecting a cutting quip. Therefore, it is wise to think through every microscopic decision when part of the group. Any one, haphazardly made, could become the butt of every joke for the remainder of our shared time – or, the remainder of our lives.