• Abortion - Family - Women

    Supporting Mothers: The Hike for Life

    Over the years I have often participated in the Hike for Life on Mother’s Day weekend. It has been a family event, children included. In the 1990s we hiked along the shore of Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago. Yesterday my daughter reminded me of her first hike. It was the…

  • Family

    Mental Illness Affects the Whole Family

    Yesterday I began the task of going through my brother’s papers. After years in psychiatric hospitals and then group homes he passed away last June. I was his guardian. When I saw the prompt for Five Minute Friday, I was already there emotionally. Sadness and REGRET. When my Dad could…

  • Faith - Family

    Musing About Family and Privilege

    The snow has come as forecasted and the world outside my door is cold and white. It is a good day to stay inside. It is Five Minute Friday—the day that we take five minutes, or just a little more—to write on the prompt that Kate Motaung gives us. Today’s…

  • Childbirth - Family - Marriage

    Talking About Sex

    On Thursday evenings I look forward to seeing the prompt  that  Kate   Motaung has chosen for Five Minute Friday. I enjoy linking up with this community of writers and seeing where the word takes us. Today’s prompt is: INTENTIONAL I was born in the 1950s, before the b.c. pill became…

  • Christmas - Faith - Family

    Advent and the Family

    For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son . . . John 3:16 As I think about Christmas and God’s great gift to us, I find it meaningful that Jesus came to a family. He came as an infant to Mary and Joseph, to the family…

  • Childbirth - Family

    A Thanksgiving Birthday

    This year I cooked the turkey on Wednesday, a day before Thanksgiving. I scooped out the stuffing and put it in a casserole dish. I deboned the meat and placed it in a  large  baking  dish.   I  put  the  bones in  the  freezer, planning to make broth sometime in…

  • Family - Marriage

    A Mouse in the House

    It is Friday and the #FMF community is writing and posting their thoughts on the prompt given by our gracious leader, Kate Motaung. Today’s prompt is: EXCUSE  You can visit the community and join in the fun by clicking here.  The cold weather has arrived, and I have found evidence…

  • Book Reviews - Family

    A Song of Home: Book Review

    This past October I met Susie Finkbeiner at the Breathe Conference for writers. I went to her session on dialogue and picked up helpful tips for my writing. I learned that Susie writes historical fiction. When given the opportunity to be on her launch team for A Song of Home,…

  • Faith - Family - Parenting

    Thoughts on Motherhood

    Motherhood is hard and self-sacrificing. As I look back I remember the fatigue, the laughter and tears, the hard questions and my shortcomings. The years have passed by quickly. Now I am a grandmother and I realize that God was refining me. I was blessed by the Lord’s guidance, the…